No NHBC guarantee

Richard9876

My wife and I are buying a house and I would appreciate some advice on surveys etc.

The house has five bedrooms, an area of 4683 square feet and a plot of approx 1/3 of an acre.

The estate agent brochure for the house indicated the house was a new build.

However the estate agent has now told us that the study and the utility rooms were kept from the original property that was on the site which the owner demolished (or mostly demolished). A side wall and some of the front wall were also kept from the original property. The original property was from the 1970s. The new house is larger than the original one and is made from conventional materials (i.e. bricks, breeze blocks, tiles). The house was completed approx early 2013. We won't be doing any extensions or knocking down any internal walls.

The estate agent says the planning office classified the new building as an extension/refurb. It is approximately 85% new build. It does not have an NHBC guarantee.

Is there likely to be a problem borrowing money from a building society for a property that is 85% new build and does not have an NHBC guarantee ?

What would a building society require as regards surveys, investigations, certificates, etc for it to lend money on this building ?

If you were buying it would a homebuyer report be sufficient or would you recommend a building survey be done ?

I expect the house to have a Building Control Completion Certificate.

However I doubt this will tell me anything about what was done on the house such as how deep the foundations are, whether the foundation on the old wall was underpinned, how thick the insulation under the roof is, etc.

Is there any sensible way of finding out things like this. For example do building control departments accept enquires from members of the public about such details ?

Thanks for your help
Richard

Davesnave

There will have been full plans submitted to Building Control, and these should be freely available on your council's web site. They will state specifications, though some matters, like the exact depth of foundations, are often decided on-site, when ground conditions may be observed.

Lenders are generally only interested in the value of the property and its structural integrity in a very general sense. They aren't interested in minutiae, but you should be!

On any property like this, I'd have a full survey to check that the builder hasn't cut corners. It's a major purchase and the difference in survey fees is tiny compared with the value of the property.

I think you may be giving the NHBC guarantee more kudos than many who have tried to claim on it might think it deserves!

Richard9876

Thank you for your reply Davesnave.

I was thinking that a homebuyer report would be sufficient as the house is mostly new but I shall go for a building survey instead.

How trust worthy do you think Building Control Completion Certificates are ?

If a house has a completion certificates how likely is it that the foundation trenches were inspected before they were filled with concrete and that everything is as it should be ?

How about other aspects of building regulations ?

I would like to hear from anyone who has an opinion on the above points.

Thanks for your help
Richard

sarah69696pink

I bought an apartment that was a new build (old building converting into apartments) but did not have an NHBC. No problems with a mortgage, but did have quite a few later problems with corners cut by builders. We got the simplest survey we could get and would not do this again - would definitely advise to get the best survey you can.

davidmcn

If it's 85% newbuild then I would call it newbuild - it sounds rather different from a conversion where the structure has remained in place. So, the lender's solicitor will be looking in the first place for an NHBC (or equivalent) guarantee. If that isn't available then pretty much any lender will at least want a certificate from one of the professionals involved in monitoring the build. So I would suggest you check what's available - the consents from the council are necessary, but won't be sufficient on their own.

Thrugelmir

Link below will indicate what is acceptable to individual lenders.

http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/handbook/englandandwales/question-list/527

Doozergirl

Look online for the planning application. I would not trust an estate agent to know exactly what I had done to a house. The app will tell you if it is a replacement dwelling (new build) or whether it's a considerable extension or remodel and you will see the old and new layouts.

Building Control monitors that we build to our government's legislation on minimum standards for building. They will know exactly how much insulation, foundation depths, infacteverythumg worth checking. It won't be available immediately online but it will be on their files. There is nothing better to exceed a building control completion certificate - I'm not sure what you expect is better?

NHBC or similar may be expected for a new build, but we haven't established tha it is, yet. Look for the local authority's planning page and run a search. NHBC is an insurance policy, not a standard.

Richard9876

Thank you for your replies.

I looked at the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) web site. This indicates that mortgage lenders require an NHBC or similar warranty before they will lend money on a property that is less than ten years old.

If a warranty is not available then as an alternative a lender might accept a "CML Professional Consultant's Certificate" from the professional consultant who monitored the build.

Can anyone please tell me the following.

What is the CML definition of a newly built property ?

For example if 51% or more of a building is new due to extensions does it count as a newly built property even though up to 49% of it might be many years old.

Or does the CML definition of a newly built property only depend on how the planning permission describes the development (e.g. as a new build or as a set of extensions and internal alterations) ?

Also does anyone know how acceptable "CML Professional Consultant's Certificates" are to lenders? Are they perfectly happy with them or are they reluctant to accept them ?

Thanks for your help
Richard

Richard9876

Can anyone please tell me the following.

What is the CML definition of a newly built property ?

For example if 51% or more of a building is new due to extensions does it count as a newly built property even though up to 49% of it might be many years old.

Or does the CML definition of a newly built property only depend on how the planning permission describes the development (e.g. as a new build or as a set of extensions and internal alterations) ?

Also does anyone know how acceptable "CML Professional Consultant's Certificates" are to lenders? Are they perfectly happy with them or are they reluctant to accept them ?


Thanks for your help
Richard

davidmcn

Richard9876 wrote: »

What is the CML definition of a newly built property ?

For example if 51% or more of a building is new due to extensions does it count as a newly built property even though up to 49% of it might be many years old.

I thought you said it was 85%? Anyway, it will probably depend on what the surveyor says, I'm not aware of any further definition.

Or does the CML definition of a newly built property only depend on how the planning permission describes the development (e.g. as a new build or as a set of extensions and internal alterations) ?

I don't think so. The planners will be more concerned with whether it was a new (as in additional) house or a replacement for an existing house.

Also does anyone know how acceptable "CML Professional Consultant's Certificates" are to lenders?

They're acceptable if the relevant lender's Part 2 says they accept them.

But you're not likely to get one retrospectively, so if you've got a particular property you're interested in, you need to find out whether there already is such a certificate available.