Selling house - indemnity insurance

kaom

Hi all - first post - hope you're all doing good.

I'm in the process of selling my house - everything's going well, the surveys have been done and now all is in the hands of our sols. My concern is that we had some building work done which I'm not sure if building regs were obtained. If I can elaborate:

1. Kitchen has small extension added which included taking out a load-baring wall. Our builder showed us the engineer's calculations based on two possible solutions, so I truly believe the finished article is well constructed.

2. Our property already had a 4th bedroom in the loft. However the room had restricted head height as it was still only a pitched roof, which we changed by adding a dormer. In addition we changed and moved the staircase from being boxed in to more open (read: nice looking) - we understood at the time that this alteration would not be accetable to building regs as stairs need to be closed off. We have sold the house as 3 bedroom plus loft room, so am hoping this is a way "round" this bit of red tape


Their sols havent come back to ours yet (but they will!) regarding these changes but when they do what is likely to happen? I keep reading about indemnity policies and regularisation certs and assume that one of these will be suitable. I also believe that all works were carried out to a high standard.

I'd like to contact the council to find out if buildings regs were applied for on the kitchen (to put my mind at rest) but on the assumption they weren't do you think this will put our buyers off?

thanks all

pcwilkins

kaom wrote: »

1. Kitchen has small extension added which included taking out a load-baring wall. Our builder showed us the engineer's calculations based on two possible solutions, so I truly believe the finished article is well constructed.

Surely building regs must have been applied for for this one? I mean, removing a load-bearing wall --- it's kind of important it's done right! If I was buying, the fact that you "truly believe" it is well-constructed would do little to reassure me. I would get in touch with the council to check.

The second thing you mention wouldn't really worry me. Presumably the stairs can be boxed in again if the buyer is worried about it. The first is the most important, to my mind. How long ago was the work done?

Peter

silvercar

To prove that the work was done to a satisfactory standard will need a structural engineer and probably some inspection holes made.

How long ago the work has been done is important. Firstly, the council cannot ask you to redo work over a year old. An indemnity policy is only available for work over a year old, so in effect all it does is give peace of mind to your buyer. Secondly, it is easier to see if work done a good few years ago has satisfactorally stood the test of time.

As a buyer I would want to know the work was done to a good standard. As a seller I would expect to pay for the indemnity policy and contribute to the costs of a strutural report if required. The surveyor may pass an opinion on whether the work was upto scratch or not.

kaom

silvercar wrote: »

To prove that the work was done to a satisfactory standard will need a structural engineer and probably some inspection holes made.

How long ago the work has been done is important. Firstly, the council cannot ask you to redo work over a year old. An indemnity policy is only available for work over a year old, so in effect all it does is give peace of mind to your buyer. Secondly, it is easier to see if work done a good few years ago has satisfactorally stood the test of time.

As a buyer I would want to know the work was done to a good standard. As a seller I would expect to pay for the indemnity policy and contribute to the costs of a strutural report if required. The surveyor may pass an opinion on whether the work was upto scratch or not.

thanks for the answers.

the work was completed more than a year ago so it seems i'll have to get an indemnity policy - i have no issues paying for this - would/could this potentially put buyers off? I've read through a lot of threads here and it seems the general consensus is that it shoudnt do. but you never know with buyers and/or their sols.