Selling House No Building Reg's for 3rd Bedroom (Was sold to us as 3)

-sie-

Firstly apologises if this is in the wrong section.

We purchased our first house almost 2 years ago, advertised by the Estate Agent as a Three Bedroom and with the blurb stating "...en suite to the master bedroom and converted attic/bedroom three...."

Our solicitors did not raise any concerns and we thought everything was fine.

Fast forward two years and due to circumstances we are now looking to sell the property, the Valuator for the Estate Agent asked if we had the completion certificate for the loft conversion.

I called the Council to request this...nothing.... no details.... no planning.... no building regs put in....nothing.

As such it should not be legally marketed as a 3 bed and thus the value will be reduced because of this.

Do we have any rights? Do we take it up with the Estate Agent or Solicitors?

I am waiting for a call back from the Solicitor now....

AnnieO1234

It's worth a shot but most estate agents particulars, if not all, include a caveat to the effect that the purchaser must satisfy himself that the details are correct.

You may need to get retrospective consents etc and/or indemnity insurance. Xxx

davidmcn

Your solicitor ought to have investigated at the time (assuming it was flagged up to them that there was a conversion).

Thrugelmir

Your solicitor should have drawn this to your attention.

Have you reread your purchase correspondence?

Forget the EA's blurb.

-sie-

I'm at work so haven't had time to reread everything.

I am waiting on a call back from the Solicitor this afternoon, I would expect them to have picked it up. The floor plan and advert shows loft conversion.

TBagpuss

The issue would be whether you sellers, in their property information forms, stated that there had been building works or a conversion.

If they said there had not been, then your solicitor isn't at fault for not following up. If they said that there had been, then it would be reasonable to expect your solicitor to have raised this issue and to have followed up to ask for the certification or for appropriate indemnity insurance.
It may also depend how long ago the conversion was done.

-sie-

We have had two valuations...

One says it isn't an issue and they will let people know...

One says it can't be marketed as a 3 bed but we might have issues with a Surveyor anyway...

Though it all passed the Surveyor / Valuation for our mortgage?!?

Now I'm confused....

Still waiting on the Solicitor to call however....

Thrugelmir

-sie- wrote: »

I would expect them to have picked it up.

You are the purchaser. So the onus is on you to read everything that the solicitor sends through, i.e. the responses to the enquiries made.

eddddy

-sie- wrote: »

We have had two valuations...

One says it isn't an issue and they will let people know...

One says it can't be marketed as a 3 bed but we might have issues with a Surveyor anyway...
...

Hi sie

Some thoughts:

As it doesn't have building regs approval, the first consideration is the quality of the work. (e.g. is it likely to fall down, because they haven't used sturdy enough joists?)


A loft conversion could well be a 'Permitted Development' which doesn't require planning permission. See http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/commonprojects/loftconversion/


If the conversion was done some years ago, the council are unlikely to take building regs enforcement action. And a future purchaser can get indemnity insurance for that anyway.


The seller's property information form usually asks a question about 'Conversions' done to the property. Depending on the exact wording of the question, and the answers given - you might have a claim against the seller. (But they might argue that you could clearly see that the loft had been converted when you viewed the property. And when I'm buying, my solicitor asks me if there appear to be any alterations to the property etc, that he should enquire about.)


In my opinion, the first EA is being a pompous prat. You are selling a 3 bed house, where the loft conversion doesn't have building regs approval. As this is a minor blight on the house, you might end up selling for slightly less than you would otherwise.


Some buyers will be scared off by building regs issue, so telling them before they pay out for survey, searches etc might be a decent and honest thing to do - to give them the opportunity to walk away. It will also save wasting your time.

Tigsteroonie

When you say it passed the surveyor/valuer for your mortgage, did you read their report? And did it list the loft room as a bedroom with no questions?

I only ask because our recent valuation listed as a 'lean-to garden room' what the EA had described as 'dining room extension'. Fortunately the valuation on the main structure of the house is sufficient for our needs.

Annie1960

http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/reports/TPO-AnnualReport-2012.pdf

See page 45 for the Ombudsman's ruling on a similar case.

If you read through more of the cases, you will see that the EA cannot rely on any disclaimers. They have an obligation to check the information in their particulars, and should not commence marketing until they are satisfied they have obtained the facts.

For example, see the Learning box on page 47 here:

http://www.tpos.co.uk/downloads/reports/TPO_Annual_Report_2013.pdf

An indemnity policy is unlikely to be of any value now as the Council has been made aware of the situation.