seller has no building regs advice please

akrot1

I have a similar problem to those mentioned above. We have almost exchanged contracts to buy a flat (leesehold.) the seller is a bit of a diy guy and has done lots of stuff to improve the flat such as build a shower outside the bathroom. Looks very nice and allthe rest of it. Our solicitor enquired as to whewther they had got permssion from the freeholder (landlord) and turns out they hadn't. They ended up paying for retrospective consent so all is good.
Does anyone know if there is any type of indemnity insurance policy (please give as much details as poss as i dont know too much!) that i can take out to cover myself in case there is anything else on the flat that needs retrospective consent. He has also fitted a replacement boiler in last 4-5 years but they made no request to consent to the landlord either. There is nothing else obvious that has changed but i'd like to know if there's an insurance policy i can take out to cover us against anything that the seller has done wrong against the lease - we shouldnt be held responsible for his misdoings but as soon as exchange we are liable?
any suggestions?

akrot1

I have a similar problem to those mentioned above. We have almost exchanged contracts to buy a flat (leesehold.) the seller is a bit of a DIY guy and has done lots of stuff to improve the flat such as build a shower outside the bathroom. Looks very nice and all the rest of it. Our solicitor enquired as to whether they had got permssion from the freeholder (landlord) and turns out they hadn't. They ended up paying for retrospective consent so all is good.
Does anyone know if there is any type of indemnity insurance policy (please give as much details as poss as i dont know too much!) that i can take out to cover myself in case there is anything else on the flat that needs retrospective consent. He has also fitted a replacement boiler in last 4-5 years but they made no request to consent to the landlord either, apparently this is required? There is nothing else obvious that has changed but i'd like to know if there's an insurance policy i can take out to cover us against anything that the seller has done wrong against the lease and that would require us to pay for retrospective consent or to put anything back to the way it was?- we shouldnt be held responsible for his misdoings but as soon as we exchange we are liable?
any suggestions? any type of indemnity insurance policy that covers for the above problem-which insurers?

Doozergirl

The lease, which you should have a copy of, will state what changes will require freeholder consent.

You don't need to seek consent for a boiler though. It would generally relate to structural changes or changes to layout, maybe windows.

Read through the lease

Hooner

I can't understand why anyone wouldn't want building regs involved in any work being carried out on their property It doesn't actually cost that much, compared to the cost of the building work, and gives great peace of mind, there's too many cowboy builders around to take a chance.

amazamum

Hi,sorry to hijack the post a little but could somebody clear something up for me please.
We had our loft converted into a room 4 years ago,we didn't get planning permission(I know we should have but at the time we needed the extra room quickly),but did get a reputable builder to do it,he did everything properly,strenghtened floor boards/roof,proper staircases going up with fire doors,smoke alarms fitted etc.We also had 2 windows put in,1 velux in the roof and 1 window in the side of the house.
My question is if we went to sell our house in the future(not planning on it as we love the house and plan to be here until we old and grey)would we be able to apply for retrospective planning permission,and what is the likelyhood of it being passed,would they be able to make us make changes like I say it was all done the right way.
He is a great builder and has done alot of work for us since.
Thanks for any advice you can give.

divadee

amazamum wrote:

Hi,sorry to hijack the post a little but could somebody clear something up for me please.
We had our loft converted into a room 4 years ago,we didn't get planning permission(I know we should have but at the time we needed the extra room quickly),but did get a reputable builder to do it,he did everything properly,strenghtened floor boards/roof,proper staircases going up with fire doors,smoke alarms fitted etc.We also had 2 windows put in,1 velux in the roof and 1 window in the side of the house.
My question is if we went to sell our house in the future(not planning on it as we love the house and plan to be here until we old and grey)would we be able to apply for retrospective planning permission,and what is the likelyhood of it being passed,would they be able to make us make changes like I say it was all done the right way.
He is a great builder and has done alot of work for us since.
Thanks for any advice you can give.

its not so much the planning permission would worry about but the building regulations.

Did you get your local building inspector round at various points through the project?

if not you will have to apply for building regs retrospectively (and planning permission if its needed).

they can make you change things and sometimes they might have to knock plaster off etc... to check that joists etc... have been put in correctly.

amazamum

Hi,no we didn't have the building inspector around at all,but like I said it was all done properly regarding strenghtening etc.
Could the building inspector not just get in touch with the builder that did the work regarding what was done and take his word for it or would this get the builder in trouble(I don't want that as he is a good builder and still does various work for us from time to time).
Would we have a good chance of getting the retrospective permission and then we could class it as a 4 bedroom house,how much does it cost to get the retrospective permission and how would we go about doing it/how long does it take.
I have to point out that a number of houses on the estate have had their lofts converted including one over the road which has the same house end window,although I don't know whether they had planning permission either,but does this set a president for the estate.
I have to point out that my husband and I have this room as our bedroom at the moment(has full standing height etc).
Somebody said to me once that they thought the only problem there may be was the fact that there was an end window(looks over neighbours gardens,but so do my back bedroom windows that already existed).

Sorry about the long post.
Thanks for any help and advice that you can give.

cabbage

Hi, as with all the other posts, I agree that you need to proceed with caution as building regs are there to protect you. Its worth asking a qualified person to go through with any points that are wrong with you.

When I worked for a solicitor this kind of thing came up all the time. The answer was to either get permission retrospectively or ask the seller to pay for an indemnity policy. Most policies will cover the full cost of the house purchase and its usually just a case of the solicitor organising the policy with the vendor paying or reducing the sale price accordingly.

weeg

amazamum wrote:

Hi,no we didn't have the building inspector around at all,but like I said it was all done properly regarding strenghtening etc.

Properly according to whom? A builder is NOT an architect or an engineer and is unlikely to be familiar with the building regulations, let alone the British Standards. The words "but my joiner said it would be OK" are some of the most expensive in the english language.

It might be fine of course. But whose word, and whose PI do you have for that?

marybishop

Totally agree with Weeg - who did your builder get to do the structural calculations for all the timbers, etc or did he work them out in his head?:eek:

This is exactly what Planning/Building Regs are for - to make sure everything is done with safety in mind.