The UK has had a prosperous mining history the unfortunate result of this is there are a lot of old mine (and abandoned) shafts near properties. These have a tendency to cause subsidence or sinkholes at worse. This can be a nightmare for insurance and mortgage cover as well as buying and selling affected properties.
Buying and selling a house with or near a mineshaft can be tricky but there are some easy steps you can take to help the process.
The government has some great advice on what you can do the first of which should be checking with the coal authority and their ming reports. This will enable you to find out if there was a mineshaft near your property or the house you are looking to buy, there is a lot from the 1800s. Many mines were ‘capped’ older mines this will be something like some wood: normally train sleeper. Unfortunately wood degrades and so all topsoil falls into the mine at a failure point which can cause the sinkhole. Modern entrances are capped with concrete which helps people falling in amongst other things!
A mineshaft doesn’t mean there is a problem and more often than not you won’t notice a thing. However, if you see cracks, ground shaking or structural damage you should prioritise getting it investigated. If there is a large problem with a mineshaft on the property it will be covered by the coal authority, you will need to make a claim on the subsidence damage, more info, if you need to do that is here
Okay, you have a home with a mineshaft – no problem! As most problems (if they occur) are covered by the coal authority and as such insurance and mortgages don’t need to payout so you might find it’s not a huge problem. It may however put off some buyers.
If you are finding it hard to sell a house with a mineshaft SpeedPropertyBuyers can help, we buy any house in any condition mineshaft or not! Talk to us today to find out how much we can give you today.
