What should you do if a property subsides after purchase?
You have just bought a new home, you are carrying out renovations and you discover that the property has subsided. That is the last thing you want. You immediately wonder whether the seller knew more about it and who will have to bear the repair costs. In this article, I discuss what you as the buyer can do if subsidence problems come to light after the purchase and the role of the seller in that process.
How can you recognise subsidence in a property?
Subsidence usually occurs in older properties. The older a property is, the lower its construction quality may be, as construction techniques used in the past were less advanced. Changes in groundwater levels or the composition of the soil over the years can also affect the foundations of a property. As a result, when buying an older property you must have more modest expectations of its construction quality and should anticipate a certain amount of necessary maintenance.
A buyer is therefore expected to investigate possible defects in the property during the purchase process. Signs of subsidence may include cracks in walls, window frames that are out of square and damp in the basement. A building survey can help establish the condition of the property, although subsidence is not always immediately visible.
What is provided for in the NVM sale and purchase agreement?
When purchasing a property, you may as the buyer expect the property to be suitable for normal use, as provided for in the NVM sale and purchase agreement. This means that you must be able to live in the property safely, with a reasonable degree of durability, without your enjoyment of the property being materially impaired..
Investigating the cause of subsidence
Subsidence is often not discovered until renovation works are under way. It can have a range of causes, so an investigation is needed to determine the cause. The initiative for that investigation lies with the buyer. The investigation is also necessary to determine whether the seller was already aware of the subsidence. As a buyer, you would be well advised to notify the seller of the subsidence problems immediately and involve them in the investigation. This prevents the seller from later arguing that you failed to complain in time.
Subsidence must be sufficiently serious to prevent normal use of the property. Case law shows that this threshold is not easily met. Buyers also frequently fail in their claims because the subsidence problems were already visible at the time of purchase and, partly due to insufficient investigation, the buyer is considered to have accepted the condition of the property.
Tip: it is always worth studying the building drawings for extensions and additions carefully. In some cases, these were built without foundations, which can result in subsidence.
Would you like to know more about subsidence and the legal steps available to you?
As a general rule, a seller will therefore not readily be held liable. The position is different if the seller deliberately withheld information. That information could have been relevant to your decision to purchase the property. Would you like to know what steps you need to take to hold the seller liable and recover the repair costs? Please contact me or one of our other Real Estate colleagues. We will be pleased to advise you.
