Thoughts on subsidence

[TheHappyShark]

Interested to hear MNers thoughts. We are selling our home after completing 2 insurance claims. One escape of water and the other was subsidence.

we are being open to the EA and obviously will disclose all details to buyers. What are peoples views on buying a home with subsidence - for context our house is built on Oxfordshire clay so subsidence is fairly common in our area. House was built in the 1970s but the cracks appeared by the extension ( built by previous owners). We went through insurance and rather than underpin they injected with chemical resin which is guaranteed for 10 yrs which is transferable to new owners.

split between how to view this. On one side - subsidence is going to happen, especially with warmer summers. At least we have had our foundations strengthened and guaranteed for 10 yrs. the other side - it’s a red flag for people and enough for them to walk way.
Thoughts ?

I probably wouldn't do it.

Nope wouldn't want to get involved 🤷🏼‍♀️

10 years isn’t long…how long is it expected to last?

If it’s a common issue you may find buyers are aware it’s likely and will be happy to proceed, especially in a desirable area, more so if not FTBs. We sold a house with historic movement. We were upfront and shared the paperwork. The buyers didn’t have a survey strangely, which could’ve raised fears. Finally selling was a huge relief.

I had subsidence about 10 years ago. When I investigated it, the stats seemed to suggest that there wasn't too much of a problem selling it in a sellers' market and it didn't have a massive impact on cost, but there may be more of an issue in a buyers market. Our street's got lots of houses with subsidence, but it's a really desirable street otherwise so I'm hoping when I come to sell there won't be too much of an issue.

When was the subsidence?

I would be scared by subsidence so would walk away. Sorry.

I don’t know if that would be logical or not but it just sounds scary & expensive to fix ( underpinning). I wouldn’t have much faith in a 10 year fix to be honest.

Everything in our village is a subsidence risk. Old Victorian houses built on clay hills. It doesn’t seem to put anyone off, but that’s because it’s the norm here, and conveyancers and surveyors are used to it. As long as they’re all moving together, I think it’s ok?

So the cracks were at the point where the extension and main house joined ie the weakest point. This meant the house moved separately. As part of the claim they included metal helixes which strengthened the join so the house should move as one now.

we are in a desirable area (North Reading - bordering Oxfordshire county) and speaking to our neighbour they have had some in their garage but appreciate that for some it’s a red flag. It happened in 2022 (crazy summer heat) and fixed in April 2023.

We had five buyers walk away when they discovered our house had (completely resolved) subsidence; and that was c.15 years before we sold with no signs of reoccurrence in that period. This was in south London in 2018/19 so very much a seller's market.

Make sure your paperwork is all available and clear, and make sure your agents are telling people about it before they offer - twice people weren't aware of ours despite the fact that we'd been very up front with the agent about it.

Good luck!

I doubt you'd be able to give the house away. Sorry OP.

The risk of financial ruin would be too great.

The insurance cut corners, instead of underpinning, they effectively put a plaster over the cracks. The original problem is still there.

You're not selling a house that HAD subsidence, you're selling a house that HAS subsidence.

The key thing is whether your buyers will be able to get buildings insurance. With the subsidence being fairly recent, that might be tricky.
We bought a house (on similar soil, not a million miles from you) which had a historic subsidence issue (solved with underpinning), but then a later issue (within the last 8 years or so?) with a drain, which it wasn't clear from the paperwork available whether it had been a subsidence issue or not.
The lack of clarity was a real issue in finding someone willing to insure - the vendor's insurer wouldn't cover it. We eventually found a specialist company who would (god that was stressful), and we probably pay about 150% of the insurance premium you might expect.
The house isn't going to come tumbling down - it just needs to be monitored, and bearing in mind things like vegetation growing close to the house (the historic issue here was I suspect something like a wisteria growing up the side of the house, next to a garage with very shallow foundations) and doing any groundworks in future.
It might put some people off, if they don't want to deal with anything "tricky" - but if someone really wants your house, they will find a way to sort it.

I wouldn't be interested to be honest. Having said that, properties with previous subsidence do sell. We walked away from one when we discovered ground movement had taken place but it sold a few months later. I guess itcwas worse than yours, the floors were apparently cracking and gsp became noticeable, and then front wall had weaknesses. Some people are more relaxed.

Potential buyers may have problems insuring it as you have had a subsidence claim so recently which would impact them getting a mortgage on the property. 10 year guarantee on the works seems very low too.

I wouldn't buy a house with subsidence in the last ten years.

I live in South Oxfordshire. Due to the clay and past heat waves there is A LOT of subsidence in the area. If you live in a desirable area people will accept it. Sold mine no problem whatsoever.

Mumsnet is full of dramatic, doom and gloom types.

I bought, and then successfully sold, a house that had had foundations strengthened for subsidence.

In an area of London on clay, and the structural surveyor said that in that area (popular residential area) he would rather buy a house that had been underpinned than one that hadn’t.

We did have to take out buildings insurance with the company that had done the work, but that was fine.

It wasn’t a hassle

The insurance co that oversaw the claim and the works have to offer ongoing insurance.

Hi OP

We have our own property, and a few rentals and have been involved with our kids when they buy their property to live in or rent out

A property that has been repaired for subsidence - some may say, 'oh, great, its fixed and should not cause problems' others will run a trillion miles

The fact is this - if like some parts of London built on clay, houses 80 years and older, and bigger houses that are called "up and over" - the over bit often settles and the footprint is not as wide as the main house. Therefore, is susidence is a common problem, IMO may would by. However, if it was cause by land slip, house on step gradient etc most would not buy

if it the susidence was due to leaking were, water pipe, tree to close to house - as the culprit of the cracks had been dealt with and problems fixed, I'd buy but others may be igornant of the facts that the cracked were caused by a leak which has been fixed and wont buy

Therefore, you will reduce the audience for your place but you only need one buyer that is not a time waster or stuck in a chain of more than one property

We sold a house with subsidence caused by tree roots/clay soil/dry summer. Damage was only minor and it didn't need underpinning. The offending trees were felled, levels monitored and a drain repaired. We sold for a tiny amount below asking price to the first people who viewed it.

However - having been through all the hassle of getting it resolved (even though ours was by no means bad), I wouldn't touch a house with a history of subsidence with a bargepole.

This is such a relief to know. We're desperate to sell but because we've just found moderate subsidence we have to wait 12 months for the monitoring to take place, then the remedial works. I was worried buyers wouldn't be able to get building insurance but if our existing insurers will remain, that's very good news.

I'd rather know about it and be able to see all the paperwork relating to it. My last house had historic subsidance (on a flood plain) and it was no problem and has sold twice since I did walk away from a house recently which was significantly leaning (think doors not shutting, feeling seasick because of the funny levels) and the owner claimed to know nothing about and had never investigated. I was an enormous Georgian villa with a massive old tree with a tree preservation order that was likely the cause.

Only if it had full and robust, well guaranteed underpinning. More likely I would walk away.