Buying a property and Level 3 Survey has reported a worrying defect, whats your thoughts?

[botswanasafarilovers]

Hi. So I'm now put in a position whereby pulling out is a very real option at this stage. Never had to do that before but we hadn't noticed at the time and the level 3 survey has reported that there is a wall that is not vertically aligned and is showing signs of movement.

The property was built in 1900-1929 so I was not expecting a flawless property but yes, the wall is leaning. They believe it is "localised" and so now I can pay for a structrual engineer to investigate at a possible cost of £1000 or just pull out. What would you do?

The wall in question is the wall at the right of the front door.

Signs of movement are unlikely to stay “localised”. I’d walk.

If you don't have to buy that particular house, I'd pull out

how much do you want the house ?

you need to find out how much it will cost to rectify the problem i.e. does it need underpinning or rebuilding - what exactly are you looking at.

once you have an estimated cost, then you decide if you are going to lower your offer on the property - by 50% of the cost or 100% of the cost...

not worth the hassle

How long are you planning to stay in the house? If it moved a long time ago and it isn’t moving now I don’t really see it as an issue but that’s me and your lender may feel differently. What else is available in the area? How much do you love the house?

It looks slightly askew in the picture. the windows upstairs look out of alignment.

You can find something you like as much without this problem.

Yes I was going to see even the windowsills look wonky in the picture.

I would walk tbh.

A builder or someone in the trade might not be bothered but something like that is "how long is a piece of string" to me, ie endless.

Yeah it's noticeably leaning in that photo. A lot of properties have movement but no major problems arise from them and the property has stood for 100 years so far with no problems. Perhaps do some research what was the land previously before the house was built, are any other houses on the street facing similar issues/evidence of wall ties, etc.

walk, your bills could be astronomical to fix that.

It's cosmetic. Those houses were the equivalent of a Persimmon Home back in the day.

Just that all the levels are off.

The wall isn't tilting, it was built that way.

Just depends on if you can live with it.

How on earth do you know?

I’d be asking the sellers to pay for a structural report - it’s their house and they’ll likely struggle to sell to anyone without one.

First thing I do when I look at a house is view from a distance and check all the walls and roof are straight. You should’ve picked this up before putting in an offer really, it’s quite obvious.

Does it say historical movement or recent movement. I.e. are there actually cracks or is it just wonky. They are two completely different things.

I’d ask the vendors for a report by a chartered structural engineer.

Are there movement cracks? It may just be wonky because it was built that way.

Any builder will tell you that no house has straight walls so its really a question of whether its moved or has always been like that. What area is this in (generally) and what kind of soil?

If you like the house and the area then its worth getting the structural engineer’s report. If you employ your own then the report and any warranties are for you and you can pick someone fairly local who will know the local property and soil issues.

You can often also look up planning/building consents on your local authority website - see if many properties have work done for movement in the area (or simply ask a local structural engineer when choosing one to do a report).

I don't really see how it can be localised on a side wall as the upper part of the house surely can't just be pushed back into place?
If it's your forever home and is assessed as structurally sound I might consider it, but only if it was the only house suitable in my budget and I wasn't going to want to resell at any point. Otherwise I'd look elsewhere.

I would walk. When defects are that obvious it’s a huge red flag.

If the sellers are prepared to get a structural engineer to report then you could consider on the basis of the report, if they aren't, leg it.

Hi thank you everyone for the responses. I've been reading and digesting everything said. To address some of the questions.

1. Our budget is pretty tight and we're very much on the lower side of what we can afford. Our options are essentially down to this property (at the time of the original offer) there is now 1 other house however its a downgrade and the area is not as good so we're reluctant as you can imagine.

2. Yes we should of spotted this but like a lot of others from what I have been searching online sometimes you miss things in your 10minute viewing window and I genuinely did not ever expect to see a wonky wall. I looked for cracks and damp and any leaks as we had experience of properties with this but never did I expect to see a wonky wall and in person, despite the pictures, you really don't notice this. I expect this is the same reason my lender has not flagged it or questioned for anything to be investigated and have made the offer of mortgage I guess.

3. Unfortunately I can't get any clearer pictures and the image is slightly offset by googles 360 lens so this is having an impact on how you see the property.

4. The surveyors report suggested that there is 1 crack under the main front window that he believes is linked with this wall moving. I'm not an engineer but surely you would see cracks much closer to the wall itself that is leaning (if it were moving) and not the other side of the house?

5. The location of the property is in Dover, Kent.

It seems like taking into account our position, the best action at this point would be to firstly have a structural engineer assess and determine the problem/cause and costs to rectify if applicable and if the cause is anything alarming or potentially costly, pull out.

Could you ask the vendors to pay for, or go halves on the survey, as they will run into this problem with any potential buyer?

We pulled out at a mid-stage due to a worrying survey. Yes we lost survey costs, but I see that as a small price to pay considering the amount we'd have had to pay to make it good. Plus it would have been a bugger to resell.

Walk away, Op. It's a buyer's market right now. You can afford to be choosy.

Run for the hills.

I could ask this but I think from what I understand, it's better to do it buyer-side as you will then retain the warranties (if any) and proof for the future etc. From what I have read?