Buyer Pulled Out Due To Structural Issues on Survey - Gutted

[DreamHousehelp]

Our buyer pulled out today because the survey on our house wasn't great.

It indicated some structural movement, including cracking, evidence the corner of our house has sunk. Other bits and bobs on the survey that have been a bit inflated, but that's the main one that spooked him (understandably).

We're involving our insurance to look at this (thankfully we're covered), but I'm terrified what it will mean for us when we come to relist our property.

Anyone experienced anything like this? I'm scared we won't be able to sell in future or would need to make a massive price reduction to do so.

A history of subsidence with previous underpinning taking place

A survey confirming that evidence that a part of the property has sunk and evidence of wider movement indicating subsidence

Very likely further underpinning required to remedy

I am afraid I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole unless the price was massively reduced

To save your time being wasted -

once underpinning has remedied the present situation (which takes time) and back on market, I would tell EAs to tell viewers at the viewing about the history and recent remedy.

Otherwise I suspect that once someone discovers two incidences of underpinning required - they may well withdraw.

Best to be upfront

Of course, we were open and honest with our buyer, and they were fine with the previous underpinning, but unfortunately, the survey made them pull out.

I understand your views on subsidence, we don't know yet that this is the case for our house so just keeping our fingers crossed.

Yes we intend to be completely upfront with buyers to save wasting any time.

There were some issues highlighted on the home buyers report, but we'll be getting a full structural survey to find out if issues are historical or happening again.

Except they’ve confirmed cover. If they’ve used those terms they will find it very difficult to withdraw from it (speaking as an insurance lawyer).

If you’ve got subsidence insurers may monitor the house for a year - to see how the movement through the seasons and to try and establish what’s causing it (trees / drains etc).

It obviously might put some people off but we are buying a house with recent subsidence claim and rightly or wrongly we aren’t deterred. We can insure it for a not hideously expensive amount and the mortgage company are happy to lend. Sometimes it’ll just be a case of needing the right buyer. Our seller was very upfront about it.

Sorry OP, be prepared for this to take some time to sort out. Subsidence isn’t a quick fix. Fingers crossed it’s just settlement post underpinning.

I have a 1910 house on clay which basically 'breathes' in the seasons, cracks open and close in the brickwork! I've been burying my head in the sand and not even contacted the insurance (had two full structural surveys which said no issues?!) because we were having a big extension done which I thought would help. We've had some helical bars drilled in and a lot of brickwork repairs which will hopefully do the trick but if not I guess underpinning is next. Not sure id ever be able to sell it! When we bought the issues were hidden with a reskim and a lot of lining paper. Not nice!

This is reassuring, thank you! We will be being very upfront once we understand the issues so as not to waste anyone’s time.

A friend had a similar problem when he tried to sell. There were big cracks in one corner of the house. The potential buyer's surveyor said one thing, my friend's insurance's surveyor said another. It went round in circles for months. Luckily, a builder bought the house at a slightly reduced price because he knew he could remedy it.

Whatever posters say about subsidence affecting price, everything really depends on the area.

If you area in an area such as the broad expanses of very popular locations on London clay then pre war houses will be potential underpinning cases after a hot, dry season. They were built on shallower foundations. I live in such an area in an Arts and Crafts era house which is underpinned. The underpinning didn’t stop us buying, my insurance is no more than similar houses which are not underpinned. Houses around here sell like hot cakes because its a nice area and 20s/30s built houses with their proportions and bigger gardens are extremely popular. I wouldn’t bat an eyelid at a house which had been underpinned for clay shrinkage - I would simply get the work checked by a structural engineer.

Unless the surveyor was double qualified in structural engineering its quite possible as pp suggests that they saw some movement/settlement post underpinning. The structural engineer specialist who originally inspected our place pointed out that its impossible to absolutely diagnose subsidence on a single visit - there are so many potential causes of apparent movement. He told us that many of the houses he visited following alarming surveyor reports turned out to be settlement or other causes and nothing to do with subsidence. He also pointed out to us that the advantage of buying on clay already underpinned meant we were unlikely to ever have to put up with the work being done in the future. In this he was entirely correct.

Thanks for sharing, we only have small cracks on the outside of our property so hoping it doesn't affect the value too much, but good to know it's not an issue for certain buyers!

That's very reassuring, thank you. We are based in an area built on clay, so imagine there are more houses underpinned here than people think. Our insurance isn't affected by our underpinning, and I do wonder if the surveyor saw historical cracks and panicked.