Selling a property with structural or building defects

Visible cracking or movement can bring a sale to a standstill the moment it’s flagged. This often happens before anyone knows what’s causing it. Selling directly for cash means you don’t need a structural report first.

Our guide covers structural engineer reports, the BRE crack severity scale, and typical underpinning costs. Read our in-depth guide on selling a property with structural or building defects for more detail.

Skip the structural engineer’s report. Avoid months of monitoring and remedial work. Sell the property exactly as it currently stands.

Being in this position means a property shows signs such as cracking, uneven floors or sticking doors. A surveyor has flagged these as worthy of further investigation. This doesn’t automatically mean the property is unsafe.

Marketing a property with a suspected structural issue often leads to a stalled sale. Open-market networks lack flexibility here.

• Mortgage lenders pausing pending further reports: A structural concern on survey often leads a lender to request an engineer’s report.
• Buyer nervousness over an unclear cause: Unconfirmed cracking can be more off-putting than a known, diagnosed issue.
• Insurance implications adding further uncertainty: Buyers may want confirmation of how it affects future buildings insurance.

Fully diagnosing and repairing a structural issue before selling creates a significant drain.

• Structural engineer and monitoring costs: A proper diagnosis can require crack monitoring over several months.
• Underpinning and remedial building costs: Where movement is confirmed, remedial work can be substantial.
• Estate agency fees on a paused sale: These further reduce your final proceeds.

A direct cash sale removes the diagnostic and remedial question entirely. It turns a lengthy process into a straightforward transaction.

We purchase your property directly using our own funds. We take on the investigation and any work ourselves. Your sale proceeds regardless of the eventual diagnosis.

• Absolute simplicity: No engineer’s reports or monitoring period to wait out first.
• Zero hidden transaction costs: Agent fees and marketing costs don’t apply, and conveyancing is handled by us.
• A knowledgeable legal handover: Our team is comfortable purchasing properties with an unresolved structural concern.

We routinely help owners move on from structural and building defect situations.

• Properties with visible cracking to external or internal walls: Purchasing homes where a survey flagged unexplained movement.
• Homes with a suspected or confirmed subsidence history: Stepping in where a previous insurance claim already exists.
• Properties where a mortgage application has already been declined: Buying homes a previous lender refused to proceed with.
• Houses with doors and windows that no longer close properly: Purchasing properties showing early, unassessed movement.
• Homes mid-way through an incomplete underpinning project: Buying properties where structural work isn’t yet certified.

If a structural concern is holding up your sale, contact us today for a cash offer.