23 yr old extension, no paperwork

bs0u0128

as a potential buyer, what should i be expecting/asking the vendor to be sorting out so that this extension isnt a problem for resale? many thanks

silvercar

23 year old! No enforcement is possible unless the house is a listed building or in a conservation area (and even then I'm not sure that 23 years isn't too long). They need to ensure that a survey will not show any defects, apart from that I wouldn't worry.

Mozette

Not sure if it's the same sort of thing, but when I bought my current house there had been some work done (chimney breast removed and two rooms knocked into one) for which there was no paperwork. I had to pay a one-off insurance premium to cover it. I can't remember how much it was, so it can't have been huge (else I guess I would remember!!!). The solicitor dealt with it, might be worth asking your solicitor, or estate agent (in my opinion the estate agent was a lot more help than the solicitor!)

bs0u0128

thanks for that, but what about checking its safety ? survey has come up with some cracking which may or may not be bad, but if it is ok, dont we need building regs to certify its safety? for future resale id rather sort it this side than that side lol

silvercar

you need a structural engineer to confirm its safety.

retrospective planning permission is pointless for something 23 years old. Apply for building regs consent and it will fail; regulations were very different then and there is little chance of it complying to current regs.

you "just" need an engineers report that it is safe.

mrsc_4

Basically as Silvercar says really,

Our house has a loft conversion into 2 bedrooms and a single storey rear extension this was all done 25/26 years ago (the year I was born LOL) our Vendor paid for an indemnity insurance which covers the planning aspect not that the council can do anything now.

Even if we had decided to get retrospective PP there is no way it would have got the building regs approval as they change so often.

We only had a basic valuation because unless we had a full structual survey nothing would have been detected anyway. I got advice from a surveyor at work who read all our paperwork and advised me all the way though and we obviously went ahead with our purchase. (Vendors survey 9 years previous was fine)

As long as you have a survey and are happy with the outcome there is no reason to be put off.

bs0u0128

thankyou enormously for that, if i were to block a doorway leading from it outside and turn into a doorshaped upvc window would i then need the whole thing looked at by builders? or is that only needed for resale?