Building Regs - help please

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Hi All,

need some ugent advice re buildings regs...

The house we are buying has a one storey extension on the rear - next door have the same extension that looks like it was done at the same time. The seller says it was done before he moved in in 1994, but that he has never seen planning permission or buildings regs for it.

Our solicitor is trying to find out more, but frankly I'm fast losing faith in them... so if they don't manage to find anything what is our course of action? Should we still buy it without permission or regs? Should we be demanding that the seller gets indemity insurance (and what exactly is this?) Or is it so long ago that no one could do anything about it anyway?

Thanks in advance

silvercar

You need to find out from your surveyor if it was built correctly etc.

Getting building regs consent now probably won't be an option as regulations change over time and you can't get retrospective building regs. Planning permission is irrelevent as you can't be required to undo anything over 4 years old.

Provided your surveyor is happy, I wouldn't be bothered about the lack of consents. You could get an indemnity but they are considered not to be worth the paper they are written on.

Jake'sGran

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Hi All,

need some ugent advice re buildings regs...

The house we are buying has a one storey extension on the rear - next door have the same extension that looks like it was done at the same time. The seller says it was done before he moved in in 1994, but that he has never seen planning permission or buildings regs for it.

Our solicitor is trying to find out more, but frankly I'm fast losing faith in them... so if they don't manage to find anything what is our course of action? Should we still buy it without permission or regs? Should we be demanding that the seller gets indemity insurance (and what exactly is this?) Or is it so long ago that no one could do anything about it anyway?

Thanks in advance

Our house has a kitchen extension built by my husband 30 yrs ago. It's not the neatest brickwork but we did have planning permission and each stage was passed by the council inspector. We still have the copies of all the documents. Personally, I would prefer to have information about the planning permission and would expect the local council could advise you about the extn to the house concerned. They will have records.

JennyW_2

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Hi All,

need some ugent advice re buildings regs...

The house we are buying has a one storey extension on the rear - next door have the same extension that looks like it was done at the same time. The seller says it was done before he moved in in 1994, but that he has never seen planning permission or buildings regs for it.

Our solicitor is trying to find out more, but frankly I'm fast losing faith in them... so if they don't manage to find anything what is our course of action? Should we still buy it without permission or regs? Should we be demanding that the seller gets indemity insurance (and what exactly is this?) Or is it so long ago that no one could do anything about it anyway?

Thanks in advance

the whole reason for bldgs regs (or planning permission) is to ensure that the work was carried out to safe standard. I'd be a bit concerned that it may have been cobbled together.

Llyllyll

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

The house we are buying has a one storey extension on the rear - next door have the same extension that looks like it was done at the same time.

Don' rely on this. We had an extension built 2 years ago, next door (who had theirs built 30 years ago) wanted some improvements done at the same time so we agreed to have the rendering/re-rendering and roofs of both extensions done together. They now look the same but one is over 30 years old.

Personally if it doesn't have buidling regs then I'd steer clear. You could ask your surveyor and/or a structural engineering to investigate but this could turn out to be quite costly.

silvercar

Personally if it doesn't have buidling regs then I'd steer clear. You could ask your surveyor and/or a structural engineering to investigate but this could turn out to be quite costly.

Your surveyor should be examining the quality of the building, including extension, as a matter of course.

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Hi All,

Thanks for your input... Our survey didn't bring up any issues with the extension and it seems pretty well built...

Should we contact the council? I thought this could invalidate any indemnity policies?

Penny

silvercar

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Hi All,

Thanks for your input... Our survey didn't bring up any issues with the extension and it seems pretty well built...

Should we contact the council? I thought this could invalidate any indemnity policies?

Penny

Will the council's response affect your decision to purchase? You know from your surveyor that the extension is sound. You are presumably happy that the extension has existed for over 4 years. What other info do you require? Contacting the council will invalidate an indemnity policy, though personally I think the value of an indemnity policy is limited.

silvercar

Just had a thought. There is something called permitted development which allows you to add an extension of upto a certain size without planning permission. If this extension was the first/ only extension it could be covered by those rules.

jamie304

Not sure if it is the same in every region, but I encountered the same problem and was told by my solicitor that it didn't need planning permission if it was less than 90 cubic metres.

I am still trying to find out if it had building regs approval though. What does an indemnity policy cover anyway? the cost of repairs if it is substandard or just the cost of altering things if the council happen to come round and ask you to change something, which couldn't do unless it was recently built anyway?

silvercar

Indemnity policies cover the supposed diminishment in value between the property having correct permissions and not. They do not cover bad workmanship.