Damp basement, desirable area - would you buy?

[Birthdayplan]

Hi all

would love some advice please.

I have an old victorian house in a v v desirable area. Houses rarely come up here as people tend not to move (large houses, catchment for best schools in the area, etc etc). I bought at a good price for the area, it was a bit tired and needed some work, and i was aware of issues with the basement as flagged by my extensive home survey before buying. Issues are that after heavy rain water pools in parts of the basement and it is v v damp however this is also common for the area due to the high water table, and city i live in. This didn’t put me off as the price was v good, as i say it is common here for this to happen, and ive since done a full renovation of the house to a good standard.

my question is - would this put you off buying? Some friends who don’t know the housing market here said this could potentially put off buyers but given the above, i’m not sure that it will?

i’ve checked with many including water company and contractors who have come to look and check and all say there isn’t much point doing anything (i.e tanking) due to the high water table being the problem rather than anything else. They also say i could be liable for neighbours having issues if a change to my basement causes issues elsewhere. So it’s put me off wanting to do anything apart from not keeping belongings down there and installing lots of air bricks for air flow.

i’d like to sell in the not too distant future so it does worry me! Apart from the basement the house is great.

Not a basement. A cellar. A basement is designed to be lived in; a cellar isn’t.

We are also in the north, and have a Victorian house with a cellar that gets the odd puddle in winter after a prolonged period of heavy rain. It’s clean so I think it’s the water table. Our neighbours who are lower down have a sump pump as they get it worse. We had a price for fitting a sump but it was £4k ish so for the few days/weeks a year it’s affected we just mop it up and dispose of the water down the sink (we have one fitted in the cellar).

Victorian houses and especially cellars are prone to damp so I would think any buyers would know that. Cellars don’t comprise the living area as far as I know, so I don’t think you would have to declare it on the forms. It would be different if it had been converted.

We are planning to move at some point and I don’t know whether it will come up as an issue, (plus our low EPC rating) but there’s not many 4 bed detached houses in this area that are freehold and not on a main road so we’ll see.

I'm selling a house with a cellar that gets damp. I've sorted ventilation but I still run a dehumidifier down there so I can use the space for storage. I've always viewed it as a plus and was excited to buy it myself, so I assume other people will feel the same. You just need one buyer after all.