No trace of loft conversion on planning portal

Halle71

Our sellers haven't filled in the sellers info yet so I know I am jumping the gun a bit but I've got a question about permitted development.

The house we are selling has a loft conversion and I've been asked questions about it that I was able to answer from the LA planning website - all the documentation is held. While I was doing it I decided to check our purchase as the loft has also been converted. There are no records of it. The vendor said it was done circa 2008 by a reputable company who also quoted for us so I'm wondering about the implications - is there any way it could be legal but not be on there?

We have a certificate of lawfulness and building regs sign off for ours - could they have these but they are not on the portal? I wouldn't imagine so....

This could be a real screw up because we are trying to move quickly.....

dimbo61

Phone call to your solicitor ASAP before you spend any more money !

onlyroz

If it was done under permitted development I thought a planning application was not required and so there would be no "record" to find in the planning portal. Suggest asking your solicitor and the planning department for advice.

Gordon_Hose

Either way it'll still need building regs.

Doozergirl

onlyroz wrote: »

If it was done under permitted development I thought a planning application was not required and so there would be no "record" to find in the planning portal. Suggest asking your solicitor and the planning department for advice.

You are correct. Most loft conversions fall under permitted development and therefore won't show on the planning portal as there is no application to record.

Building Regulations sometimes show, but in my experience, mostly don't.

I'd wait for the seller's info.

dominoman

Agree with the above - most loft conversions don't need planning permission.

If you want to check they have the Building Regs approval the local council will do it for you (usually free of charge). If you know and trust the builder then very likely the conversion has got Building Regs approval

lincroft1710

If there's no record of building regs for the house you are buying, bear in mind that should you sell that house, potential purchasers will want to know about building regs.

movilogo

Not all loft conversions require planning permission.

However, if such conversion does not follow building regulations, then it can't be marketed as a habitable room. If the house is marketed as 3 bedroom discarding loft room, then seller is not doing something wrong. However, if he market it as 4 bedroom which includes loft conversion then he must show proof of building regs satisfied.

Halle71

Thanks everyone.

I guess because our sale is recorded as having a certificate of lawfulness I expected to see our purchase but, on the other hand, ours doesn't have the building regs certificate scanned with the other docs or any note of it so I guess they could still have it - maybe they didn't get prior approval of plans but it was still signed off with building regs.

It's also making me a bit suspicious because it was on the market last summer with a different agent and I don't know why it was taken off, and we filled in our seller's info more than three weeks ago and they still haven't completed theirs.