Really need some advice :(

summer1982

2 and a half years ago we bought an old house, since then we have put on a 12k extension, new boiler, new bathroom and refurbed the sash windows.

This morning I woke to water pouring in the back bedroom window, 2 contractors have just left (I know them) and said the felt under the roof has perished and a new roof is needed. I am on maternity leave and money is so tight there is no way we can afford this now and to be honest I cant ever see us having that kind of money.

I am seriously considering selling, my worry is that when we built the extension we didn't get building regs, how will this effect the sale and is there anything we can do now?

Thank you

mbga9pgf

Is there any way for temporary fix so you can save?

How much equity do you have? You will have to declare the problem to the buyer as well, as its a serious fault. dont think you can sell the house and get away with it. You could get sued.

summer1982

I was thinking about a patch up job but then I think what would Sarah Beany say - that it would cost more in the long run lol. Although we were never planning on living here forever so maybe a patch up job for a couple of years might do, my main worry was the lack of building regs

loubel

You will be asked to pay for an insurance policy to protect your buyer against the lack of building regs. Was there a reason you didn't get it signed off?

sunshinetours

summer1982 wrote: »

I was thinking about a patch up job but then I think what would Sarah Beany say - that it would cost more in the long run lol. Although we were never planning on living here forever so maybe a patch up job for a couple of years might do, my main worry was the lack of building regs

Not actually sure what you are asking?

You know you required a building regs sign completion certificate and any buyer will also (or their solicitor certainly should). What does the original builder say?

Was the extension a cash job? If so then somehow you need to find the money to get a proper job done.

Get some other opinions on the work donw and what is required

If I have somehow misundestood your intentions to try and pass this problem onto someone else, my apologies

nomoneytoday

There are 2 separate issues IMHO.

1 - the building regs - can you sort them to get a post dated signoff of some form?
2 - the leaky roof - I believe a surveyor would highlight this in a homebuyers report to a potential buyer.

sonastin

1) I don't know if you need to tell buyers about the leaky roof - I don't remember it being on the Seller's questionnaire. But if they asked and you lied, you could be sued. Regardless, there is a good chance that it will be picked up if they engage a half decent surveyor. Its not an issue if you are prepared to sell at a lower price on the basis of the dodgy roof, just don't want to live there yourself.

2) With the extension, there are 2 options: either apply to the council for a regularisation certificate (effectively retrospective sign-off) or convince your buyers that it is well-built and safe and offer an indemnity policy to cover the cost of enforcement action by the council. The second option will severely curtail your pool of buyers as lots of people will be wondering why it wasn't signed off and what is wrong with the extension. Your purchaser will have to be either capable of assessing the quality of construction for himself or completely oblivious to the implications of no certificate (and badly advised by his solicitor in that case).
Or the 3rd option is again to reduce the sale price accordingly to make the house attractive to someone willing to take on the hassle of sorting out the dodgy* building work and the dodgy roof.


*I call it dodgy because as an outsider, one always wonders why it wasn't done by the book. The only corner cut may very well have been on the paperwork side but if you're willing to cut those corners why should I trust that there aren't any other hidden nasties. The construction may very well be impecable but I'm not prepared to believe that without independent sign off.

summer1982

Thank you for your replies.

I don't know why we didn't get regs, my OH dug the footings, then the concrete went in and it kind of snow balled from there without us stopping to think. We were working on a budget so using different contractors for different things and with OH doing some himself. The electrics were done by a friend for a wedding present! We have got photographs of every stage including showing how deep the footings were.

When we bought the house the two reception rooms had been knocked through, there were no building regs for this so we had to get indemnity insurance, would that be the same thing the new buyers would need?

summer1982

sonastin wrote: »

2) apply to the council for a regularisation certificate

.

Thank you for some great advice, do you have an idea what the above would cost?

Also, we only bought the house 2 years ago and our surveyor didn't pick up on the roof even though we had a homebuyers survey, would you be concerned over this? Too late now I know but I do wonder why we werent made aware?

sonastin

It depends on the size of the extension and the local council but its in the order of a few hundred £. Plus the cost of any work that the council inspector requires you to do before he's prepared to sign it off. Photos may not be sufficient so you might need to uncover some of the work (e.g. dig a hole so he can inspect the footings for himself, etc.)