Buying a property with subsidence - help!

[FreshStart2025]

I’m buying a 3 bed semi detached and all was going well until the survey. The survey wrote that the garage is in a state of disrepair, with subsidence and should be demolished.

It’s an old house and the garage is also old. It’s detached and 20 metres from the house (bottom of garden). The house is sound.

My insurance won’t cover me nor the current owner’s insurance but I believe there are specialist insurance companies.

I thought one day, I would knock it down and put in a new garage / cabin but I don’t have the funds to do that yet.

What would you do?! We are all going to be devastated if we can’t buy it. It has taken ages to find this one and my budget is low.

Has anyone been in a similar position? What did you do?

Don't include the garage on the insurance. Call it a derelict outbuilding (or don't even mention it). Why would you have to include it if it's a good distance from the house and built at an earlier time? Can you get the surveyor to re-word the report, particularly since the 'garage' is not being used as a garage. We've probably got sheds that could fall down any time, I'm sure the insurance wouldn't cover them, but they wouldn't even know about them. Or ask the sellers if you can pay for it to be knocked down. It was probably built with no foundations, I remember we had a garage like that in the 60s, just a skim of concrete over the earth on the floor.

Or is it that the house could also be subject to subsidence? Which is a different scenario and I would walk away.

I did ask my insurance company and current owner’s insurance company is they would just exclude the garage from the policy but they said no. They only cover the house and all outbuildings.

I’ve messaged the surveyor to see if he can help!

I'd buy the house and knock the garage down as recommended, and negotiate price down to cover the cost and the fact you are essentially buying a property without a garage.