We've had an offer accepted on a spacious basement flat in a semi-detached building in North West London (c.100 years old) which we have been renting for the last year. We knew the property had suffered subsidence and has been monitored for the past 18 months, recently undergoing some works as result of an insurance claim.
Minor subsidence was observed at the front and rear of the property in opposite corners. The work carried out consisted of removing 3 poplar trees 20m from the rear of property and cutting back a plane tree 5m from the front (which still stands at about 15m high).
The insurance company employed some Painter/decorators to fill some cracks at the front and back and re-paint, and make internal repairs in all flats. The building has never been underpinned. However, a certifcate has been issued saying that the subsidence has been sorted.
We recently appointed a chartered surveyor who operates in the area to review the property.
The surveyor observed that there had been a history of subsidence in the building, due to the fact it had been rendered with pebble dash, when no others on the street had, including the joining property. It was also observed that there had been evidence of previous cracks that had been covered up since the rendering was applied. There is also evidence of subsidence in other properties on the same street. He expressed doubts that the removal of the poplar trees was enough to prevent subsidence from re-occuring, particularly with regard to the warmer/dryer climate we are now facing.
There is a supporting wall in the rear garden which has some major cracks in it, which has not been touched as part of the claim.
As it is a basement flat, there is also evidence of damp along one whole side of the flat (which is partially underground), in some places going as high as the ceiling. This will probably involve applying tanking to fix the problem.
The freeholder does not hold the insurance policy for the building. Instead, the insurance policy is held by a leaseholder who owns one of the 5 flats. So any potential work should be covered under this policy, and I believe there would be no need to take out our own insurance policy.
Based on these findings, we have concerns about buying the place, however we are looking to get a second opinion. We want to know if it worth pursuing the property, and negotiating the price based on our findings, or should we simply walk away?