Close to exchange, may be no building regulations, indemnity insurance?

lizzyshep

Amphion wrote: »

Hi

I am a structural engineer and I am going to obviouslyadvise you get one to look over your property but I’m not just saying that tokeep my industry going!

My advice to youwould be to get an engineer/surveyor to have a look at the property and makesure all alterations are safe. Indemnity insurances are all well and good butas we all know with insurances it isn’t always easy to claim and get paid!

I haven’t had much dealings with these indemnity insurancepolicies you speak of however as I understand they are to indemnify for theevent of the regulations (planning or Building regulations) being enforced in retrospectnot to cover you if the building falls down. Please feel free to correct me if I’mwrong with that last statement!



Good luck

Hi, thanks for your input :-) I believe you are right about the indemnity insurance which is why we want a structural report too. The problem is that we won't get a definite answer without taking things apart to look at the structure so I don't know if it is worth it, especially given there were no obvious issues mentioned on the Homebuyers report.

lizzyshep

Spoke to both EA today - the buyer of our flat is thankfully willing to wait until this is sorted out so that's one less worry. The seller's EA is going to try and contact the seller but she thinks they may have misunderstood the form and thought it only referred to works done by them, or may have not realised that the term 'building works' referred to things like installing French doors etc.

Both EA sounded positive so I feel a bit more reassured.

My main concern now is whether or not Nationwide are likely to devalue the house based on what has happened, and whether they will accept an indemnity policy. I know these issues are really common and I am probably worrying too much, but I'm so scared we are going to lose our mortgage.

Oh, and we have a baby due in 7 weeks!:eek: Talk about bad timing...

lizzyshep

This is still dragging on and we are getting seriously fed up! We have satisfied ourselves with the condition of the house (although the sellers seem incapable of putting in writing what we have asked for regarding the works done) and we are accepting an indemnity policy. However, this has been referred to Nationwide and they are taking ages to give us a response. Last Tuesday (so 9 days ago) they said it would take 24-48 hours, our solicitor has been chasing them constantly but still no reply. They keep saying it will be soon but then it doesn't happen. Apparently they are 'overwhelmed' due to tomorrow's stamp duty deadline. In the meantime our buyer is asking us for money for storage costs and is threatening to pull out! Anyone else having issues with their lender? Any advice? Thanks.

Sammie_UK1

lizzyshep wrote: »

Oh, and on the local searches it says there have been none of the following granted, issued, refused or pending: building regs approvals since 1/1/2000; building regs certificates or notices issued regarding work done under competent persons self-certification scheme since 1/4/2002. Not sure if this means there were approvals or certs prior to these dates, or if these are general cut off dates - does anyone know?

How/where did you carry out a search to find out if the property had building regs approval?

Thanks..

Richard_Webster

Does lizzshep have any idea when the works were done?

Nationwide, unlike many other lenders, only requires solicitors to investigate possible breaches of building regulations going back 10 years, so the issue for her is more likely to be whether her surveyor considers there is any apparent problem with the work. In general terms the older the work with no obvious symptoms of structural failure the less likely this is to occur.

lizzyshep

Sammie_UK1 wrote: »

How/where did you carry out a search to find out if the property had building regs approval?

Thanks..

It came up as part of the local searches which all solicitors will carry out as part of the purchase. You will have been charged a couple of hundred for these, ask your solicitor if you're not sure. The important thing with any work you suspect of not having BR approval is NOT to ask the local authority directly about them - if you do this you can't then take out an indemnity policy, ever!

lizzyshep

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Does lizzshep have any idea when the works were done?

Nationwide, unlike many other lenders, only requires solicitors to investigate possible breaches of building regulations going back 10 years, so the issue for her is more likely to be whether her surveyor considers there is any apparent problem with the work. In general terms the older the work with no obvious symptoms of structural failure the less likely this is to occur.

We FINALLY got this info from the seller last week after asking several times - the major structural work (building of extension and knocking through a load bearing wall) was done over 20 years ago and the rest (building a partition wall and installing a new bathroom) was done in 1995. There are no apparent structural problems so this, along with the age of the works, has set our minds at rest. It is reassuring what you say about Nationwide, however we only discovered when the works were done after it was referred to them, could this be a problem? Anyway, they say they have heard from the valuer and will fax us their decision today so fingers crossed!

lizzyshep

I'm delighted to say that we finally exchanged today and move next Wednesday :-) We got the go ahead from Nationwide 2 days ago and it all happened quickly from there. We had a bit of a hairy moment yesterday when we were meant to exchange and the seller couldn't be contacted, we had booked the removal firm so spent last night worrying! But it all went through this morning and the relief is immense - we can now relax, finish packing and enjoy the last 4 weeks before our baby is due! Thanks for all who gave us advice on here, this forum has been invaluable during what was one of the most stressful times of our lives :-)

Sammie_UK1

lizzyshep wrote: »

It came up as part of the local searches which all solicitors will carry out as part of the purchase. You will have been charged a couple of hundred for these, ask your solicitor if you're not sure. The important thing with any work you suspect of not having BR approval is NOT to ask the local authority directly about them - if you do this you can't then take out an indemnity policy, ever!

I'm in the process of buying a house where there has been some extension work done that does not have planning permision or meets BR's.. (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3928269)

So should I tell my conveyancer that there has been some work done to the property but don't mention this to the council when you do your search? Surely, he should be familiar with this anyway and know not to ask anything directly about the work done to the property?..

(Why oh why did I decide to buy a house when I am so sleep deprived and exhausted from looking after a newborn..? Why am I doing the two most stressful things in life simultaneously?) :huh:

Yorkie1

Sammie_UK1 wrote: »

I'm in the process of buying a house where there has been some extension work done that does not have planning permision or meets BR's.. (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3928269)

So should I tell my conveyancer that there has been some work done to the property but don't mention this to the council when you do your search? Surely, he should be familiar with this anyway and know not to ask anything directly about the work done to the property?..

(Why oh why did I decide to buy a house when I am so sleep deprived and exhausted from looking after a newborn..? Why am I doing the two most stressful things in life simultaneously?) :huh:

Please keep all your posts on the same issue on the same thread - i.e. the one you just linked to.

It gets very confusing where someone else's thread is hijacked, because you end up having two lots of answers running concurrently, and also because your full history of questions / answers isn't available to other posters.