Yet another spanner in the works... Building regs

SpampMan

I would also change your solicitor. This one should not have taken any action prejudicial to your conveyance without seeking your permission. I would also dispute the fee on this basis.

papermoney

The sol has received confirmation that the lender is happy to continue as long as we are satified with the works on the conversion. The sol is in the middle of writing to the lender again to confirm they do not want a full survey done.

Wish we could change sols but we can't afford to pay another one really.
This sol seems to be making things more expensive and long winded.

Catblue

Did you know that the garage conversion had no planning/building regs at the time that you made the offer on the house?

If not, then I'd be lowering the price to reflect the money/hassle involved for you.

I personally would never pay an identical amount of money for a house that does not have the appropriate planning/building regulations as I would for one that does have all the regs in place. Why reward a vendor for cutting corners?

I would tell the vendor (via the EA, if applicable) that you based your offer on the information that was made available to you at the time. At that point you never dreamed that the garage conversion had no planning/building regs (and the vendor certainly didn't volunteer this information) and therefore you would have to adjust your offer downwards to take this into account.

Of course, they might come back and say that the price reflects this lack of building regs. Only you can decide if you want the house enough at that price.

The other point, of course, is that if the vendors refuse to budge on the selling price, and you walk away, then they run the risk of the next buyers having exactly the same difficulties.