Who should pay for council inspection of prior owners "building work"

ydrol2

Hi,
I bought by house in 2005, and plan to rent it out soon.
The upstairs chimney breast in the master bedroom had been removed by prior owners, and the chimney stack braced (with a wooden lintel). There is no record of this work being certified by the council.

Before renting I would like to make sure the entire structure is study.

Lewisham council have advised me to apply for regularisation - basically a retroactive inspection - (cost £270), and then take further advice from the inspector.

When I bought the house, I didn't have a full survey (just the basic one for about £400)

So I'm just about to start this process rolling with Lewisham council but I'm thinking - why should I be paying?

Either the previous owner or the surveyor should be stumping up some cash (in an ideal world) no ?

That's not even considering costs of putting anything right.


Thoughts?

Thrugelmir

Tens years later is to late. You bought the property. You are the owner. Everything is now at you expense.

theartfullodger

ydrol2 wrote: »

Hi,
I bought by house in 2005, and plan to rent it out soon.
The upstairs chimney breast in the master bedroom had been removed by prior owners, and the chimney stack braced (with a wooden lintel). There is no record of this work being certified by the council.

Before renting I would like to make sure the entire structure is study.

Lewisham council have advised me to apply for regularisation - basically a retroactive inspection - (cost £270), and then take further advice from the inspector.

When I bought the house, I didn't have a full survey (just the basic one for about £400) .......

2005?? Forget it..

Holding up a chimney breast with a wooden lintel?? I'd not enter the house until I'd something else holding it up, or an opinion from a good surveyor... I'd certainly not sleep easy underneath it in "the master bedroom"...

How many courses of brick, round circumference & height of chimney breast being held up?? (And the roof...). You might be surprised at the weight involved....

HHarry

And I bet that for their £270 the Council ask you to provide calculations to show the wooden lintel is up to the job, before signing anything off.

I think you're going to need a Structural Engineer to measure up and do some calcs. And I reckon that he'll want a bit of steel installed.

ydrol2

Thanks . A quick google is suggesting the same !

Funnily enough I dont sleep under it - and I should have probably done something a lot sooner. It's only now I'm planning to rent out - I dont want a freak storm or something to be the straw that broke the lintels back...

VISA time

theartfullodger

ydrol2 wrote: »

.....Funnily enough I dont sleep under it - and I should have probably done something a lot sooner. It's only now I'm planning to rent out - I dont want a freak storm or something to be the straw that broke the lintels back...

VISA time

Oh dear:

If renting a place out you need the financial AND emotional reserves for the "tenant-from-hell" (or agent-from-h....) who doesn;t pay for 7 months: Whilst you pay mortgage: And legal fees to evict: And repair costs..Repair costs?? Yes, if disrepair judge will let them stay longer...

If you need VISA for a simple council inspection then, with respect, are you sure this is a good idea??

Oh and "rent insurance" or "guaranteed rent"?? Don't bet on either....

ydrol2

Ok they say there is no such thing as a stupid question. I asked and got an answer. Great and appreciated.

I have a VISA - I pay it off completely every month - I also have several K in the bank - double digits - ( savings for a 30% [oops 15%] deposit on a house. (joint )

Any large bills (Im thinking about the likely work to put right not just the inspection), I put on my Visa and pay off statement in full when its due.

so less of the judgement please. It doesnt look good. Extrapolating my entire financial situation from mention of the word VISA - not big - nor clever.

theartfullodger

Thank you so much for your kind words:

ydrol2 wrote: »

... I also have over 10K in savings for a 30% deposit on a house.....

£10k savings being 30% deposit says house price is £33,333:33. OK... if you say so....

And that £10k in savings will go when you use it for the deposit for the house?? What reserves then??

I made mistakes when I started as a landlord: Cost me a lot in time, money & aggravation... and then I started learning..

These might help...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5180214

Cheers!

ydrol2

Clue - over 10K - and also I updated it - joint - and we are still saving - in anycase irrelevant to your original snipe, I'm not about to post all my financial details to justify on line whether I can afford £270 cash . My partner is already renting hers for some time, so aware. I also have friends that have been renting , and another that work in lettings.

Opps and that was meant to be 15% ! But she's saved more than double me, but I have bigger salary. Only had my light-bulb moment a few years ago. That's all I'll say here

Thanks for the links though,

theartfullodger

ydrol2 wrote: »

....... My partner is already renting hers for some time, so aware. I also have friends that have been renting , and another that work in lettings.....

Good, should help! Hope it works out..

Given pretty much anyone can start working in a letting agency with no qualifications, no training, no criminal records check (yeah, I know the name changed.. got checked myself..) relying of lettings staff might be unwise...

stator

The council inspection is irrelevant since you're not selling the fact that you don't have building compliance doesn't matter.
All you need to know is that it's safe, so get a structural engineer to do a proper inspection and act on his suggestions.