Biggest property problems

We’re a nation of aspirational homeowners and realising this aspiration is a dream come true.

However, this dream can soon become a nightmare where the worst property issues are concerned and their impact on house prices.

Working hard to climb the property ladder, only to find your property fall in price due to matters that are largely out of your control, can be a bitter pill to swallow.

We've looked at 11 of the most common property nightmares and what the cost to remedy these issues means in terms of devaluing your property’s worth.

1. Subsidence (can lead to a 20% devaluation)

Subsidence is the number one nightmare for homeowners and any structural damage is likely to deter buyers completely. If it doesn’t, you can expect to see your property devalued by as much as -20%; that’s over £50,000 on the current UK average of £251,500.

While there are remedies (remember, your insurance company is there to help), subsidence is a major problem. Click here to learn more about selling a house with subsidence (or a history of subsidence).

2. Japanese Knotweed (-15%)

Japanese Knotweed is the most commonly covered homeowner nightmare, and comes in a close second, with the destructive plant causing a -15% drop in the value of your home.

That’s nearly £38,000 wiped off when you come to resell if you don’t get rid. Click here to learn more about selling a house with Japanese Knotweed.

3. Power lines/stations (-13%)

While we all search for good connectivity in this modern age, living too close to a powerline, mobile phone tower or wind turbine can be a bad thing when we come to sell. Should one be erected close to your home while you’re living there, you can expect to see as much as -13% (£32,695) wiped off the value of your home.

Similarly, a new power station within view can also cause a -5% drop in the value of your home.

Other biggest problems

Unfortunately, those three aren't the only things that can trip homeowners up and lead to their property value tumbling.

• Living in a known flood risk area and the potential risk of water damage that comes with it can see the value of your home fall by £25,150 (-10%) (read more about selling a house that has been flooded)
• Believe it or not, simply failing to maintain your garden can be a big deterrent to buyers, reducing the value of your home in their eyes by as much as -8.2% (£20,623).
• Other more minor structural issues ranked as the next biggest nightmare, causing a 5.4% reduction in value (£13,581)
• Nuisance neighbours can also see your property fall by -5% in value (£12,575). (Read more about selling your house due to a property dispute)
• While a pain to rectify, damp (-1%), asbestos (-1%) and woodworm (-0.5%) have a far lower impact on the value of your property.

Alternative ways to sell

In the most serious cases of subsidence and Japanese Knotweed, homeowners can see thousands wiped off in value and this can also be the case for external factors such as new mobile phone towers and flooding.

These challenges can not only reduce the value of your home, but can also make it a struggle to find a buyer at all. This is where a service such as ours comes in.

Our direct home-buying service

As a company, we buy any house (including those with any of the issues we've outlined above). So if your home has been affected and you'd like to just move on and sell it - without having to hang around to fix all the issues yourself - then our service could be a great option.

It'll help you recoup the majority of the value in your home, and move on quickly and effortlessly to your next chapter.

Click here to learn more about our "we buy any house" service, and see how much we can offer for your home. (Takes less than 24 hours to find out).