A house where the internal floor level is lower than external ground level

[KP70]

Newbie here. Hi!

I am interested in buying a house in an area which is full of hills and valleys. Many of the houses are built on areas of land which have been cut into mountain sides. The house in question is an end-of-terrace, where the side wall is also synonymous with the boundary to the plot of land (therefore any access to this side wall will have to be with the permission of the next-door neighbour). The topography is such that the entire terrace of houses is raised on a 9 foot high platform made of stone. Despite this elevation the internal floor level of the house is about 4 feet lower than the external ground level of the adjacent terrace of houses. Essentially the lower 4 feet of the entire side wall of this house is "wrapped" in the next door neighbours garden. There is no smell of damp in the house. How concerned should I be with this phenomenon? The house is around 100 years old.

Thanks : )

 

[OwainDIYer]

Legally, you should check whether you have right of access and to open up the ground of your neighbour's garden for maintenance of your wall.

There should be a land drain along the wall of your house but after 100 years it may have got silted up.

Depends on the value of the house - if this is in the South Wales Valleys or a similar post-industrial area where housing is cheap and fairly plentiful, I would look at other properties. If it's in an affluent area where spending tens of thousands on any remedial works that might be required is a small part of the overall property value then I wouldn't be put off.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

The back and side of my cottage is 4' below the soil level, very dry, my barn, 12" below ground extremely wet. It depends on which way the slopes are (and luck).
Frank