Price reduction or pull out?

[ShakespeareInTurmoil]

Would appreciate some opinion.

FTB here - have left it late at 37 but live in a pricy part of the world and as a sole purchaser rather than as a couple it’s taken a while.

I’m currently in the process of buying a 1970s semi. It’s very dated but I really like it and I could largely live it with as it is for a long time.

I’m not a wet behind the ears FTB and was prepared for a doom and gloom survey about asbestos and dodgy wiring etc. Would have taken it in my stride.

But it has come back not only with what I expected but two things I didn’t. One is a cracked drain, which is manageable, if inconvenient. The other is the garage, which while separate and set away from the house but attached to next doors garage, is subsiding down the bank behind, the surveyor suspects.

In the attached image you can see it’s either separating or has been badly knitted to next doors new one.

Having looked into this I think it’s an insurmountable issue. Next door’s garage has clearly been rebuilt (why on earth my purchase didn’t sort theirs out at the same time I have no idea!) and presumably this one is putting theirs at risk. Rebuild costs look to run to between 5k - 10k and I’ll forever have to declare subsidence to insurers and when the house is sold next.

I think I must pull out. It’ll have cost me a couple of grand for nothing but I don’t know what else to do. A friend suggested a price reduction but I still won’t have the ready cash to sort the garage out even if they accepted.

It’s been on the market since August and had a 15k price reduction early November. I’m wondering if others have pulled out for similar reasons.

What would you do? I do love the house and rightmove is full of dross at present, for a lot more money. I am gutted.

To add, the original big compromise I made was accepting it was so close to the brook behind. After a lot of investigation I was satisfied the property was at low risk of flooding and hadn’t previously flooded due to the position of the house and that the brook was brick gullied and well routed.

Would it be an option to get the garage taken down and just live without it ?
Maybe have a hardstanding (with barrier at back !) for car parking.
Can you continue with existing buildings insurance and make a claim ,?

And presuming it's the garage pictured, it doesn't look as though it's falling down to me .

It’s the perfect house except for the garage which will cost relatively little to rebuild? I’d go for it.

If you’re worried about declaring subsidence - you can explain it was just the garage, not the house. I’m pretty sure non-connected structures are treated separately anyway.

If it’s really bothering you, you could separate the titles so they become stand alone entities so subsidence on the garage wouldn’t ever ‘taint’ the house - but that seems like overkill.

Ask for some more money off to cover some / all of the rebuild and crack on. (No pun intended)

My major concern would be the risk of flooding. We really can’t underestimate what’s gonna happen to rainfall in the next few years.
something I would of considered 25 years ago
but now I would walk away tbh

Is it the wall with all the ivy (?) on it? Is that dragging it away? Looks pretty heavy

Sorry I should have been more descriptive - the lower part on the right hand side is ‘my’ garage. The part that’s not in plumb with the taller, newer wall next door.

Unfortunately subsidence declarations are for the property as a whole. Separate structures like garages are covered under this.

I would pull out. It's a shame but that's precisely why you get the survey done. It's highlighted a big problem.

Check with your usual insurance broker, but detached garage slipping down the bank of a brook isn't subsidence - the ABI distinguish between subsidence and landslip. And is it actively slipping or is this historic settlement? As a detached outbuilding it won't affect the foundations of the main property, but as you're aware of the movement it might cause you issues claiming for the garage and contents if it did fail.

Is the garage definitely out of plumb, or just out of alignment? - That sort of stepped brickwork isn't straightforward to do accidentally, and I have seen it use decoratively on 1970s estates on garden walls and outbuildings. You could knock nextdoor and ask them about any problems with the brook and their garage.

I would agree a price reduction and press on. You've come this far, you like it and it's affordable. That wall has likely been like that for the last 50 years. If you choose to get it rebuilt, you have plenty of time to find a jobbing builder who will do it for a fair price.

I’d also say go for it. Nextdoor's rebuild is probably helping yours. Difficult to say from the picture but your wall seems perfectly upright.
There is a lot of old shite on the market. Could take another year to find a suitable property.

Impossible photo gives no real clue of the problem. Have a builder come round take a look, explain what is happening and give you an estimate.
You need an informed opinion to guide your decision.

We removed all asbestos (all in artex, asbestos boards), replastered all ceilings, rewired fully - no problem, but this is pricey. Probably about 20k.

Cracked drain - we also had that, we replaced 2 metres of it and lined up everywhere - 6k

Garage subsidence, rebuild it fully or take it down and don't have to declare, it's also not part of the main house. This is not legal advice but personal one of course. Is there an issue when it's attached (linked) to another garage? Can you not rebuild it and change the foundations or just let go off it fully.

It depends on how much you want it. We wanted it a lot and we just did the works, after savings, but we would have also wanted it if we could afford to the works only bit by bit.

I'd give it a wide berth and put it down to experience. Definitely wouldn't buy with subsidence and so close to the river as insurance will be extortionate.

I would walk away. My insurance company asks if the house or any outbuildings are affected by subsidence. Also being close to brook you may get rats.

If the house is perfect I’d still buy. Worst case you just get yourself a sledge hammer and knock down your garage. Not a hard or technical job, albeit you might want to recruit some friends to help clear up the mess! Only thing that might make me pause for thought is if the garden is going to disappear slowly into the river behind but sounds like that isn’t the case?

I’d keep with it and ask for a price reduction.

Pull out. Far too much hassle for a single FTB, it will cause you a lot of stress if you go ahead. If it was a freestanding garage you could just demolish it, but as it is attached to neighbour's garage that adds another layer of complication you can do without.
I bought a house that needed renovation when i was aged 30, no major issues but it was such a lot of hassle (eg new kitchen - uneven walls, damp quarry tiled floor; lots of plumbing and drains issues) and I never had enough money to do what it needed.

good luck getting a brick garage rebuilt for 10k or under if existing is failing due to foundations / subsidence.
Demolition, site clearance and groundwork for the new one would take up a fair part of that sum just to start with

You can't just knock down a garage. It requires planning permission.

Nonsense in the vast majority of cases. You can do what you want with it both in terms of building one or indeed knocking one down.

My last house was bought with a subsidence claim in place for the separate garage, it was rebuilt at the insurer's cost shortly after we moved in. We stayed with the same insurer as it was easier. No problems buying it or selling it.

If the house really is right in every other way I'd be tempted to cost up demolishing the garage, with a view to re-building later.

How much have the builder’s quotes been?