What does 'Heave' mean when buying a property?
Find out what Heave means when you are buying a property. 'What does Heave mean?' plus over 150 other property related terms and jargon in plain English
Heave
Heave is when a property starts physically to rise and is commonly found in areas where the soil is predominantly clay. I long periods of wet weather the clay absorbs water and expands, forcing the property above it upwards.
It can also happen where a tree or trees that were draining the soil via their roots are cut down.
Note some properties have an annual cycle of heave and subsidence (they move up and down all the time) which does not affect them structurally in any way.
To find out more about what should and shouldn't concern you when buying a property pick up a copy of my ebook How to Really Buy a Property.
Search Results for 'movement' in
How to Really Buy a Property
Chapter 1:
The First Questions Are For You
"... they are right about price movements then by renting they have lost £24,000 (£36,000 - £12,000) and saved £25,000 by not buying. Overall they are better off by only £1,000 and all this time they have not been in their own home. If they are wrong and prices move up their loss is substantially..."
Chapter 2:
The Media and Property Prices
"... Q4 2016
At an even more local level the media also loves to talk about "hot spots" on a month by month basis as if this were some reliable guide as to the best areas in which to invest. Price movements at this level are however, even more erratic as the following example shows.
At a local..."
Chapter 4:
Understanding the Property Market
"... EU immigration worked. Even before Brexit actually came into effect in January 2021 there was an immediate drop in numbers moving to the UK from mainland Europe. However they were simply replaced by new arrivals from elsewhere. In other words far fewer people came to the UK via EU 'Freedom of movement' so the response of government was to simply issue more visas to those who wanted to come from other..."
Chapter 17:
The Property Buying Process in Theory
"...It is extremely important to know that the surveyor is qualified to spot tell-tale signs but cannot actually or absolutely state that something is wrong. He may say, for example, that "the windows are in need of refurbishment and that a qualified contractor should assess the cost" or "there appear to be signs that the property is subsiding to the rear and a qualified structural engineer should survey the property to assess the extent of any movement".
..."
"... the tiling, flashings, parapets, rafters and chimney stacks.
Structure - a structural engineer to make sure that there is no movement in the building beyond the normal amount expected and that none of the walls are bulging.
Drainage - a specialist company that can place CCTV probes in the..."
Chapter 20:
What a Property Survey Really Means
"... damp;
How to check more than a structural survey covers and pay less;
Why a sagging roof may not be a real issue;
How to handle subsidence, movement and bulging walls;
When to use a survey to renegotiate and when to keep quiet;
How to choose a good surveyor, and make sure the lender does..."
"... through the wall
Bulging in the walls and one solution
One of the walls has started to move out in one particular point even though there is no unusual movement below the property
The unstable wall is tied with a steel rod to a more stable wall in order to stop..."
"... market was moving up.
The vendor eventually became frustrated and withdrew the contract from Diane's solicitor. Five weeks later he sold the property at the asking price and the survey from the new buyer made no mention of the tree or any movement in the property.
Diane ended up buying a..."
