Total House Buying Despair.

kingsleysmithp

My wife and I are attempting to buy our first house. 2 years ago we were up to our eyeballs in debt, and now we're not which is an amazing feeling. We found a 3 bed victorian terrace that we liked after a couple of viewings and made an offer of £115k (£5k under the 'offers over') price.

The rear of the house includes a small extension that connects the property to the out buildings, and the out buildings have been converted to a utility room and bathroom. The 3rd bedroom is a loft conversion. When looking around the house I asked if the necessary paperwork was in place (building regs). The estate agent assured me that it was. He also advised me that the property had been rented out previously and had recently had a new fuse board fitted.

We are now 10 weeks into this journey, and it has just come to light that there are no building regs certificates for any of the work that has been carried out, and the vendors solicitor has informed our solicitor that the property has been vacant for over 19 years (since before the current owner acquired the property). The current owner is a builder, so there is every chance that he has completed the work himself and not had any checks done.

As I understand it, the estate agent shouldn't have advertised the property as a 3 bed house, as there is no legality on the loft conversion that we know of and no records online of it being completed in the last 10 years.

We moved out of our rental property 2 weeks ago as our landlord had sold, and have been sofa surfing ever since (with 3 children). We desperately want to complete, but are concerned that we could unravel a long string of issues and be stuck with something that we can't sell again.

Our solicitor is being completely useless in this whole process.

Any ideas?

Alter_ego

If you see an estate agents mouth moving - He's lying.

stator

The estate agent is working for the vendor, so if he misled them then they misled you your gripe is still against the vendor.

Have you exchanged contracts?

Regarding building regulations you could ask for an indemnity policy but that's only limited use and won't help you if the loft conversion collapses.
Otherwise you would have to ask to get someone proper in to do an indepdant inspection of the work.

kingsleysmithp

We've not exchanged contracts yet. It's incredibly frustrating and don't want want to put my family in any kind of risk. The solicitor was recommended by the estate agent, so don't know how far they will push as they will want to protect their own interest as well as working for me. She responds to emails occasionally but doesn't ever return phone calls :-(

davidmcn

How old do the alterations look? If they're ancient then I'd be less concerned, if they have been done in the last 20 years I'd be more likely to insist on paperwork.

richy999

The 'House Prices' section on Right move sometimes has the photos from the previous sale. When purchasing recently I used this to see what the house looked like in comparison to what it does now and confirmed that it had not been extended during the time the sellers had it.


If where you, I would pay for a structural survey to satisfy there is no issue with the additions.

With regards to the Building Regulations, and I quote...

'The local authority may only serve a Section 36 Notice within 12 months of the work being carried out. If they wish to take action after 12 months then they must apply to the court for an injunction which if granted will prevent the land, or that part affected by the offending works, from being used.'

Not sure if this gives you any modicum of comfort/reassurance.

kingsleysmithp

They look pretty modern - that's the weird thing. The staircase into the loft is very shallow, and very wide and takes up a considerable amount of space on the 1st floor. Everything within the house is clean and tidy (as if it's been completely redecorated and renovated). I have no clarity whatsoever on what has been done recently or historically.

stator

Insist on a professional inspection or pull out

ambioni

It's amazing how many people add extensions to their houses without planning permission or buildings completion (or both!)- but anything over 20 years is considered "historic" (no way council would want to do anything about them if they this old) and as long as a surveyor inspects and is satisfied I wouldn't worry too much. Just think about how many people live in 00s year old properties with rickety old staircases and dilapidated roofs after all! Indemnity policies or letters of comfort are really not needed in this case IF the extensions are 19 years old, but I would get a surveyors opinion before committing yourself further because you don't really know how old they are.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Sorry this has been an expensive lesson for you. Never ever believe anything an agent (selling or renting) tells you about a property. They tell you what you want to hear and you'll only discover the truth after parting with cash. I personally didn't give notice on my tenancy until I'd completed and budgeted for the overlap, for peace of mind. Also, choose your own solicitor based on word of mouth recommendation/your own research.

If it's any consolation, they are only going to be able to sell the property to a cash buyer who's confident it's not going to collapse, so they aren't going to make a profit any time soon.

teddysmum

This sounds like the type of house my aunt lived in up to the 1970s. ie having a separate 'washus' (wash house) which contained a sink and copper boiler, cooking being done in the house from a range. My aunt and all her neighbours had had their houses joined on by a passage and the cooker fitted, making the extension a kitchen by the early 1960s, so imagine that this part of the work dates back then.


Would the neighbours be able to give information on the loft conversion, as unless they are recent, they would have heard the work being done?


Another thing to beware of in old houses is damp. My son rented a recently decorated one, only to have the damp show through quite quickly.