cracks on walls in London flat selling at auction

[sdaigher]

Hi guys

I am new here and I am hoping I could possibly make use of some your wealth of knowledge.

I went to see a mid-terrace first floor 1-bed flat in north London yesterday which is going for auction soon. The building is 4 stories high.
The flat is quite interesting except for the pretty big cracks on the walls and ceiling seen in the pictures, as well as a sloping floor in the front room. Spoke also to the upstairs neighbour, who confirmed that there are cracks upstairs too. I am guessing this probably points to the front of the house "sinking". From the outside there are no obvious visible cracks though.
The flat is a leasehold and the vendor is a housing association, which also owns the other 2 flats in the building, but as I understand they are occupied and currently not being sold.
I am considering what to do. I am not a big expert so I am wondering what the implication could be with that kind of damage/issue, both in terms of potential repair/structural work, insurance costs, as well as from an investment perspective and how much something like that could potentially affect the future value of the property.
I would buy cash, so no mortgage approval considerations in this case.
I am thinking that because of this issue maybe it can be snapped at auction at a good price, but is it worth it, or you think I should just walk away given the circumstances?

Thank you

 

[jj4091]

Personally I'd walk away but I suppose it depends on how big a risk taker you are and what the price is compared to the repaired value. If it has subsidence then you will be talking big money repairs and insurers won't take it on until they are done. It does not look like a minor thing but if it is historical and been there for many years it may now have settled and just need the cracks repairing. Unfortunately without a structural engineer or similar you have no way of knowing. What does the legal pack say.

 

[sdaigher]

thanks for your reply, that's sensible. Legal pack is not available yet. I will update accordingly

 

[^woody^]

They look like typical thermal plaster cracking, not structural.

You need to be aware of the implications of buying a leasehold. In this case, plaster repair would be a leaseholder responsibility, but structural cracks the landlord's responsibility - and the responsibilty for costs is different.

You also need to know service charges and planned repairs for the next few years and their costs, as you will be responsible for paying them.

 

[johnny2007]

Something similar has gone unsold on auctions for a few years around my area.
However the cracks extend to the external leaf of the property, top to bottom.
Your cracks look more like very old plaster that has shrank.

 

[sdaigher]

Thanks for your replies. That would be more encouraging re. cracks, if only for the fact that in that part of the house the floor is clearly sloping (not just uneven) towards the front of the house, and from what I've read online that could be another indicator of movement. It might also be that the cracks and the sloping floor are unrelated.
As suggested, I guess best thing is to wait for the legal pack and then potentially arrange for a structural surveyor to visit the property.

 

[Mottie]

Walk away from it. No. Run!

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

As the Housing Association is the freeholder AND majority leaseholder you will have absolutely no say in whether or how it is fixed. If they want to do nothing then you're powerless, if they want to appoint a very expensive specialist then you will have no say in this and will be required to pay your share of whatever bonkers amount it costs.

Lots get into problems buying ex-council flats for similar reasons. Many councils routinely replace roofs every x years whether it needs it or not, you just have to cough up the money when they say so.

Run away. Leasehold in itself is bad enough, but a minority leaseholder in a knackered block is the worst possible combination.

 

[Koolpc]

Run as fast as you can and dont look back!! Seriously..