Is underpinning undertaken in France?
The answer is yes – but property insurance for subsidence and structural damage is administered in such a strange way that in most circumstance you will not be covered. Click on subsidence insurance in France for more information on this. Underpinning is a controversial topic in the UK – mainly because of the strength of the UK property market and the difficulty in obtaining a mortgage on a building with cracked walls. Because of this underpinning is often undertaken for financial reasons – not health and safety. The property market in France now shows all the signs of being in a period of sustained boom (as in the 1970’s and 1980’s in the UK) Due to the increase in value of property and the increasing use of mortgages for property purchase it will become increasingly difficult to sell houses with cracked walls and other structural defects such as spreading roof trusses because the mortgage valuer will insist on specialist engineering advice before making a valuation of the property fo
