Conservatory delaying exchange..

TheGame7

..........

Nenen

I was speaking to a very nice lady from the building regs dept at my local council yesterday and she told me that there was a case in recent years where someone successfully sued their solicitor for not checking that all planning/building regs had been complied with when the extension on the house they had just bought collapsed! :eek: Prior to this solicitors often ignored any extensions/consevatories etc that had been put up a long time ago and didn't have relevant paperwork or they would make a judgement based upon their knowledge of local planning laws as to whether or not it was required. Unsuprisingly, since the judgement against a solicitor, they are all now much more cautious!

I think (particulalry if it is going to be a difficult or long process to get confirmation from the LA you can take out some sort of indemnity insurance that would pay out should there be an issue in the future and prevent the solicitor from carrying the can! Maybe this is worth asking about.
Good luck

jenny_g

Remember, your solicitor is acting for you and your mortgage company, making sure that both of you are getting a house worth the money with no complications. Though it feels as if all the stuff the solicitor throws up is an obstacle in your way, they are telling you about it for your benefit. These kind of things do jump up and bite you in the future, e.g. you current mortgage lender may lend on the house with no planning for the conservatory, but a new mortgage company when you remortgage in 3 years time may well not, they are all different in how particular they are. You should take the solicitor's advice, but as the other poster said there are quick routes to the sameish thing.

I'd suggest you instruct your solicitor to set a date by which the vendor gets confirmation of permitted development from the local planning office (it usually only takes a couple of phone calls) otherwise stipulate that you want the vendor to take out indemnity insurance on it for you. This is a one off that gets passed along with the property in future and satisfies most if not all major mortgage lenders. It should only cost them bewteen £150 and £300.

Doozergirl

You can't contact the local authority AND get indemnity insurance as the insurance policy would be invalid.


One or the other - an indemnity would take five minutes to arrange and they would have to pay the LA for a certificate of permitted development anyway. I'd go with the policy for an easy life. The vendors should pay for it really.

sham63

I can help with the planning issues regarding the conservatory.

It is true than in most cases a house will not need planning permission for a conservatory as it will be classed as 'Permitted Development'.

The majority of houses have permitted development rights that allow certain alterations/additions to take place without the need for planning permission. In the case of conservatories and other extensions it is based on the volume of the extension in relation to the original house. Although straightforward in theory, there are a number of other factors which can determine whether an extension is permitted development or not such as proximity to any outbuildings/garages, proximity to the highway and whether the house has previously been extended. For this reason it is unlikley that your local planning office will be able to write a letter to say wheter the conservatory is Permitted Development as a site visit will be required to check. For this reason you can apply for a 'Lawful Development Certificate' to get an answer, although plans will need to be submitted and a fee paid. Also bear in mind it will take up to 8 weeks to get a decision (so probably not much use in your case).

You also need to check that Permitted Development rights for the house have not been removed. It is possible for new build houses to have their permitted development rights withdrawn by condition attached to the original planning permission for the house. The palnning office should be able to tell you this on the 'phone, especially if you can speak to the officer who dealt with the case.

I've outlined the main pitfalls, although it's true to say that in most of these cases the conservatory is permitted development.

rjm2k1

TheGame7 wrote: »

Is this the norm? Should the solicitor not be able to work it out herself by looking at the conservatory regulations and the dimensions of the extension?

No, the solicitor wouldn't look at the regs as it would make them liable if they made a mistake, they have to rely on the LA.

Richard_Webster

rjm2k1 wrote: »

No, the solicitor wouldn't look at the regs as it would make them liable if they made a mistake, they have to rely on the LA.

I can see the point, but I would be waiting around forever if I wasn't able to conclude that a conservatory was permitted development in most cases. For me the important thing on a newish house is seeing the planning permission for its construction to see whether it contains a condition taking away the normal permitted development "rights". Sham63's post explains all this.

As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

Debt_Free_Chick

Solicitors really do themselves no favours, at times :rolleyes:

It NOT for your solicitor to decide what to do in this situation - it's YOUR decision. But you need the full facts to make an informed decision.

The question for your solicitor is ... what could happen if the conservatory needed PP but PP was not obtained?

Answer: in an extreme case, the Local Planning Authority can issue a notice requiring that the conservatory be torn down. BUT ... they will not do this IF the conservatory would have qualified for PP when it was built. Instead, they will ask you to submit an application (retrospective) for PP now.

Do any neighbouring houses have conservatories? Could you approach them and ask what they did about PP?

You could also visit the local planning office and ask a general question about PP for houses in that road. Don't talk about the specific house you are buying - just about houses in that road, in general.

Planning officers are not there to stop development - they are there to ensure that any development is of the type allowable for that area. I would have thought it highly unlikely that PP would not be forthcoming .... in the majority of areas, a conservatory gets PP (unless a listed building and/or in an AONB or conservation area - even then, you would more than likely get PP but with conditions attached).

Question for you ... how do you feel about this? Is it "more than the house is worth" or are you prepared to accept some inconvenience?

Richard_Webster

It NOT for your solicitor to decide what to do in this situation - it's YOUR decision. But you need the full facts to make an informed decision.

If you are getting a mortgage IT IS for your solicitor to decide because he will normally also be acting for the mortgage lender and they want everything squeaky clean. Whilst a solicitor can have a conversation with a buyer client to explain risk factors, and the buyer client may well conclude in a particular case that the risks of trouble are small, we cannot have that kind of conversation with a lender.

I agree in a lot of cases for something like a conservatory, even if planning permission were required, the Council wouldn't really want to go to the trouble of taking enforcement action, but lenders don't look at that.

As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients

Debt_Free_Chick

Richard_Webster wrote: »

If you are getting a mortgage IT IS for your solicitor to decide because he will normally also be acting for the mortgage lender and they want everything squeaky clean.

Ah, yes ... sorry, I always forget that one

I guess the LTV is an issue and that a low mortgage requirement might mean that this is less of an issue to the lender?

Trumsiz123

Hi,
I'm an FTB and we are at the bottom of a chain of 5. We've been waiting since March 13th for completion. The last few weeks there was probate issues to sort out at the top of the chain, that's been dealt with.

But now they too have problems with regulations or planning permission for the conservatory. I've read this thread with interest and wondered whether this is something that can be sorted out quickly, ie. within a week or so. Our sellers are threatening to pull out and mortgage apps. are going to soon too!

thanks!