Survey questions on conservatory - update from solicitor please help!

housepurchasehelp

Hi all,

Am in the process of buying a house. Today I received the Home Buyers Report back.

The survey mentions that "The wall between the lounge and conservatory has been opened up and you should confirm Building Regulation was granted for this work".

I have spoken to the Council and asked if this would have required Building Reg approval and they confirmed that it would. I didn't 100% understand but I think the person I spoke to suggested that the vendors would need to fit doors in order to get the sign off! Otherwise it needs to be treated as an extension. I asked if that required planning permission but I know that is a separate department and he could not comment on that.

I am planning to contact the solicitor about this but can anyone give me some advice or info on what is the likely outcome of this situation?

Thanks!

DannyboyMidlands

So the council confirmed that it didn't have approval?

What is needed would depend on how extensively the wall was opened-up. Have they just removed some previous windows and doors, have they demolished the entire rear wall of the house or have they done something inbetween?

Oxid8uk

housepurchasehelp wrote: »

Hi all,
The survey mentions that "The wall between the lounge and conservatory has been opened up and you should confirm Building Regulation was granted for this work".

I would have thought the surveyor was concerned that the wall above the opening may not have been supported properly. Such works need to be signed off by Building Control.

You are probably best contacting Development Control to check whether planning was required for the conservatory. They should be able to give an answer over the phone.

You should still bring it up with your solicitor though so they can check things out too.

silvercar

I know people who have had to fit the flimsiest of doors between the two, just to get building regs consent.

Basically building regs are so stringent now that the u values required (measures heat loss) mean that fitting doors between the two are almost a necessity. Once this is done the conservatory can be signed of for building regs. How long the doors remain is dubious

In fact some people wait to knock through until the building regs sign off has been given.

housepurchasehelp

Thanks everyone for your replies.

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

So the council confirmed that it didn't have approval?
Have they just removed some previous windows and doors, have they demolished the entire rear wall of the house or have they done something inbetween?

I didn't give the address so the council could not confirm it had or hadn't got building regs approval. I'm pretty sure it doesn't though as I previously spoke to building control and they told me the only references they had were for a garage and a loft conversion. I have already had issues with the loft not being signed off but the work for that is in progress and will be signed off before exchange.

There is a big opening to the conservatory its not just a case of them removing doors the whole wall isn't removed though there is a bit at the top and the sides (probably didn't explain that very well!).

I am just drafting a letter to the solicitor now but I am so confused about all of this.

I know they bought the house in 2004 and I think the conservatory/extension was added before this. What would happen if I bought the house but then came to sell it in a few years? This is my main worry.

DannyboyMidlands

Well if you ignore the lack of BR and just buy it then you'll be hoping to find an equally care-free purchaser when you come to sell it on. It's hard to tell how easy or not that will be. Or you could get BR approval during your ownership.

I think that I understood your description. Roughly how wide is the opening? How much wall is left at each side of the opening? 100mm? 300mm? 900mm? Does the roof to the main house slope front to back or side to side? Are they any exposed floorboards at first floor level? If so do they run front to back or side to side?

housepurchasehelp

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

Roughly how wide is the opening? How much wall is left at each side of the opening? 100mm? 300mm? 900mm? Does the roof to the main house slope front to back or side to side? Are they any exposed floorboards at first floor level? If so do they run front to back or side to side?

Opening is roughly 2.5 metres
Wall at either side is roughly 500mm
Roof is front to back and no exposed floorboards anywhere.

I am now worried about if we bought the house would the buildings insurance be invalid and also issues this issue may cause with getting the mortgage approved. I have sent off the questions to the solicitor and will give them a ring on Monday.

planning_officer

housepurchasehelp wrote: »

I know they bought the house in 2004 and I think the conservatory/extension was added before this. What would happen if I bought the house but then came to sell it in a few years? This is my main worry.

If the conservatory needed planning permission from the Council (which it may not have done, as it may have been 'permitted development', depending on its size), then it is immune from enforcement action now, as it has been in situ for more than 4 years. This is the cut-off point under planning legislation for any enforcment action to be taken.

housepurchasehelp

planning_officer wrote: »

If the conservatory needed planning permission from the Council (which it may not have done, as it may have been 'permitted development', depending on its size), then it is immune from enforcement action now, as it has been in situ for more than 4 years. This is the cut-off point under planning legislation for any enforcment action to be taken.

Thanks for this. I only spoke to Building Control, not Planning (will speak to them on Monday). I am now more worried about if it should have had Building Control approval (which as it has no door between the lounge and conservatory) then I think it should have) and what affect that will have on my mortgage application and the buildings insurance that I will be taking out.

Going to speak to the solicitor on Monday and see what they think.

Doozergirl

housepurchasehelp wrote: »

Thanks for this. I only spoke to Building Control, not Planning (will speak to them on Monday). I am now more worried about if it should have had Building Control approval (which as it has no door between the lounge and conservatory) then I think it should have) and what affect that will have on my mortgage application and the buildings insurance that I will be taking out.

Going to speak to the solicitor on Monday and see what they think.

You need your surveyor or perhaps more importantly, a structural engineer to check that the wall has been supported correctly.

Then you need the vendors to contribute pay for putting something like folding sliding doors to maintain a thermal barrier to outside when required. It will help keep your bills down but you can open up when you want.

The other option is that the vendors try to get what is there approved. An officer may agree to something like what they have done if there are extra insulative measures taken elsewhere (new double glazing, loft and cavity wall insulation)

Even if they don't get approval and do the doors, the problem should disappear as, on face value, it appears to comply to not actually needing Building Control Approval! Make sure you get the nod on the wall being supported corectly though. You need about 66cm from the outside edge of the wall to the opening. If it's 50cm inside as you say, there will almost certainly be a bit more than 66cm.

housepurchasehelp

I have just spoken to my solicitor to get an update and have more questions for everyone!

The conservatory was in fact built in 2006 and the vendors have stated via their solicitor that no building approval was required!

Perhaps this is true, so I wondered if anyone can tell me if in 2006 this clause was not applicable?

"The conservatory must be separated from the house by external quality walls, doors or windows."


Also does anyone know apart from putting the doors back on (not really an option) what would be needed to get building control approval for the fact it is all open plan? Who would I get in to give me a quote? Would it be a builder or someone who deals with insulation? Its a pain as we can't ask building control because that would invalidate any indemnity insurance taken out. We want to reduce the price we have offered to include any works needed but we don't have a clue what would be required.

Thanks!