Experiences selling a house with resolved subsidence

[OneNotDone]

Some background - DH and I bought our house in 2019, as foolish FTBs desperate to move out of my parents house we didn’t get a survey (lesson learnt!!). Did the house up a bit then we decided we wanted to relocate so put it on the market in new year 2024. Found a buyer quickly but their level 2 survey found signs of possible movement so they rightly pulled out. We then got our own level 3 survey to see what was going on, as predicted signs of structural movement were found along one side of the house.
Passed the report onto the insurance company, investigations were done into the cause, which was found to be a crack in the drain on the side of the house affected.
This was fixed in summer 2024, then works began Jan 2025 to fix all the cosmetic damage caused by the movement and put reinforcement in the external masonry.
(Side note - since they had to demo the bathroom tiles to fix cracks and take the existing suite out anyway we asked the builders to fit a new bathroom suite that we bought, and it was completely retiled, so we got a new bathroom too!)
We’ve now put our crack-free, no-longer-subsiding, new-bathroom house back on the market at the same price as we did last time, hoping for a quick sale as we really want to relocate before DD starts primary school.
I think owing to a slow market we haven’t had any success yet, but if/when we do sell I think we will be terrified that buyers will be put off by the work done and pull out.

So, if you have owned and sold a home with a previous subsidence claim:

• Did it take long to sell?
• Did you sell it for less than it was really worth?
• Did you have to make potential buyers aware up front? (Any intel on the rules around this gratefully received)

Really worried that we’ll not be able to relocate in our desired time frame or that we won’t be able to achieve our (very reasonable) bottom line.

Would love to hear your experiences!

Hi there, we sold our house 8 years ago - we’d had subsidence due to a huge tree and London clay and moved out so the whole floor slab could be re-laid. We were quite honest with buyers from the start - and the estate agency aid that there were so many houses with subsidence in London that people might actually be grateful for one that had been fixed. We probably put it on the market at a slightly more reasonable price than we would have done otherwise. But we found buyers really quickly and it all went through. Just keep all the documentation you have been given and photocopy it too. Good luck!

Thanks for replying! Sounds like it didn’t add too much extra stress to the process. At what point did you make buyers aware? Pre viewing?

Yes me! I sold my DGMs house and it has historic, fixed subsistence. They'd had it fixed 40 years before but the survey brought it up.

We sold at a good price and our buyer was reasonable as most houses in our city have some subsistence.

I sold a house in 2010 that had a complete floor slab replacement and piling in 2006/7. The only issue was that the buyers had to remain with our insurer for their buildings insurance. It was a bit more expensive for them as they couldn’t shop around as no other companies would insure.

I provided all the documentation relating to the work to their solicitors and there was no issue with the sale.

Like PP the area was known for subsidence, I made the estate agents aware before listing and asked that they were upfront with potential buyers. We purchased the house in 2002 as a probate sale, but although we believe a survey showed subsidence the vendors moved agents and didn’t disclose the problems.

We actually had to sue our surveyor who had missed the subsidence and even then we had to pay a considerable amount on top for the work as a new kitchen etc counted as betterment. I would urge anyone to ensure they check that the level of survey chosen enables a negligence claim if necessary, as a basic valuation doesn’t.

You should definitely be transparent about the past subsidence at an early stage.

Yes we told the estate agent at the beginning and they told all prospective buyers immediately. It worked in our favour as we’d had a new parquet floor and new kitchen put in after the slab was re-laid so we could show the buyers how much new stuff they were getting too!