Building Regs? Indemnity Insurance?

MJS2011

I'm in the process of buying a 100+ year old Victorian property. Quite a bit of work has been done to the property (chimney stack removed, internal wall knocked down) and the seller has been unable to provide Building Regs certificate.

I'm a little tentative about getting an indemnity insurance policy out, when major work has been carried out, as I want peace of mind that the work has been done safely before buying the house. Are there any alternative ways forward? Or should I walk away and find another property?

phill99

Some of the work may have been done years ago. And the house is still standing. Just because there is no building regs approval doesn't mean the work is unsafe.

The indemnity insurance just covers the cost if it transpires that any work IS unsafe and needs redoing.

A house that is 100 years old will have a history so you will never be buying a perfect house that is so old. If you want 'perfection' buy a brand new house with a NHBC guarantee that is worth less than the paper it is written on and see how you get on.

jc808

phill99 wrote: »

The indemnity insurance just covers the cost if it transpires that any work IS unsafe and needs redoing.

I thought it ensured against council enforcement not rectification/ quality

pmlindyloo

There have been lots of questions about this posted on the Housing,Selling and Renting board.

You could post there or do a search of the forums to find out more.

Doozergirl

Having BR Approval means it is safe. Not having BR approval does not automatically mean it isn't safe, it means they haven't applied for it. Even something not meeting current BR standards doesn't necessarily mean it isn't safe - after all, you are buying a 100 year old house which in itself would never have had BR Approval and would never meet current new build standards, not to say that it isn't safe! The amount of time that this work has been in place will make a difference as you can see whether it is standing the test of time.

You employ a surveyor when buying to check the integrity of the structure. It is worth paying for a proper survey and asking the surveyor to check these specific items for you. If he recommends a structural engineer then the vendors need to accommodate that. All you need to do is satisfy yourself that it is structurally sound - and you should be doing that anyway with the whole house, you're not doing anything special here.

Don't speak to the council about the house. It will void any indemnity policy. The indemnity policy covers you against enforcement from the local authority, not the cost of redoing the work. The likelihood of Building control ever coming you for this is negligible. After a period of 12 months, they have to get a court order and frankly, they don't have the resources to go after minor breaches - indeed if it is a breach - it might not be!