Sale Agreed but survey shows some subsidence

Hi All,

I hope you can help me with some advice. I went sale agreed on a 3 bed terraced house a couple of weeks ago and got the results of the survey yesterday. There is a secion in the survey that says ...
"We are of the opinion past slight outward and downward movement to the front bay area has occured. As to whether continuous movement is occurring in the area would require a period of monitoring following which a decision could be made to dig a trial pit and examine the adequacy of the foundations below the splay bay area."
It also advises contacting them to discuss the matter further. I'm going to ring him this morning and ask about best case/ worst case scenario's
but I know nothing about subsidence and it's solutions so if anyone as any advice on what else to ask and how we should proceed it would be much appreciated.

On a related point, this thread http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=18080&highlight=subsidence mentioned getting the vendor to calim on their insurance and put a claim through on their insurance as a condidtion of the sale - has anyone done this before or heard of it being done before.

And finally - should we just walk away?

Thanks,

Gnashers

Firstly, I would wait to hear what your Engineer has to say over the phone - he may say more when it isn't in writing. If there is subsidence you need to consider the cost (financially & time wise), the hassle, the mess, the inconvenience, the possibility of damage to the drains, dealing with insurance co (plenty of delays timewise and bureaucracy).

Unless this is the only house for you - great location or great price - I would say walk away.

Thanks Lorz, I suspected that might be the case. We'll see what the surveyor has to say but be ready to walk away!

Gnashers

I'd imagine the mortgage bank might be none too impressed by this either you might need to check if they are still willing to lend the money.

Also apart from the matter of the vendor claiming from insurance you may find it more difficult to obtain insurance yourself and may have to pay a higher premium than normal and they still might include an exclusion clause covering the subsidence.

Thanks Dam099, I saw the vaulation form for the bank and it had a box to tick if there was any subsidence so I thought we might have some problems there too.

gnashers,
I wouldnt be overly concerned just yet. If there is a degree of subsidence, the vendor is fully entitled to recitfy this via there insurance policy. I have a good friend who does this for people - organises the claim from the insurance company,and then supervises the work. Bottom line is, IF there is a subsidence problem it can be rectified, and it shouldnt cost you or the vendor any money
Munsterdude

Oh thanks Munsterdude, it's nice to get a bit of reassuring news. I might PM you for your friends name or further directions after I manage to talk to the surveyor and the EA, if that's alright.

Gnashers

gnashers said:

Oh thanks Munsterdude, it's nice to get a bit of reassuring news. I might PM you for your friends name or further directions after I manage to talk to the surveyor and the EA, if that's alright.

Gnashers

Click to expand...

Feel free!

My parents house was done 2 years ago and was covered by insurance but this is not always the case. The work would have cost them about 100k and took about 3 years to get agreement between the insurance engineers and builders before anything happened. The house was unliveable for 2 months and had to be fully redecorated afterwards. They needed to go into every room in the house take up the floor boards and pile underneath the foundations. This was an extreme case and I know that other houses in the area were done by piling from outside only in which case there is very little disruption. My advice is to look into it fully and even go as far as getting quotations from builders for the work. The engineer my parents employed specialised in these type of problems, make sure your guy is experienced in the area and get a second opinion if required.