Buying a new unfinished "builder gone bankrupt" house

sly666

My wife and I have seen a house for sale which is being sold by the receivers of the builder who has gone bust.

The house is 90% finished and is basically a blank canvas inside.
The property needs the following...

* All light switches, light fittings, sockets & fuse box to be installed. All the wiring is in place.

* Boiler & radiators need to be installed. All other heating plumbing & wiring in place ready.

* Kitchen to be installed, all plumbing in place.

* Two bathrooms and en-suite to be installed, again plumbing and drainage in place.

* Carpets

* Painting and decorating.

* Drive requires top coat of tarmac.

I would do most all the electrical work myself and get it signed off my a Part "P" registered electrician friend.
I would need to finish the heating installation myself, bar the gas connection.
The agents tell me the house is to be sold as seen without warranty. The house has not yet been signed off by the building inspectors.

My only questions would be about the process i need to go through on getting the home certified and how i stand on obtaining a mortgage on a unfinished home.

I guess i need to have full comprehensive survey done to highlight any potential problems with the build.

Would it be possible to obtain copies of the drawings from the council so i can use them for the survey to ensure the house meets the planning consent?

Can anyone think of anything else i need to consider before purchase?

Many thanks.

Doozergirl

I think it's unlikely you'll find a mortgage for this. If it is sold without a warranty, they won't lend on it. I'm not sure if you'd even get a renovation mortgage.

You can order photocopies of the planning documents - you can go down to the council ask to see the file and request the documents you want copied. They will charge.

You'll need to check whether it's been inspected so far for building regs and probably speak to Zurich/NHBC or other about whether you can get it assessed for 10 year warranty at this stage. Or perhaps whether it was already in the process of being inspected for a warranty.

Unless something is done obviously wrong then a full survey won't necessarily help. If it were me, I'd have building control in to check what can be seen and also try to obtain any docs so far - you might have to do a freedom of information request for that sort of thing though.

sly666

Doozergirl wrote: »

You'll need to check whether it's been inspected so far for building regs and probably speak to Zurich/NHBC or other about whether you can get it assessed for 10 year warranty at this stage. Or perhaps whether it was already in the process of being inspected for a warranty.

Unless something is done obviously wrong then a full survey won't necessarily help. If it were me, I'd have building control in to check what can be seen and also try to obtain any docs so far - you might have to do a freedom of information request for that sort of thing though.

Thank for your reply.
So are you saying it still may be possible to obtain a warranty on this property? Is it not the builder that pays for the warranty insurance policy?
Would i go through the local council planning dept for getting building control in for inspection in, and i guess they would charge for this.
Excuse my ignorance, this is new territory for me

Doozergirl

Building Control and Planning are two different departments. If you want a building inspector, you phone building control. Check whether they are currently inspecting the house.

Anyone building a house can purchase a warratny - the house will need to be inspected through each stage - by whom I am not sure - you're going to need one for a proper mortgage and for resale purposes within 10 years of building so this has to be top of the list. Whether or not you can purchase a new warranty when the build is nearly finished I don't know which is why it might be worth digging around to find out if one has already been started with one of the providers.

All of this is pointless if you can only buy with a mortgage though - I fear this is a cash or bank-backed business buy only.

leveller2911

I can't advise regarding a mortgage, but as far as the building is concerned, as long as the building inspector has inspected the building at the required times and signed each section then as long as the rest of the work is finished up to standard there won't be a problem with getting the building "singed off" as completed.Provided the building is sgned off you wont have any problems in obtaining buildings insurance etc.
NHBC warranty are not all they are crackd up to be and it can take a month of Sundays to get anything done.Unless the builder was NHBC registerd then there wont be a warranty to get.Remember NHBC is funded by the builders , enough said from my experience..

Good luck and go for it.. You might be able to get an architects certificate, depends on the situation, how many houses on the development,who the architects were etc.

self build mortgages might be the way, you get stage payments, normally paid in advance of each stage and as the build is almost complete they may well be happy to help

sly666

I have spoken to the building control people who have informed me they have only been to do the first inspection on the foundations and drains, nothing else.
The inspector himself should be calling me tomorrow to have a chat.
With any luck all the building control's fee will have already been paid.

helenjg

A word of WARNING

It is likely that the original planning permissions woudl have conditions attached requiring the completion of certain things prior to commencement/occupation.

Check that all these have been complied with before you even consider buying the propoerty otherwise it could become unlawful. I'm not 100% sure on what would happen if the development was sold off to individual owners but you may be lumbered with additional costs of resubmission and works to landscape/roads etc.

GDB2222

Given the complications, I guess this house is being offered at say a 30%+ discount? Otherwise, why bother?

Bear in mind if it's on an estate that things like sewerage may not have been completed, roads may not have been adopted, and so on. These are major expenses.