Lack of planning and building regs for 70's extension

metamatic

I've just had a survey done on a 1960's semi.

It has a single storey extension built to the rear which comprises a room approx 3.5m x 3m and a toilet which is 1.4m x 1m.

My surveyor has doubts about the build quality of the extension. I have done a little digging today and my local council has no record of a planning application submitted at any time for any changes to the house. All they can find is a building regs application for a porch from the mid 1970's. However the building has no porch so I am wondering whether they have stretched the definition of porch to include the whole rear extension. The man at the council also said he didn't think the extension was large enough to have required planning permission according to the rules in the 1970's.

Is there anybody out there old enough or sufficiently knowledgeable of the history of UK planning laws to advise what the situation was in the 1970's when I think this extension was built?

dc197

The lack of permission and building regs are unenforceable now.
You do still need to be satisfied with the quality of the work. That it has not fallen down in 40 years should go some way to helping with that.

Davesnave

As above, it's more important to evaluate the structure as it exists today, than worry about paperwork from a bygone era.

No one will be interested in enforcement.

Listen to your surveyor's advice.

metamatic

I'm comfortable that after so long I'm not going to have the council knocking at the door.

However my surveyor has identified a damp problem and thinks it needs several thousand spending on it to get patched up. Its been described to me as a true extension but if its just a cheap construction classified as a porch to avoid planning and more stringent building regs then I'll feel more confident to negotiate on price.

Hoploz

What it is described as now, or what it was described as over 30 years ago for the purposes of paperwork is irrelevant.

If it requires remedial work then either you go ahead and do the work when you move in, or you use the info the surveyor has given about the approx cost to negotiate.

If it's that bad will you really want to repair it, or when you offered did you envisage modernising and extending the house anyway?

Davesnave

No building constructed properly in the 1970s should have a 'damp problem,' unless there is something like defective guttering spilling water down the walls, or external land levels bridging the damp proof course.

It was possible to get away with all sorts of lash-ups at that time. I remember my father being short of money when renovating our 17th century cottage, so instead of re-building the corrugated iron clad scullery at the back, he simply affixed expanded metal over the old wooden framework and rendered it with a tyrolean finish. It looked like a solid wall, but it must've leaked heat like a sieve!

Regardless of it being described as a 'true extension' by the owner, I'd want to know the 'true construction.'

metamatic

Many thanks for the replies. The request for the 70's planning info was more just for a bit of background knowledge. I like to know the history of things but that's just an obsession of mine. I realise that at the end of the day the most important thing is the current state of the extension.

I suppose the next step is to consider a structural engineer's report.

Hoploz

Before you go chucking more money at it, what did the surveyor's report actually say? Presumably not "I have doubts about the extension" lol

What kind of survey was it? How detailed?