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Advice on buying a house with no 'building regs'
regency_man
Posts: 295 Forumite
Hi,
I am looking at a property which, some time in the last 20 years, has had a fairly substantial extension put on the back. I can't find any planning permission application for it, but the rest of the houses on the street have similar extensions and it shows up on the official street plans etc. So I'm not too worried on this front.
However, the first buyer pulled out because during the survey it was identified that two doors had been removed from the original wall of the building and replaced with large openings to make the extension 'open-plan'. Apparently there was no Building Regulations inspection or approval undertaken for this. In response the vendor said she was aware of this and had a substantial indemnity policy on the work, which would be transferred with the property.
The first buyer then requested that the vendor get the work approved retrospectively but the vendor refused - citing that they had no desire to spend the money or time to do this when they have been happily living with it for many years. So the sale fell through and it has been offered to me at my slightly lower bid.
Can someone give me some advice on how to proceed with this, what extra actions I might need to take to ensure I'm not left with a problem? Or should I just walk away?
It's a really lovely house...
I am looking at a property which, some time in the last 20 years, has had a fairly substantial extension put on the back. I can't find any planning permission application for it, but the rest of the houses on the street have similar extensions and it shows up on the official street plans etc. So I'm not too worried on this front.
However, the first buyer pulled out because during the survey it was identified that two doors had been removed from the original wall of the building and replaced with large openings to make the extension 'open-plan'. Apparently there was no Building Regulations inspection or approval undertaken for this. In response the vendor said she was aware of this and had a substantial indemnity policy on the work, which would be transferred with the property.
The first buyer then requested that the vendor get the work approved retrospectively but the vendor refused - citing that they had no desire to spend the money or time to do this when they have been happily living with it for many years. So the sale fell through and it has been offered to me at my slightly lower bid.
Can someone give me some advice on how to proceed with this, what extra actions I might need to take to ensure I'm not left with a problem? Or should I just walk away?
It's a really lovely house...
0
Comments
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http://www.gardandco.com/conveyancing/building-regulations.html
This is a good link, quite simple and answers the questions. You can get the buyer (or you yourself) can get insurance.
Personally i would be passing this over to the buyer (or pulling out completely as you never know what issues there will be once you come to sell) but the buyer can refuse to pay it passing the buck to you.I am a Mortgage AdviserYou should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.0 -
My concern wouldn't be availability of insurance (or not) but whether the wall would be in danger of collapsing. Indemnity insurance is fine but won't protect against this eventuality. All very well for the present vendor to say they've been living happily but would you really want to put you/your family at risk by buying and moving in?0
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Have a surveyor to look at it if you think want reassurance it's safe. Lack of building regs does make it unsafe and presence of regs doesn't make it safe either.0
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I am a Mortgage AdviserYou should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.0
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Yes sorry I realised I put it in the wrong forum but couldn't work out how to move it! Can an admin merge the two??0
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