First Time Buyer - Opinions needed on 5 flagged results from searches

3 years ago

Hi,

I've just received a copy of all my searches and I wanted to get opinion on some of the thing's flagged up on my survey. Would love some advice on if I should be concerned or not on the internally beautiful house I am hoping to complete buying worth £530k within Greater London.

1. The house is affected by Chancel Repair Liability and the present owners have provided Chancel Repair Liability Insurance up to the value of £500k. Is that sufficient and should it cover me for any issues with Chancel Repair Liability in the future?

2. The Groundsure Homebuyers report indicates the property has moderate-high risk of natural ground subsistence. The report goes on to recommend that I should get a level 3 survey done or a structural survey done to ascertain the property is sound. I've already done this and the report came back all positive. Details can be found in this thread (https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/6013590/first-time-buyer-horizontal-crack-on-external-wall ). They also recommend to contact the LA to ask for records of the property and local area relating to subsidence. This I haven't done but I am guessing I should? A picture of what they provided is below. Basically 1km and beyond from the house, it is all red. But I am guessing it is like that for most of London. The area the house is in is in fact low subsistence risk zone but the report says "The property, or an area within 50m of the property, has a moderate to high potential for natural ground subsidence. This rating is derived from the British Geological Survey's GeoSure database, and is based upon the natural qualities of the geology at the site rather than any historical subsidence claims or events. Additionally, this data does not take into account whether buildings on site have been designed to withstand any degree of subsidence hazard"
Would you be concerned at any of this? The present vendors have been there over 10 years and the Structural Engineer said there was nothing that would prevent him buying the house once he was done surveying it.

3. The Groundsure Homebuyers report also indicates that the nearest overhead transmission lines and/or pylon is located 483m from the property. Overhead power transmission lines are known to emit electromagnetic fields (EMF) and some consider this may cause potential health concerns. My question is, should I be concerned? I never considered this before. The houses around the area do not suffer from selling issues whatsoever so that doesn't bother me. As far as I can tell online, most think there is no good data associated with any potential risks whatsoever. My gut is telling me this is a false flag. The power line is a 275KV pylon line but the house is almost half a KM away. Would you be worried? Should I buy an EMF meter and test if the area has a low value? Can I pay someone to do it and if so who?

4. The planning and building regulation searches have shown that the vendor received approval for internal alterations of the house including ground floor structural openings (through lounge), ground floor WC, first floor bathroom and removal of chimney breasts throughout the house. These works were done in 2015 however the vendor did not get a building regulation completion certificate. The vendor has agreed to pay for indemnity insurance to cover this. I'm guessing this should be OK and should protect us from any issues?

5. Lastly, the private water and drainage searches have revealed that the public sewer map shows a public sewer within the boundary of the property. It runs across the garden. A picture is below. Should I be concerned about this at all? The accompanying notes in the report says "The boundary of the property has been determined by reference to the Ordinance Survey record. The presence of a public sewer running within the boundary of the property may restrict further development; The water board has a statutory right of access to carry out works on its assets, subject to notice. This may result in employees of the water board or its contractors needing to enter the property to carry out work. A section 104 sewer record is not an ‘as constructed’ record. It is recommended that these details be checked with the developer". Does this mean that I would need to front any costs to any work the water board would have to do? Currently the rear garden is paved over. Should they need to rip it up to get access, would they pay for the repairs to my garden too? Also I'm guessing this also means the kitchen cannot be extended? If so, I don't think that would an issue for me as the current kitchen is huge and the garden is tiny anyway and I am unlikely to ever want to extend it. The neighbor on the right has slightly extended their kitchen outwards but not much. Probably up to that line.

Would love any and all opinions from you great people.

Thanks!

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First Time Buyer - Opinions needed on 5 flagged results from searches

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