Putting an offer in on a flat with loft conversion

sugarcoma101

Hi all,

Hoping someone might be able to offer some insight! I am going to see a property this week that looks great and is within my budget.

The only area of concern is the loft conversion. I asked the EA if the vendors can supply copies of the building regulation certs. He came back to say that the vendors have said the loft conversion was already there when they bought it in 2004 and 'all documents were in order'.

Having studied the pictures of the property intently, I can see that the velux windows in the loft are different sizes (only is long and thin, and the other is more square..looks very odd) which has set alarm bells ringing. If the loft converting building can't install the same size windows, who knows what else they skimped on...

In short, my question is, can I make an offer on this property but make it dependant on the vendors supplying a copy of the building regs within a few days?

I am looking to buy in East London so to say the property market is overheated is an understatement-I doubt there would be time for me to insist on seeing the building regs certs between seeing it and making an offer. Or is this something I could ask to see before I even go to see it this week?

All insight appreciated!

Pixie5740

yiu can make an offer based on whatever you like and the vendor can choose to accept it or not.

This kind of thing would thrown up in the survey and then if necessary you can amend your offer accordingly.

eddddy

sugarcoma101 wrote: »

Having studied the pictures of the property intently, I can see that the velux windows in the loft are different sizes (only is long and thin, and the other is more square..looks very odd) which has set alarm bells ringing. If the loft converting building can't install the same size windows, who knows what else they skimped on...

This isn't a sign of a skimping builder. It's probably because of constraints in the room layout, or the structure of the roof.

sugarcoma101 wrote: »

In short, my question is, can I make an offer on this property but make it dependant on the vendors supplying a copy of the building regs within a few days?

You can make your offer conditional on anything you want. And, of course, the vendor can reject the offer if they don't like the conditions.

sugarcoma101 wrote: »

Or is this something I could ask to see before I even go to see it this week?

You could ask... but it's a very unusual thing to do. I think the EA might write you off as too difficult to deal with.

sugarcoma101

eddddy wrote: »

This isn't a sign of a skimping builder. It's probably because of constraints in the room layout, or the structure of the roof.




You can make your offer conditional on anything you want. And, of course, the vendor can reject the offer if they don't like the conditions.



You could ask... but it's a very unusual thing to do. I think the EA might write you off as too difficult to deal with.

The windows are on the same patch of roof, a few feet apart. I hope you are right, but I can't quite see what the reasoning would be behind it-but hopefully there is a good explanation.

EA writing me off as too difficult for asking a perfectly legitimate question is a rather sad reflection of our overinflated housing market!

kinger101

If they can't provide building regs now, you might not be able to when you sell the property on. If they were really in place, I would suspect it would actually be marketed as a bedroom. Any EA worth his salt would have told the vendor to get copies from the local authority so they could market the property for more money. I smell a rat.

sugarcoma101

kinger101 wrote: »

If they can't provide building regs now, you might not be able to when you sell the property on. If they were really in place, I would suspect it would actually be marketed as a bedroom. Any EA worth his salt would have told the vendor to get copies from the local authority so they could market the property for more money. I smell a rat.

Hello,

It is marketed as a bedroom, so I'm hoping everything actually is in place. I guess there is no way of knowing until I put an offer in and go through the process, except take the vendors word for it that 'all documents are in place'.

Worst case scenario though, I go through the process and it turns out building regs are not in place and I'm out money for solicitors and surveys. But I guess that's the risk you take...

The uneven windows are a bit of a mystery though...so odd. Cosmetically, I don't mind so much, but concerned a dodgy builder has had a go!

On another slightly odd note..there is no EPC registered for the property and it's been on the market two weeks...

onlyroz

On many local authority websites you can view details of all planning applications and building reg documents. If you know the property address you can try looking it up.

kinger101

sugarcoma101 wrote: »

Hello,

It is marketed as a bedroom, so I'm hoping everything actually is in place. I guess there is no way of knowing until I put an offer in and go through the process, except take the vendors word for it that 'all documents are in place'.

Worst case scenario though, I go through the process and it turns out building regs are not in place and I'm out money for solicitors and surveys. But I guess that's the risk you take...

The uneven windows are a bit of a mystery though...so odd. Cosmetically, I don't mind so much, but concerned a dodgy builder has had a go!

On another slightly odd note..there is no EPC registered for the property and it's been on the market two weeks...

If it's marketed as a bedroom, the EA should be able to provide a clear answer as to whether building regs are in place. They are the ones marketing the property on behalf of the vendor. They know the law, and should not be hiding behind verbal statements made by the vendor.

http://coodes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/OFT-Estate-agents.pdf

see page 50:

• Take care with qualifying statements. Those that clarify may be helpful (for example 'boarded loft area' or 'room with potential as bedroom - planning permission required' when the seller cannot evidence that a loft conversion has the necessary approval or consent for use as a bedroom). However, using a qualifying statement to try to limit liability such as 'all details provided by the vendor' will not help you if, given your type of business, it was appropriate for you to check the information yourself.

A few months back, someone on here spent money on a survey etc, and found out that a loft conversion marketed as a bedroom did not meet regs. They made a complaint with the EA's head office (threatening legal action) and got all their costs back.

If it was me putting an offer in, I'd make it absolutely clear that I wouldn't be incurring any costs until the EA or vendor had provided evidence of building regs.

[Deleted User]

Its not only building regs.., you will need to make sure the loft belongs to the flat and the owners of the flat were able to expand into the roof. Quite often the loft space has to be purchased.

But this will have to be looked at after you've put an offer in.

sugarcoma101

Hello,

I'm still trying to get a straight answer out of the agent as to whether or not the loft has building regs sign off...

His attitude left a lot to be desired, and he basically said that in this market, people will buy anything, regardless of whether or not it is actually fully compliant :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Am I right in thinking that it's actually against the Property Misdescriptions Act for an EA to even market the loft as a bedroom if they haven't established that building regs are in place?

This guy seemed to think it wasn't even important, and you could 'tell by looking at it' that it was done properly, so actual sign off was secondary.

Honestly...I can't even...

Kevie192

I think you should just give up on it... Sounds like even if they accept your offer the EA will be pushing and pushing you all the way which could make for a difficult transaction!