Total House Buying Despair.

lessonlearned

Ouch......

I'm sorry - you are not going to want to hear this, but I think your best course of action is to walk away, just cut your losses and chalk it up to,experience.

It's going to cost you a fortune to put it all right. To obtain retrospective building regs the building control officer will have to rip the place apart to do an inspection and reassure himself that lintels and rsj's are strong enough and long enough, and have been fitted correctly, that the drains are still accessible etc etc.

I once tried to buy a house like this and in the end gave it up as a bad job. I wasn't too concerned about the rsj check but when the surveyor pointed out that he couldn't find the drains and the extension must have been built over them and the foundations were too shallow and needed to be sorted out I decided not to proceed.

I was buying from a family member and they were not happy with me for pulling out. They got another buyer but again these issues were flagged up and the lender refused to grant a mortgage.

In the end it went to a cash Buyer as a BTL. The guy had inherited a small fortune and was just buying up a load of old proerties to let out, he didn't even view it.

Hoploz

The work may have been done before building regs came in? In the 1980's.

Your solicitor would be able to do a search to find out what planning permissions exist on the property. You can find out for yourself with a phone call to the council. You don't need to give them chapter and verse (doing so could invalidate any indemnity policy the seller may later purchase) but you can ask them what records they hold. If you go to the council offices you should even be able to view the documents in person.

What is your actual concern? If its lack of paperwork you can find things out as suggested, and if things don't match up then an indemnity policy can be purchased.

Have you had a survey? If you're worried about the safety of the structural alterations then do so. It's normally done at the beginning of the process but there's no reason you can't have one whenever you like. Hopefully it will put your mind at rest.

Remember also, that most houses were built prior to building regs, and many houses have been standing for a hundred years or more. Lack of paperwork and even failure to meet 'current' standards does not make a house uninhabitable.