Selling Flat...Survey Found Subsidence...Help!
Discussion
Hey guys,
I'm selling my flat at the moment - mortgage company insisted on a survey and it's found some cracking on a downstairs wall (other side of the house, 2 floors down). The survey recommends measuring it each month and possible minor underpinning (I think) or new brickwork. This has been passed to the managing agent to tell us what they plan on doing about it...but do you think there's any chance my sale will still go through or is it a lost cause? On the one hand, we've got insurance in place, 6 flats to share costs between etc and the work will get done (though maybe not before I sell the flat). On the other hand, the surveyor has recommended measurements over a couple of months etc...so are the mortgage company likely to lend before this has all been completed (with written confirmation from management agent that it will get sorted), or will they refuse to touch it with a bargepole? Have a copy of the survey which I can email if it would help anyone!
Cheers!
Dom
I'm selling my flat at the moment - mortgage company insisted on a survey and it's found some cracking on a downstairs wall (other side of the house, 2 floors down). The survey recommends measuring it each month and possible minor underpinning (I think) or new brickwork. This has been passed to the managing agent to tell us what they plan on doing about it...but do you think there's any chance my sale will still go through or is it a lost cause? On the one hand, we've got insurance in place, 6 flats to share costs between etc and the work will get done (though maybe not before I sell the flat). On the other hand, the surveyor has recommended measurements over a couple of months etc...so are the mortgage company likely to lend before this has all been completed (with written confirmation from management agent that it will get sorted), or will they refuse to touch it with a bargepole? Have a copy of the survey which I can email if it would help anyone!
Cheers!
Dom
Cheers - I had been thinking this, my only thinking was that the mortgage company might only lend on the back of a report done by one of their "trusted" surveyors? The wall which has the crack running up it adjoins an old garden store which has just been converted into a self contained cottage. It was during the conversion of this store (change from flat roof to hipped roof/addition of a second floor) that the crack appeared, and I assumed it was just because of the disturbance of the wall by the builders working on it, however the surveyor says it is older than this and is likely to be the gravel soil underneath being sucked dry by the big trees nearby.
Cheers,
Dom
Cheers,
Dom
Bit of an update! Spoke to the management company, who have confirmed that the works will be undertaken and the faults rectified. The problem now is whether or not the mortgage company will lend on it before these are completed, on the back of the management company agreeing to complete the works in the near future? Unlikely I guess?
Cheers,
Dom
Cheers,
Dom
Zeemax_Mini said:
The building's around 100 years old. I guess you're right - the management company certainly would be getting people in to check it all out, it's just I'm not sure whether the buyers mortgage company would accept someone not on their "trusted panel"?
Dom
Should be OK. The management company should send a specialist firm in, they'll most likely be chartered surveyors/engineers. As long as they are chartered/monitored by a professional body, the mortgage company should also take their advice. Between them they should come to an agreement.Dom
The first surveyor to look at it might be 100% correct, but if it's a case of the management company having to fork out for it, they're going to want to make sure it's genuine and definitely needs doing.
Hopefully it will get resolved soon, that's a right b
d otherwise.Cheers guys, all advice/ideas much appreciated!
The survey says that the large trees in the vicinity may have sucked up the water from the earth around the building causing the movement, and recomends the trimming of these trees as part of the "repair". I know for a fact that the crack happened the day they pulled down the building joined to the wall, but I did speak to the surveyor and he's said that although that might be why it's cracked this time, he could see that the area had been repointed at some time and that he therefore didn't think it was just the disturbance of the wall by the builders. Would there be anyway of showing whether or not that part of the building had subsided, without monitoring it over months? Even if I had to pay for it it could be worth it if the sale then went through!
Cheers,
Dom
The survey says that the large trees in the vicinity may have sucked up the water from the earth around the building causing the movement, and recomends the trimming of these trees as part of the "repair". I know for a fact that the crack happened the day they pulled down the building joined to the wall, but I did speak to the surveyor and he's said that although that might be why it's cracked this time, he could see that the area had been repointed at some time and that he therefore didn't think it was just the disturbance of the wall by the builders. Would there be anyway of showing whether or not that part of the building had subsided, without monitoring it over months? Even if I had to pay for it it could be worth it if the sale then went through!
Cheers,
Dom
Update.
We now have to put together what we can to give to the buyers mortgage company to prove to them that the building is safe to build on. I'm sure I can get a letter from my management company that whether the crack is caused by the disturbance of the building works or if it is indeed subsidence, that the work will be completed (with an estimated schedule). But would this be enough for the mortgage company to then lend on it? Is there anything else I could do in terms of getting my own investigation carried out ASAP to show them?
Cheers,
Dom
We now have to put together what we can to give to the buyers mortgage company to prove to them that the building is safe to build on. I'm sure I can get a letter from my management company that whether the crack is caused by the disturbance of the building works or if it is indeed subsidence, that the work will be completed (with an estimated schedule). But would this be enough for the mortgage company to then lend on it? Is there anything else I could do in terms of getting my own investigation carried out ASAP to show them?
Cheers,
Dom
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