Buying a house with granted planning permission+building regulation,butwork notstartd

jhs2zz

Hi

I am buying a property whose owner planned a rear extension and loft conversion in 2007. The planning permission and building regulation were lodged and granted then. However, the owner did not carry out the building work but only some minor home improvement jobs in the loft (put in an radiator, painted the wall, opened a window). And as a result, they do not have the completion certificate.

Communication with my solicitor and surveyor seems to suggest that this could put me at some risk and I should have myself covered for it. Basically they say that properties like this will have an "open record" at the local council, meaning that some building work was planned and expected to be started at the property. Until a completion certificate is issued, the council has the right to request inspection at the property or enforce the work at any time.

If that is the case I certainly do not want to get caught up in a situation that I, the new owner of the house, is forced to start the work (which I may not want to do anyway) and finish it, though I can imagine this chance is very slim but technically it is possible?

So my question is, well, what advice could you give me? I was not expecting this to be so complicated as I know that many people are selling their homes with granted planning permission and building regulation but have not started the work. And I thought the grant only lasts for certain time? Also is it worth for me to take planning permission and building regulation indemnity policy?

Please note that the building work was never started, except some minor improvement jobs done to the loft (installation of radiator, painting the wall, opening a window).

Any suggestions highly appreciated! Thanks

Davesnave

If you apply for, and obtain PP, it doesn't mean anyone can force you to do it!

I obtained PP for building an upstairs to my bungalow in 2012, but I've not done it, nor do I intend to now. When I submitted plans for a different build early this year, no one came back to me, saying, "Hey, you said you were building an upstairs!"

In other words, this happens all the time. People change their minds.

It's possible Building Control might show more interest if they think you may be using the loft space as a bedroom, without complying with the regs, but if you aren't, why worry?

The PP has probably exp[ired now, as I doubt that the work you describe would have stopped he 3 year clock ticking, but someone more experienced can comment on that.

(I've had to assume here that there is no staircase to this loft room because you've not mentioned one and called it a loft, not an attic.

G_M

Do you intend to complete the work? If so, you simply comply with the Plans and involve Building Control in the usual way.

If not, the only issue is whether the work done to date was of a nature that required BC sign-off and whether this was obtained.

jhs2zz

Hi all

thank you so much for your input.

I checked with the council today and it seems that for the work they've done no planning permission is needed. However, building regulation certificate is required, because the fact that they added radiator and roof window to the loft and did some decoration suggests the intention of creating additional habitable space, which must be authorized. The council does not have any records and deems the work as unauthorized.

I guess the only option now I have is either give up and move on to other properties or chase up the vendor to rectify this issue. The first option is only my last resort because so much time has been spent on this... the second will likely take a long time to get it done and it all depends on the vendor...

any other options do I have here?

Many thanks!

Davesnave

jhs2zz wrote: »

Hi all

any other options do I have here?

Many thanks!

How about move in, remove the rad, make it less 'habitable,' then inform the council to inspect at their leisure, if they wish? It's perfectly OK to have a Velux in your loft.

You still haven't said if there are stairs or a permanent type of ladder accessing the space, but if not, there's no way this can be construed as habitable, if not on the heating system.

Belindav123

The problem is of your sols knows about it, then they have to report it to your lender. And some lenders will not lend. Therefore the vendor has to get it put back or enhance it to meet the requirements, either way the council need to inspect in order to issue a certificate.

We had a similar situation , we took down a wall dividing the kitchen and stairs. We could not get indemnity insurance as the council knew about it, the buyer wanted to do the enhanced work themselves, with us compensating, but their mortgage lender said no. In the end we had to do it, either put back or do the enhancements, ie fire doors , sprinkler system and escape window. We decided to put the wall back at our cost, and now the sale has gone through. We completed yesterday.

Good Luck

jhs2zz

Thanks for your quick reply.

@Dave, yes there is a built-in pull-down ladder providing access to the loft.

Davesnave

jhs2zz wrote: »

Thanks for your quick reply.

@Dave, yes there is a built-in pull-down ladder providing access to the loft.

I can't comment on the mortgage situation, but a pull-down ladder doesn't go towards the 'habitable room' end of the spectrum.

I'd not expect a problem with my building control inspector if all I had there was a ladder and a Velux, but I recognise that different LAs make up their own rules/minds as they go along.

princeofpounds

Don't give up immediately. Let the vendor know about the problems. If they can get the council to inspect and pass it, then it's all good. This isn't dramatic work, it may not be that hard.