2 Year Old House With No Nhbc Guarantee

Mooli

Hello

I'm well into the process of buying this house. It is vacant.

It seems the vendors are mortgagees in possession. The only documents their lawyer has provided are a copy of the lease. They refuse to answer any questions or provide any other documents. Nice!

So not only does the house have no NHBC guarantee it has no corgi or fensa certificates and no building regs sign off certificate. I suspect these documents do exist its just a question of how can I get hold of them.

The estate agents blurb clearly states there is an NHBC guarantee.

I cannot find out who built the house.

I have had a full structural survey. Full of disclaimers but with a long list of only minor repairs.

Has anyone else been in a similar position? How did you sort out the lack of NHBC guarantee in order to get a mortgage?

What problems is this going to cause when I come to sell?

Does anyone know why a nearly new end of terrace house should be sold leasehold instead of freehold?

Thanks in advance to everyone who responds. I'm hoping that someone out there has been through this and can point me in the right direction.


Regards

Mooli

Doozergirl

You can call NHBC and confirm that there is a policy.

Buiding Control keep records, but I'm not sure that bigger developments work in the same way as individual builds otherwise they'd have to employ someone to be on site nearly all the time if they had individual sign off. You can call Building Control at the local council and ask whether the house would have certificates. I have bought a two year old Laing new build in the past and I don't remember there being any certificates.

It's not that the mortgagees refuse to answer any questions, it's just that they don't have in depth knowledge of the house at all. They probably know as much as you do.

dora37

Loads of new builds in our area (including our detached) are leasehold.

Regarding the builder - could you not ask a neighbour?

ginandtonic1988

Hi there apply for another NHBC certificate to be issued, it must have one if it is only two years old - takes about 2 weeks to get it and costs around £30. Also ask sellers for them to pay for a Indemnity Policy to cover the lack of Fensa and Corgi documents. The Title Information Document from the Land Registry will maybe should show who built the house. To be honest these are things your solicitor should sort and you shouldn't be worrying your self, your paying him to act for you! All the best for the future!

Mooli

Thanks for replying

Doozergirl

Will ring NHBC on Monday when they open.

Have read NHBC website the best you can do is search to see if the builder is registered, not the house.
I have searched using the name of the applicant on the original planning application form. He is not registered.

Building control say no completion certificate was issued. However they tell me you do not need to use the local authority to do your building control.

"It's not that the mortgagees refuse to answer any questions, it's just that they don't have in depth knowledge of the house at all. They probably know as much as you do"

They have refused (in writing) but everyone (Estate Agent/ Solicitors ) keeps telling me the same as you have. I just don't believe it. Before the mortgage company loaned the money on a new house they would have collated all sorts of information on the property and the purchaser.

If what you say were true then house purchases would be much faster. Surveryor rocks up values house. Quick credit check on buyer. Mortgage issued. No paperwork. Everyone down the pub to celebrate. I would put one of those smiley things in here but I can't get it to work.


Dora

Already tried the neighbours. The development is a small terrace of 3. Both the others are tenanted. So easy to let then if I can't sell it later.



Regards

Mooli

Doozergirl

When you call NHBC, they will confirm that there is a policy. We lost the certificate and had to contact them for my MIL. It was very simple for them to type in the postcode and find the property.

Mooli wrote:

Building control say no completion certificate was issued. However they tell me you do not need to use the local authority to do your building control.

I think I remember somebody telling me something about it actually being NHBC that sign off. The certificate/policy is issued only if the builder's methods comply. I might be talking rubbish though

Mooli wrote:

They have refused (in writing) but everyone (Estate Agent/ Solicitors ) keeps telling me the same as you have. I just don't believe it. Before the mortgage company loaned the money on a new house they would have collated all sorts of information on the property and the purchaser.

If what you say were true then house purchases would be much faster. Surveryor rocks up values house. Quick credit check on buyer. Mortgage issued. No paperwork. Everyone down the pub to celebrate.

The buyer's solicitor acts on behalf of the buyer's mortgage company as well as their client. They make it the solicitors responsibilty to check that the information you include in your application form with regard to tenure etc. is correct rather than duplicating the conveyancing work the buyer is already paying their solicitor to do.

If what I'm saying weren't true, the buying process would in fact be longer!

mrsS_2

do not buy a house with no completion certificate- you will find it almost impossible to sell

A completion certificate is issued by the local authority when the building work is finished to confirm that the work complies with building regs. The builder has to pay about £25 to get the certificate issued.

now- it could be that they forgot- or it could be the property hasnt met building regs- I wouldnt take the risk.

jennifernil

If it is a small development by a small builder it may not have an NHBRC certificate, not all builders are registered. It might have an architect's certificate. But I too would have thought it should have a completion certificate.

silvercar

mrsS wrote:

do not buy a house with no completion certificate- you will find it almost impossible to sell

A completion certificate is issued by the local authority when the building work is finished to confirm that the work complies with building regs. The builder has to pay about £25 to get the certificate issued.

now- it could be that they forgot- or it could be the property hasnt met building regs- I wouldnt take the risk.

But you know the previous people had a mortgage, or they wouldn't have been reposessed. So you know that there was a certificate or they wouldn't have been able to get their mortgage. So you know that there is a certificate, it just needs to be found.

david29dpo

a leasehold house a just a scam to get more money out of you. there is no other reason for it.