Liability post completion?

[PugwasHDJ80]

Bought a house 8 months ago, lovely place, right location, old, needs work.

Paid top money.

Biggest concern was structural stability, can afford minor works (up to rewiring and replumbing) but not major building works.

Had a full structural survey done, at £900. House declared structurally sound.

We now have major cracks appearing which May be subsidence.

It is clear that all these cracks were present before we moved as they have all been filled and painted- the movement is showing the filled up.

So, IF it is subsidence, do we have to suck it up? Were awaiting engineer's report, but initial comments weren't positive.

We probably wouldn't have bought the place if we'd known, we certainly wouldn't have paid top of the range. It's clear that seller, who has lived here 45 years was aware of the problem, or at least aware that there were lots of cracks appearing.

Is our only option to suck it up and put our hands in our now very shallow pockets plus make an insurance claim? I had thought I had done everything to cover ourselves before we bought.

Any thoughts and advice would be welcome.

[Countdown]

Bad luck

We had something which looked similar on first glance ; when we moved in we noticed the walls in extension had vertical cracks going from the ground floor all the way to the second floor ceiling.

Called the Surveyor back who said that we should have asked for a "structural survey" rather than a "building survey".

Anyway, two and a half years in and there doesn't seem to have been any further movement so, for us, it may have just been the extension "settling" after it was built.

With regards to your situation, I would suggest the surveyor is the first port of call.

[surveyor]

If the damage had been filled and decorated over then unless there are other indications it is unreasonable to expect a surveyor to diagnose structural defects which are not visible

It sounds like the seller may have been fraudulent. Worry looking at replies to enquirers to see if there are any porky pies in there...

[Murph7355]

Do you have before and after pictures?

[Jasandjules]

Have you spoken to the person who undertook the survey about how they missed this?

[surveyor]

Jasandjules said:

Have you spoken to the person who undertook the survey about how they missed this?

PugwasHDJ80 said:

all been filled and painted-

If the visual indications of movement have been hidden then how is the Surveyor supposed to see the visual indications of movement?

[JQ]

Murph7355 said:

Do you have before and after pictures?

OP - Google Streetview allows you to look at historic photos, when available. Might be worth checking.

[Sheepshanks]

PugwasHDJ80 said:

So, IF it is subsidence, do we have to suck it up?

I know there's a chunky excess, but insurance will cover, surely?

[was8v]

um, so the seller just filled some holes that had been there forever when they decided to sell, they aren't a structural engineer so can't be expected to know anything about them

The surveyor will have all kinds of caveats in the contract, they won't be held liable.

Can you not just let your insurer deal with it?

[anonymous-user]

If the previous owners had any work done to address the issue, but didn't declare this, then it's possible you MAY have some come back. Talk to your solicitor.

As for the survey, assuming it was a standard, non-invasive survey, and that there was no evidence visible when he visited, then the surveyors report will almost certainly cover him.

Most likely to be an insurance job though, i'm afraid. Either way I wish you all the best.

[Gemmot]

I think you will struggle here and whilst i sympathise you paid a lot of money for your house, the fact remains youve been in your new home for 8 months and only now have the cracks appeared. I hope you get it sorted but i imagine your £1000 subsidence excess will be a cheaper and quicker route than trying to pursue the vendor

[xstian]

An old house needing work and some cracks, that sound pretty standard to me.

Are you talking about cracks in brickwork or internal plaster? A few photos would go a long way here.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Thanks All

Were awaiting the engineer's report and remain hopeful that it may just be thermal movement, although engineer didn't seem so positive.

Cracks started to appear very shortly after we moved in, we now have diagonal cracks above every door appearing on one side of the house, and lots of horizontal ones now developing. The cracks are through the brickwork.

We'll go down the insurance route.

If this was a car then obviously it would be "buyer aware", but on a house I wondered if seller had had any liability for not mentioning an obvious problem and actually concealing it.