‘Very high subsidence area’ on house buying searches

[Libbytalks86]

Hello all,

I’m purchasing a property and have just had the searches back. They’ve come back with the following info:

“We have identified ground hazards that could affect the property. A very high risk of valid insurance claims related to subsidence in the postcode compared to the rest of Great Britain. The postcode is in the top 25% of all postcodes that have a recorded history of valid subsidence claims.”

Has anybody come across this before? This will be the third house I’ve lived in/ purchased within a mile of this postcode and I’ve never come across this before. I had a full survey done and tbh it was a bit crap but said no structural issues observed.

I don’t know enough about this to know if it’s a ‘run in the opposite direction’ issue or just one of those things that’s flagged on loads of properties which never end up having problems? Thanks x

Not sure what the best answer is but I'd at least check insurers to see how much insurance would cost on that sort of property and make sure you can get subsidence cover?

Insurance is all about statistics. It's might be a "new thing" in the respect that this is the first time the searches may have access to the information on claims and reported according.

It's basically warning you that there is a higher risk of subsidence in that area and that you may want to consider that. For me it would further inform me of the type of survey I might want on any house I might buy (improved survey to detect potential subsidence), warn me of potential increased house insurance costs and potentially warn me in advance that there may be difficulties getting a mortgage on the property and also potentially selling it on. All of those things would inform the price I was willing to pay.

Of course it may be that the house you want to buy is perfectly fine. It's possible that within that postcode area a relatively small number of houses are bad and the vast majority are fine. But the information isn't really available to a lower level of resolution. That's something you need to determine.

This will be the third house I’ve lived in/ purchased within a mile of this postcode and I’ve never come across this before.
I'd ask for more information; "ground hazards" is a bit vague.

Thank you. Unfortunately, it’s a standard report that comes back with nobody to ask/ follow up on. I’m not sure what my next step would be.

Thank you. Eesh. I’m not sure what to do now. I’ve already had one level 3 survey done so not sure what other options there could be. I also need to understand subsidence better. If the house could potentially never be resold I’d be up shit creek!

Insurance companies have the same info and price accordingly. All it means is that it’s probably a clay soil! Clay also expands and can cause heave. Clay is also prone to drying out with big trees drinking the water from the ground. Subsidence is where the foundations are too shallow and the ground shrinks below because it’s too dry. Or it could be washed away if it’s gravelly soil. Hence the house moves downwards. Lots of other hazards are available! Heave, broken drainage pipes, shoddy extensions, poor workmanship etc.

I would get a structural survey. Cracks from current subsidence would be obvious. Issues with roof beams, for example, might not be.

Is this in Greater London? Our surveyor said almost all houses in London are at risk of subsidence just because of the clay soil.

If it's as dramatic as the search implies (top 25%) then surely your local professionals - surveyors, conveyancers, builders, insurers, etc - would know more about it. Ask around.

In the UK a postcode covers a very small group of houses (in my small road it's only the houses on one side). I've not heard of this before but I would be worried

Top 25%? So one in four houses are as likely or more likely to be affected by subsidence as this one.

Doesn't sound too awful to me.

@Libbytalks86
What you do is get a structural report. It’s structural engineers who deal with subsidence. They will know exactly what the risk is. Also if you insure, so what? It’s covered. If it cannot be insured, then walk away! But you have no idea if you have a problem because so many other things affect subsidence! Size of foundations being a major one!

Only in urban areas. Rurally they can be huge areas.