Yes, you can sell a house with subsidence. There is no legal barrier to selling a property that has moved, is moving, or has been underpinned in the past. You do have to declare it honestly on the property information form, and you should expect it to affect the price and the buyer pool. Whether the movement is historic and stable or live and ongoing changes everything, and you have several genuine routes to a sale.
If you have just had cracks flagged by a survey, a mortgage offer withdrawn, or an insurer raise questions, this guide will make you genuinely informed in a few minutes. We will explain what your cracks probably mean, why subsidence frightens lenders and insurers, what it really does to value, and the four real ways to sell. At Faster Property Solutions we speak to homeowners in exactly this position regularly, and the calm truth is that you are not stuck with a choice between an 18 month wait and a panic sale.
Subsidence, settlement or heave? Knowing what you are actually dealing with
Before anything else, you need to know which kind of movement you have, because it is the single biggest factor in how easy your house is to sell. According to the RICS consumer guide on subsidence, the terms describe very different things.
- Subsidence is the downward movement of the ground beneath your foundations, usually because the supporting soil has shrunk, washed away or been disturbed. Common causes are clay soils drying out in long hot spells, nearby trees drawing moisture from the ground, and leaking drains.
- Settlement is the natural, usually harmless downward movement of a building under its own weight in the first years after it is built or extended. Most homes settle a little. It is not subsidence and rarely causes a problem.
- Heave is the opposite of subsidence: the ground swells and pushes the foundations upwards, often after a large tree is removed and the soil rehydrates.
- Historic or stabilised movement is past subsidence that has been investigated, repaired and confirmed to have stopped. A house in this category behaves very differently from one that is still moving.
How to read your cracks
RICS guidance is that there is rarely cause for real concern unless cracks appear suddenly and are more than around 3mm wide (roughly the thickness of a 10p coin edge). The cracks that point towards subsidence tend to:
- run diagonally rather than straight up or down;
- be wider at the top than the bottom;
- appear near doors and windows, where the structure is weakest;
- be visible from both inside and outside the property; and
- come with sticking doors and windows, or rippling wallpaper.
Fine hairline cracks in plaster, cracks that follow the line of old wallpaper joints, or thin cracks that have been there for years and are not growing are usually cosmetic. The honest answer is that you cannot diagnose this yourself with certainty. If you suspect subsidence, RICS advises getting specialist help as soon as possible, because the sooner it is diagnosed the better. A chartered surveyor or a chartered structural engineer can tell you whether the movement is live or historic, and that distinction is what every buyer, lender and insurer will care about.
Why subsidence makes a house harder to sell
Subsidence does not make a house unsellable, but it does narrow the field. Understanding why helps you choose the right route.
- Mortgageability. Mainstream lenders are cautious about movement. Where subsidence is active and unresolved, it is highly unlikely you will find a high street lender willing to lend, which effectively limits you to cash buyers. Where the movement is historic, repaired and well documented, many homes remain mortgageable, though a lender may apply a retention, holding back part of the loan until works are confirmed complete, or insist on a structural engineer's report first.
- Buildings insurance. Subsidence is one of the standard perils covered by buildings insurance, but a property with a history of movement is harder and more expensive to insure. The Association of British Insurers notes that policies typically carry a much higher excess for subsidence claims, commonly around 1,000 pounds, and a buyer may need to arrange specialist cover. No insurance usually means no mortgage, so the two problems compound.
- Down-valuations and a smaller buyer pool. A surveyor who spots movement can prompt a lender to reduce its valuation or decline to lend at all. That removes a large slice of ordinary buyers and tilts the market towards cash purchasers and investors, who naturally expect a discount.
- Longer timelines. Even a sale that completes can take longer, as buyers commission their own structural reports and lenders ask for monitoring history and remedial paperwork.
Do you legally have to declare subsidence?
Yes. When you sell a home in England or Wales you complete a TA6 Property Information Form, the standard Law Society form your conveyancer sends to the buyer. The 6th edition of the TA6, which became the required version for Conveyancing Quality Scheme firms instructed on or after 30 March 2026, was streamlined to 15 sections, with more questions phrased as "are you aware". You are asked to answer from your own knowledge and as accurately as you can, and the answers you give become statements the buyer is entitled to rely on.
For a house with movement, the relevant disclosures sit across a few areas of the form. The guarantees and warranties section asks about works such as underpinning and whether any claims have been made under those guarantees, and the insurance section asks about your buildings insurance and any claims history. Between them, that is where subsidence history, underpinning and past insurance claims are disclosed. Rather than rely on an old section number you may have read elsewhere, the safe approach is simply to tell your conveyancer everything you know and let them place it correctly on the current form.
There is no time limit on this duty. Subsidence that was repaired twenty years ago still needs to be disclosed. The principle of caveat emptor, buyer beware, does not protect a seller who answers a direct question dishonestly. If you knowingly conceal movement, or deliberately answer a TA6 question incorrectly, the buyer may be able to bring a misrepresentation claim and seek compensation after completion, even after they have moved in. Honesty here is not just the decent thing to do, it is the legally safe thing to do. The general procedural duties of selling, including instructing a conveyancer and providing accurate information, are set out on the GOV.UK guide to selling a home.
How much does subsidence really knock off the price?
This is the question that keeps people awake, and the honest answer is: it depends heavily on whether the movement is live or stabilised, and on how well documented it is.
- Historic, repaired and stable movement with a clean structural report and continuous insurance typically reduces value by roughly 10 to 20 per cent, and sometimes much less when the paperwork is strong.
- Active, ongoing subsidence that still needs investigation or remedial works typically reduces value by around 20 to 30 per cent, because the buyer pool shrinks to cash purchasers who price in the uncertainty and the cost of works.
The range is driven by documentation. A house with monitoring records, completion certificates, a Certificate of Structural Adequacy and transferable insurance sits at the gentler end. A house with visible cracks, no paperwork and an unresolved cause sits at the harsher end. The single most valuable thing you can do for your sale price is replace uncertainty with evidence.
If you would rather talk it through than read on, you are welcome to call us and speak to a dedicated team member, with no obligation, on 0800 324 7949. We will listen, understand your circumstances and connect you with the specialist best placed to help.
Your four real routes to sell a house with subsidence
Most articles frame this as a binary: wait it out on the open market, or sell fast and cheap. That is not the full picture. Here are the four genuine routes, scored honestly side by side.
| Route | Speed | Likely price | Mortgageable to buyer? | Certainty | What you keep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Monitor and report, then sell on the open market with full disclosure | Slow (can be 6 to 18 months, as monitoring runs and surveys are commissioned) | Higher if movement proves historic; lower if it is live | Often yes, if stable and documented; possibly with a retention | Low to medium (depends on what monitoring finds and on the chain holding) | Most of the value, but you carry the time, cost and risk |
| 2. Underpin or repair, then sell with a Certificate of Structural Adequacy | Slow (works plus settling and paperwork) | Higher; strong paperwork narrows the discount | Most likely yes, with the right evidence and transferable insurance | Medium to high once works are signed off | Most of the value, less the cost of works and the wait |
| 3. Sell as-is to a specialist or cash buyer | Fast (often a few weeks) | Low (commonly well below market value) | Not relevant; buyer pays cash | High, once an offer is accepted and proceeds | Speed and certainty, but you give up a large slice of value |
| 4. The FPS bespoke-solutions route (joint venture) | Fast to moderate, geared to your deadline | Can reach full market value through the joint-venture model | Handled within the arrangement, so a refused mortgage is not a dead end | High; structured around your circumstances | The aim is full market value with speed, without a panic discount |
Routes one and two are the right answer for many people, especially where the movement turns out to be historic and you have time. Route three is fast but expensive, and it is exactly the route a worried seller grabs in a panic and later regrets. Route four is the one no one else describes, and it is worth explaining plainly.
Faster Property Solutions helps homeowners across England and Wales overcome property and financial challenges by providing bespoke solutions, including helping people stop repossession, resolve mortgage arrears, and regain control of their situation. We are not a cash buyer, not an estate agent and not a property-buying company. In three years we have helped well over a hundred homeowners, and across all of that we have purchased only about one property ourselves, so buying your home is not what we do. What we actually do is arrange the solution that fits your situation. Unlike firms that buy below market value, we can often arrange for you to achieve full market value through a joint-venture model, while still moving quickly. For a house with subsidence, that can mean avoiding the 20 to 30 per cent haircut a quick cash sale would cost you, even when a mainstream lender will not touch the property. You can read more about selling a problem property like one with subsidence and exactly how our joint-venture model works.
Mistakes to avoid when selling a house with subsidence
Distress is where good people make costly errors. These are the ones we see most often, and all of them are avoidable.
- Do not paper over or repaint cracks to hide them before viewings. A surveyor will find filled cracks, and freshly painted areas over a known problem look like concealment. It damages trust, and if it crosses into deliberately hiding a defect you know about, it can expose you to a misrepresentation claim.
- Do not omit a past insurance claim or underpinning from the TA6. Insurers and lenders can trace claims history, and an undisclosed claim discovered mid-sale can collapse the deal and, again, create legal liability. Declare it and let the documentation reassure the buyer instead.
- Do not skip the chartered structural engineer. Guessing whether your movement is live or historic, or selling without a report, almost always costs you more than the report would. Evidence is what shrinks the discount.
- Do not grab the first below-market quick-buy offer in a panic. A withdrawn mortgage or a flagged survey feels like an emergency, and a cash offer at 80 per cent of value can look like a lifeline. It is rarely the only option, and a few days spent understanding your routes can be worth tens of thousands of pounds. If you are worried about who you are dealing with, our guide on spotting property time-wasters and how to avoid them is a useful read.
What is a Certificate of Structural Adequacy, and will anyone get a mortgage?
A Certificate of Structural Adequacy is a document, usually issued by a structural engineer after a subsidence claim has been investigated and repaired, that records the cause of the damage, the works carried out, and confirms the affected part of the property is structurally sound. It is one of the most useful things you can have when selling a previously affected home, because it reassures a buyer, their lender and their insurer. It is not a guarantee or warranty, so it does not promise the house will never move again, but it is strong evidence that the problem was handled properly.
On mortgageability, the picture is clearer than most sellers fear. For active subsidence, expect mainstream lenders to decline, which is why a cash route or a structured solution often makes sense. For historic subsidence, lenders typically want to see monitoring reports showing movement has stopped, completion certificates for any remedial works, a buildings insurance policy that still covers subsidence, and an engineer's report confirming stability. With that bundle, many homes are mortgageable again. On insurance, a buyer can often continue cover through the ABI's change-of-insurer arrangements, which allow a property's subsidence claim history to be picked up by a new insurer rather than leaving the buyer uninsurable. If your house is effectively unmortgageable today, our guide on how to sell an unmortgageable house in the UK goes deeper on the options.
How Faster Property Solutions can help, and where to get advice
If subsidence has stalled your sale, broken a mortgage offer, or landed on top of financial pressure you were already under, the most important thing is that you do not have to make a rushed decision. You can sell your house fast without dropping to a below-market price in many situations, and the right route depends entirely on whether your movement is live or historic and on your own deadline and circumstances.
When you contact us you will speak with a dedicated team member who will listen, understand your circumstances, and connect you with the specialist best placed to help. There is no obligation and no pressure. You can talk through your options with us, with no obligation, on 0800 324 7949, or read more about our approach to selling a problem property with subsidence.
A note on advice. This article is general information and not legal, tax, financial or structural advice, and it should not be relied on for your own situation. Subsidence is technical and every property is different. Please instruct a chartered surveyor or chartered structural engineer through RICS to diagnose your property, and ask your conveyancer about your disclosure duties before you sell.