Help? Planning and building regs

flowerstar_2

Hi,

I'd really appreciate it if anyone could help - we're close to exchange and I'm 3 weeks away from giving birth!!!:eek:

The house we're purchasing has an extension which comprises the 4th bedroom and en suite.

Apparently no planning permission has been sought and there is no record of it complying with building regulations.

The people we are buying from have bought it like that and the only addition they made was to add a conservatory which they say is within permitted development rights (15% of a detached property).

Our solicitor is saying that the most we should ask for is an indemnity insurance from them in order not to rock the boat.

What I'm wondering is - what are the chances of us having a buildings inspector coming around and asking us to pull it down and rebuild it complying with current building regs?

If so, should we ask for a price reduction to reflect this? To cut a long story short, we negotiated a real deal on the price and suspect they'll tell us to go jump and forget the whole thing.

My husband says I'm hormonal and worrying about nothing!:mad:

I can't seem to get a perspective on whether I'm being neurotic or rightly concerned!!!:rotfl:

Has ANYONE got advice, experience or opinions on this? Or I think my head is going to explode:huh:

Doozergirl

How old is the extension?

flowerstar_2

I'm not sure to be honest - it's definitely over 10 years though.

I'll try and find out.....

Gold_Shogun

flowerstar wrote: »

I'm not sure to be honest - it's definitely over 10 years though.

I'll try and find out.....

If it's more than 10 years, then it is FULLY "Lawful" on Planning Terms under the "Lawful Use or Development" Regulations, and CANNOT have any Enforcement Action taken against it.

In Terms of Building Regs, the time limit for enforcement is 1 year.

My suggestion = Take the offered Indemnity Insurance, and enjoy your new house.

Jonbvn

As I remember from a friend, when an alteration/extension without PP is over a certain age (less than 10 years) the local council cannot ask you to remove it.

I have tried checking on the gov's planning website, which looks good but is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike! If I can find anything online, I will post again.

UPDATE: Just spoken to a friend "in the business" about this. He confirmed that if the extension is older than 10 years then you are OK. To completely avoid this problem in future (if you sell), a "Certificate of Lawful Use or Development" should be obtained. Such a certificate is much easier to obtain than PP.

NB: I accept no responsibilty for the completeness or accuracy of anything posted.

RobertinHerts

The seller 'should' pay but ours refuses saying they would rather lose the sale so we're going to pay for the indemnity. Elsewhere on these forums it's said that the price relates to the value of the property. We are expecting to pay around £250.

Robert

Doozergirl

Theres's no need for an indemnity policy if Building regs and Planning can't come after you. That's all it insures you against and if they're not going to do it, what is the point of insurance?

Solicitors don't seem to appreciate this. So I say if the vendor is prepared to pay, let them. Otherwise, when you come to sell, if the point is raised, get a letter confirming that if an extension is over X years old, the council will not persue.

It's so obvious now, but it was pointed out to me on here, that most of the time, the houses that these old extensions belong to are even older, and will not have planning or building regs either! Somehow this is never an issue! It's ridiculous.

As long as your surveyor is happy that it's all structurally sound, just buy the house and be happy!

silvercar

totally agreewith Doozergirl. All an indemnity will do is give you peace of mind if you come to sell to someone with a pernickety solicitor.

clairedurham

Sorry I know this might be a bit late but I would query the conservatory. As the house has been extended previously then they may well have already used up their permited development allowance. It makes no difference how old the extension is.

Doozergirl

Claire, even if the conservatory is larger than permitted developement allows, the council have exceeded the point by which they can demand that planning permission is obtained.

The extension is here to stay.

Welcome, btw

Gold_Shogun

clairedurham wrote: »

Sorry I know this might be a bit late but I would query the conservatory. As the house has been extended previously then they may well have already used up their permited development allowance. It makes no difference how old the extension is.

Furthermore ... An unusual "quirk" of the C.L.U.D. regulations is that Unauthorised Extensions which are past the Enforcement Period do NOT constitute part of the Permitted Development Areas or Volumes, but rather count as part of the Volume of the Whole House.

So if you add 15 sq.m onto a 100 sg.m house, when the Enforced period is past, the house legally consists of 115 sq.m (with ALL P.D. expansion rights STILL intact).

:cool: :beer: