Buying a house that doesnt have building reg approval

FilthyLuka

I'm not saying that the council would be taking legal action (The prosecution time limits have been extended from 1 year to 2 years now, and if seriously dangerous an injunction is always an option).

But the significant thing to note is that the ground floor extension is a black mark against the property and will put off some buyers buy not having the correct approvals. Thats regardless of the possibilities of any faults with the construction which may manifest during the time of ownership

planning_officer

jenner wrote: »

no its not planning permission that is the issue here, its building regulations, they are 2 different things. the building regs are not a problem for me in themselves, its only because i know that if i bought the property, i would want to extend on top of an extension and knock through from the downstairs extension to the original house. i also would want to put a roof terrace on top of the rest of the downstairs extension

Yes I know that they are 2 different things, thank you very much - I do it for a living and I'm constantly telling everyone else that!! I thought the name might have given it away... never mind...

In actual fact, I was responding to someone above who said you could apply for retrospective planning permission - and I said there would probably be no need to, as you evidently know already. I would also point out though that if permitted development rights have been removed from the property for any reason, the extensions would have to be in situ for 10 years before they become lawful, not 4.

Regarding these extensions you want to do - does you buying the house depend on getting permission for these? Roof terraces in urban areas often cause issues with overlooking and may not be acceptable.

safetyzone

Hi Planning Officer, I thought I'd utilise this thread to ask a similar question...

I've got an offer accepted on a property with a loft extension that did not have planning permission or building regs. (it's in a conservation area with dormer window). If I have to resell this in the future would a certificate of lawful development be sufficient to legitimise the extension as one bedroom, or do I have to change the loft so that it complies with the regs? I'm trying to figure out if we should go ahead with this property or ask for money off...

Thanks a lot in advance.

planning_officer

safetyzone wrote: »

Hi Planning Officer, I thought I'd utilise this thread to ask a similar question...

I've got an offer accepted on a property with a loft extension that did not have planning permission or building regs. (it's in a conservation area with dormer window). If I have to resell this in the future would a certificate of lawful development be sufficient to legitimise the extension as one bedroom, or do I have to change the loft so that it complies with the regs? I'm trying to figure out if we should go ahead with this property or ask for money off...

Thanks a lot in advance.

It's just the dormer window that requires planning permission in a conservation area, not the internal alterations to create a loft conversion. Yes a Lawful Development Certificate for an existing development would legitimise the extension, providing it was done at least 4 years ago. If it was done more recently than that, your only option would be to apply for retrospective planning permission, which may or may not be granted, depending on the impact of the dormer on the conservation area.

Whilst I can help with the planning aspects, I'm not an expert in the legal bits and pieces regarding how that affects your potential purchase of the property - there are other posts on these boards about indemnity policies etc, which may help any comeback you have if an application is refused, although others may be able to provide more specific advice!

puddy

planning_officer wrote: »

Yes I know that they are 2 different things, thank you very much - I do it for a living and I'm constantly telling everyone else that!! I thought the name might have given it away... never mind...

In actual fact, I was responding to someone above who said you could apply for retrospective planning permission - and I said there would probably be no need to, as you evidently know already. I would also point out though that if permitted development rights have been removed from the property for any reason, the extensions would have to be in situ for 10 years before they become lawful, not 4.

Regarding these extensions you want to do - does you buying the house depend on getting permission for these? Roof terraces in urban areas often cause issues with overlooking and may not be acceptable.

sorry, I did wonder why, with your name, you were talking about PP instead of BR, but now i know!

Yes, buying the house would depend on me getting permission for these, I have looked up for the extension and I think that I wouldnt need permission, but I will for the terrace. The area is semi rural and the terrace wouldnt over look anything. If the permission for the terrace was not given or the extension cannot take the terrace thats not a problem. If i was not able to put another story on the kitchen extension, then I dont want the house, the reason for this is that at present there is a ground floor bathroom and a first floor 'shower room' urgh, you can barely fit into it. So my plan would be to extend over the kitchen extension and have a proper bathroom upstairs, get rid of the bathroom down stairs and turn it into a utility room. If i cant do this because the kitchen extensiion is not strong enough, I dont want the house.

silvercar

planning_officer wrote: »

It's just the dormer window that requires planning permission in a conservation area, not the internal alterations to create a loft conversion. Yes a Lawful Development Certificate for an existing development would legitimise the extension, providing it was done at least 4 years ago. If it was done more recently than that, your only option would be to apply for retrospective planning permission, which may or may not be granted, depending on the impact of the dormer on the conservation area.

Whilst I can help with the planning aspects, I'm not an expert in the legal bits and pieces regarding how that affects your potential purchase of the property - there are other posts on these boards about indemnity policies etc, which may help any comeback you have if an application is refused, although others may be able to provide more specific advice!

One thing to be aware of. If you enquire of the council whether permission would be granted, you can't then take out an indemnity policy. It would be like taking out insurance after a flood. If you have tipped off the council, they could take action to enforce and so you can't then indemnify future buyers. A better bet would be to offer the indemnity and not approach the council.

safetyzone

silvercar wrote: »

One thing to be aware of. If you enquire of the council whether permission would be granted, you can't then take out an indemnity policy. It would be like taking out insurance after a flood. If you have tipped off the council, they could take action to enforce and so you can't then indemnify future buyers. A better bet would be to offer the indemnity and not approach the council.

Hi Silvercar, thanks for your reply. I'm not sure if indemnity is a better option though? Since even if you take one of these out, you can't really resell the house with the loft counted as a functional bedroom can you? My aim is that by applying for the certificate, I will then be able to legitimise the loft as bedroom. I was not under the impression that indemnity will do the same thing, but I could be completely wrong of course since I'm the one who is clueless!

silvercar

safetyzone wrote: »

Hi Silvercar, thanks for your reply. I'm not sure if indemnity is a better option though? Since even if you take one of these out, you can't really resell the house with the loft counted as a functional bedroom can you? My aim is that by applying for the certificate, I will then be able to legitimise the loft as bedroom. I was not under the impression that indemnity will do the same thing, but I could be completely wrong of course since I'm the one who is clueless!

Indemnity won't do the same thing. The problem is that asking for consent could mean you get turned down, then what do you do? No permission and no indemnity possible.

safetyzone

silvercar wrote: »

Indemnity won't do the same thing. The problem is that asking for consent could mean you get turned down, then what do you do? No permission and no indemnity possible.

Then in that case I will not buy this property. My intention is that they should get the certificate approved before we exchange. The truth is, they marketed the property counting the loft as legit, which shouldn't have happened anyway!

planning_officer

safetyzone wrote: »

My intention is that they should get the certificate approved before we exchange. The truth is, they marketed the property counting the loft as legit, which shouldn't have happened anyway!

I agree completely - the seller should be getting this fixed, i.e. applying for a Certificate of Lawfulness for the dormer. That will set the timetable back by 2 months though. In applying for a certificate, the applicant is purely proving that the dormer has been there for 4 years- it's a simple yes/no legal determination and the planning merits of the dormer are irrelevant - so it won't matter if it looks good or terrible - it's just to make the development lawful and show it is immune from enforcement action.