Surveyor advised not to buy, but we LOVE that house

[Vavamum]

Has anyone been in a situation where a surveyor recommended staying away from a property, but you bought it anyway? Is it completely reckless to do so?

Here’s a brief overview of my situation:

1. We had an offer of £265k accepted for a three-bedroom semi-detached house.
2. While waiting for the legal process to complete, the adjoining property went up for auction and sold for half of what we offered.
3. It turns out the neighboring house has subsidence issues, likely caused by drain water damage on a slope. The insurance company offered a settlement because the repair costs were higher than the property's value.
4. The new owners of that property plan to start remedial work, including underpinning, and claim it won’t cost anywhere near as much as the insurance had estimated.
5. Despite the subsidence next door, the house we’re buying shows no signs of structural issues. The previous owners lived there for decades, and it’s only on the market now because they passed away.
6. Our surveyor, who also surveyed the neighboring property, advised us to steer clear of this purchase. They’re concerned that the remedial work next door could affect our house and reduce its value.

We understand the logic behind the surveyor's advice, and it’s hard to ignore. However, we’ve fallen in love with the property and don’t want to give up on it without exploring all options. Could further investigation be worthwhile, or is this a clear sign that we should walk away?

It’s going to be a nightmare if you ever want to sell it. Few people willing to buy

@OpizpuHeuvHiyo Underlinning does not affect the foundations next door! Why would it? They are not a pack of cards. You do not understand what underpinning is. It’s usually a small part of a house that’s subsiding. Rarely the whole house. The OP needs a report from a structural engineer to get a definitive report on whether the house is structurally sound or not. Surveyors never know what’s going on structurally! Basing assumptions on next door is not valid.

Why do you think your LOVE for the house beats the qualifications and experience of the surveyor and the physics of what is actually happening in the ground and under the house?

I'm end terrace of three. Ours subsided 30 years ago (before we owned it), the other two went about ten years ago and they underpinned them at the same time. We were warned there may be a small chance of causing small cracks to our house, but nothing happened.

We're on clay so it's a case of when not if.

The fact that the next door owner has a construction company does change it a bit because it is possible he can do the work for less and not just be a cowboy/clueless naive person.

It is true that subsidence and uneven subsidence is a massive problem.

It's also true that many people would underestimate the situation and so if the stability of your house is dependant on the quality of some uninformed person carrying out works next door that's a recipe for disaster.

But if that person has the skills to do it, and does a good job, that's a bit different.

Can you talk to next door and find out if there would be a warranty on the work?

Yes - and it laid heavy on my mind the whole time I lived there and caused great stress when coming to sell. Subsidence is one risk I just wouldn’t take again

Buying a house is a financial decision, not an emotional one.

It's like buying a classic car that doesn't drive anywhere-you'll regret it.

Imagine having a family in a house and sinking all your money into the sink hole it's sinking into....

It sounds like you might be in for buying a money pit that could be uninsurable and difficult to sell if you need to sell. Whilst the new neighbours own a construction company, do you know the quality of their work? There are a few cowboy construction companies about. Will the work they are doing have warranty?

Are the current owners insured and who with? Are you likely to find only 1 company will insure you and so you might end up with very costly insurance.

You really need a professional structural engineer.

I personally would see it as a sign that this is not the house for you and keep looking.

I know a school mum who bought a money pit and she regrets it every day, she bought in the peak of late 2021/ early 22 when everything was going to last bids and massively overpaid for a property that had been on the market years and was an absolute mess. All came up on surveys but they were cash buyers and loved the house. She said it was a heart over head decision and all the money they got from their previous house plus their savings has gone into repairs and maintenance for this one. She's coming to terms that they will never get the money back and it will never sell for what they actually bought it for.

They will have the issue that land registry will show that next door sold for half it's usual value and people locally will tell them when they ask that was because it has subsidence. That (resale) issue is already there.

Why would you buy a house attached to a house with subsidence so bad it had to be sold at auction for half value? There are plenty of houses without major structural problems to buy - and it doesn't sound like your house is even being offered on the cheap?

I think you would be mad to buy it. How unique can it be that looking for a few months you can't find something comparable without the major structural issues?

One other thought - what if the new owners don't do the work (say one of the owners gets hit by a bus and probate is complex or they are a gambler and the money for the work went on "red or bkack") your attached property could continue to subside/collapse.

Life is full of bumps in the road that cannot be avoided. This one can so why run right into it on purpose?

I am a worrier though, I would be constantly on edge, waiting on the house to start falling down around me 😆

Sorry, but with a report like that I wouldn't take the house as a gift. Walk away.

I bought a semi 18 months ago which had subsidence issues and the adjoining house also clearly does. In our case, it was identified that it was caused by some massive Leylandii trees in the neighbours garden which had sapped moisture or something and caused the subsidence. These were chopped down and the house had to be monitored for 6 months to ensure it was resolved. The crack in the wall then had to be repaired prior to completion and even then we had to get a specialist mortgage as most standard mortgages need the house to be subsidence free for a year before they will lend.

It was a long process, over a year from our initial offer to completion, but we're still really glad we did buy this house - it a a 6 bed Victorian semi. The historical subsidence will undoubtedly affect the value of the house if and when we come to sell, however we loved the house so much we decided it was worth it to us to be able to live here.

I agree with pp that a structural engineer should do a report for you before you make a final decision OP.

You could get a second, more detailed, specialist report before deciding how to proceed. Potentially with a significant reduction on the agreed price. Do you need a mortgage?

I have heard it said that an underpinned house is a great bet but most buyers will walk away.

You have to be aware that selling this house on will be hard so only proceed if you are aiming to live there for life!

Have you come across the concept of 'upsidance' where nearby remediation work causes your property to move upwards.

If what you want is a money pit rather than a comfortable and secure home, by all means buy against the recommendation of the person paid to provide recommendations.

Have you looked at getting home insurance? That would be the decider for me.
You would have to declare what's going on with the neighbouring property. If an insurer is willing to indemnify you at a reasonable premium then I would buy the property (on the basis you would be covered if something went wrong). If (as I suspect you will find) most insurers refuse to indemnify you, or only at eye-watering premiums, then I would walk away.

Go through an insurance broker - this is not the sort of thing you want to mess around with. Insurers can be terrors for trying to get out of paying under a policy.

It depends, if there is a crack on the end of the property away from you and a corner is falling away, due to the drain undermining it, it might be fine. If the whole house is subsiding or deforming your house will be being affected, but you may not see it, or not see it yet. And their work may cause your house to uplift or settle at the join with their house. If you must buy make sure you are insured for subsidence, but that may be impossible or very expensive due to the next door property. I think you have to walk away. Or get a huge discount. Get a quote for underpinning and ask for that off the selling price?

It may have been necessary to get the message across.

if the surveyor has told you to walk away, and you’re thinking of ignoring that then you’re not in your right frame of mind.

I've not read all of your messages, OP, but I'm assuming you're a cash buyer.

Tbh, I offered on a semi 5 or 6yrs ago. It was a mess and I offered £135k (SE) with an asking price of £145k. The survey threw up failing wall ties, damp and all sorts. The surveyor told me not to proceed. So I didn't.

It was then sold for £80k. 18m later, everything fixed, modernised and put up for sale and sold at £240k.

I still regret not being brave!

DH is a structural engineer. It’s highly unlikely a whole house will subside. That would require land issues everywhere. That’s not likely, it’s also not likely the house the op
wants is affected again. It’s been underpinned. It might have an issue but you can usually see it. Get a structural engineer to report because the hysteria on this thread is probably wrong. Might not be but probably is. I don’t think most people know what underpinning is! Let alone how to know if it’s worked. It usually does.

The reason next door was sold at a discount is for one of two reasons: the owner wasn’t insured. Or the whole project was too much for the owners.

I personally would heed the advice of a professional surveyor. It’s quite rare for them to advise not to purchase. They normally just list all the faults and what needs attention in varying timescales.

Another property will come along without this worry.

@friendlycat Surveyors are not structural engineers who actually work out solutions for this type of problem. They advise against things they don’t know about. Surveyor cannot have gone into detail and if the subsidence is next door, the surveyor has no precise knowledge of that either!