Subsidence is one of the most serious issues for homeowners as its consequences can jeopardise the safety of your home and lead to expensive damage costs. It’s important to identify the signs of house Subsidence and act early. Let’s consider the signs of subsidence, the risks involved and how to prevent and fix the problem.
Subsidence is a severe problem caused by the ground under your Property sinking. This means the foundations of your home can become unbalanced, moving the walls and floors of the property from their original groundwork, and leading to cracks and destabilisation of your home.
Take appropriate preventative measures
Other issues such as a landslip, heave or settlement also cause the property’s foundation to shift and are often mistaken for a subsidence issue. Make sure you know when to act and take appropriate preventative measures.
Heave causes the ground below the property to shift upwards, resulting in the walls, floor and foundation of the property shifting upwards too. For properties built on a slope or near a slope, a landslip occurs as a sideways movement from underneath the house.
Many visible signs of subsidence
Settlement is the downward movement of a property due to the excessive weight of the building forcing compression of the soil underneath it. If you’ve heard of a similar issue and wondered what compaction is, this is another name for a settlement issue.
There are many visible signs of subsidence to look out for inside and outside the property, which may indicate the severity of the problem. Common indicators such as cracks in the property are often mistaken as early signs of subsidence. Whilst cracks are indeed among the typical signs of subsidence, they are usually caused by natural shrinkage and swelling according to the changes in weather and humidity levels.
You will know whether a crack is caused by subsidence if you notice the following:
- The crack is more than 3mm thick (thicker than a 10p coin)
- A diagonally positioned crack that is wider at the top and slimmer at the bottom
- You can see the crack both internally and externally
- The crack is visible near doors and windows
- You may notice the crack spread under the damp-proof course (a layer of waterproof material in the wall of a building near the ground, used to prevent rising damp).
Other signs of subsidence may include:
- Wallpaper creasing at the joins where the wall meets the ceiling
- Doors and windows sticking as frames warp
- Cracks where an extension joins the house
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Many potential causes of subsidence
There are many potential causes of subsidence to be aware of. Some of the main reasons are roots from trees and other shrubs causing disturbance to the foundations of the ground beneath the home, causing it to become unstable.
Clay soil is another potential cause of subsidence. The consistency of clay soil changes depending on the weather, which means in dry weather it will crack and shift, whilst in wet weather the soil will swell.
Leaking drains soften and moisten the ground surrounding the property, causing it to destabilise and sink because the ground under it may not be able to hold its weight.
Depending on an array of factors, such as how old the property is and what the surrounding conditions are, there are types of houses and buildings that are more at risk of subsidence than others. Factors that contribute to what makes a higher subsidence risk property are how old the property is, whether the property is built on clay soil and whether the area is prone to drought, as dried-out soil can increase your subsidence risk.
How to treat and prevent subsidence
Before planting a tree around your property, make sure that you have checked what type of root system the tree has. It is not recommended to plant any trees or shrubs in close proximity to your house.
You can prevent existing trees on your property from absorbing less water by regularly pruning them; however, if it seems to be a deeply rooted issue, it is best to get it checked by a tree surgeon.
Ensure your property is getting regular maintenance checks to avoid any internal and external problems.
How to fix subsidence
Whether you’re a homeowner or looking to buy a property with a suspected subsidence issue, you need to find a long-term subsidence repair solution. Fixing a subsidence issue for good is expensive but it can be done by a professional for each type of subsidence issue, underpinning, tree removal and pipework.
Although there is no given timeline or limit on when you must declare subsidence, you must inform estate agents and prospective buyers.
How does subsidence affect your mortgage?
Subsidence will make it difficult to get a mortgage because it is considered a high-risk issue. It will affect the structure of the building and also its value. However, there are some specialist lenders who may be willing to provide a mortgage for a property with subsidence if the problem has been fully remedied and you can prove this with an independent report.
Buying a property with a known subsidence problem is difficult to finance. Until the remedial works are completed, checked and signed off many lenders will not be willing to grant mortgages.
One option could be to use a bridging loan. Bridging loan lenders are in the business of taking calculated risks and would be able to grant a short term loan to purchase the property. The once the works are completed and approved it should be possible to remortgage over to a long term lender.
Now the bridging lender is probably only going to offer 70-75% of the property value, as it stands now. So you will need to cashflow the balance plus the costs of the works. Bridging finance is expensive so it’s important to have everything teed up so that the exit is not delayed.
If the option to remortgage happens before you have owned the property for six months then it might be a bit tricky to get a remortgage approved. Most lenders operate what we call the ‘6 month mortgage rule‘.
Basically you need to own the property for six months before refinancing.
One solution to this is to look for a day one remortgage. Luckily, by using an experienced specialist mortgage broker you will be able to find some re-mortgage options, enabling you to repay the more expensive bridge.
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This post first appeared on Respect Mortgages - Be In The Know, please read the originial post: here
