Does my house have Building Regs

david171

Hi,

We are in the process of selling our house and stupidly have just realised we don't know if our extension has planning permission and or building regs. How can you find this out without raising suspicion or invalidate any potential indemnity cover.

We have looked on the council online planning and building regs website and cant find any record of our extension and the records go back to 1974.

The extension, was built in 1980 (according to the home buyers report) and when we bought the house in 2008, we cant remember the solicitor making a fuss about it. We didnt take out or were offered/mentioned to take out an indemnity policy. The only thing we can remember is them stating that the extension had been converted from a bathroom to a dinning room in the early 1990s and not to worry as the council could no longer take any action due to age of extension.

We were only 22 when we bought the house and cant really remember too much about the sale, we didnt give the extension a second thought really as it was almost 30 years old and the homebuyers report gave it a clean bill of health.

However the person buying our home is much more savvy and want to know every minute detail about the house - they almost walked away because they thought a tree was too close to the house, so when they find out about this i think its bye bye sale.

Any advice appreciated, would it put you off buying. If options are really bad, AKA big price reduction (more than 6k) we'll just rent it out and pay the second home stamp duty levee and hopefully sell at current price in 2 or 3 years time if market moves on.

Help Help Help !

Cheeky_Monkey

Can you clarify please. Is it an actual extension i.e. increased the size of the property or is it just a conversion i.e. change of use of the existing space?

david171

Sorry

Its a 2m wide 3m long, single storey flat roof extension off kitchen, built in approx 1980 (as stated on homebuyers report). It is not a conversion of an existing structure. It has central heating, electricity and evidence that an old boiler used to be housed there, as the wire cage thing is still on the outside, but a new combi boiler has been fitted. It used to be a bathroom but now has been changed to a dining room in 1990.

Thanks

davidmcn

Nobody with any sense should be making a fuss about a 36 year old extension. Just tell them there's no paperwork and you don't propose to get anything given its age.

(whose report says it dates from 1980, and how do they know?)

Cheeky_Monkey

If it is at the back of the house and not on the side, it might not have need PP if it was built under Permitted Development Rights.

However, it would have needed to comply with Building Regulations so there should be a Compliance Certificate for it.

If it doesn't have one, it could be that the owners at the time just didn't bother to apply for one. Alternatively, it could be because BC were not involved in which case, you will need to get a Regularisation Certificate from the Council.

If that is the case, keeping the house for another few years before selling won't alter that fact!

david171

Thanks.

So will the extension have to meet todays building regs, how long does retrospective certification take? is an indemnity policy not an option? how did our old solicitor know it used to be a bathroom?

So many questions, i wish i could ask my younger self?

We know that the problem wont go away but in 2 - 3 years time hopefully house prices will go up, which will hopefully take the sting out of any loss now.

david171

On our RICS homebuyers report done in 2008, it states rear extension built in approximately 1980. it has damp proof course and we have never had a problem with the space.

DRP

davidmcn wrote: »

Nobody with any sense should be making a fuss about a 36 year old extension. Just tell them there's no paperwork and you don't propose to get anything given its age.

(whose report says it dates from 1980, and how do they know?)

^like he said.

It 's not an issue for a structure built in 1980.

Cheeky_Monkey

DRP wrote: »

^like he said.

It 's not an issue for a structure built in 1980.

That's not strictly true. It's not a problem until a new owner wants to build on top of it.

As I said, the owners at the time might have had the work signed off by the Council but just not bothered getting an acual Compliance Certifcate. Although, that being the case, I would expect something to show up on the Planning section of the Council's website.

Alternatively, they will find the Council unwilling to grant PP to build above an extension that had no involvement from Building Control.

It could be that the OP's buyer has no intention of ever building above it, in which case it should not be a problem for them.

david171

Thanks,

Its a terraced house and others on the street have been refused planning permission on two storey extensions for privacy/light issues. Although it would be great to add another storey, realistically I dont think that would be a realistic option (with the current planning laws) for any perspective buyer.

so is it true that we shouldnt worry and just say im sorry there is no papers and because of the age we wont be getting any - or is that too strong?

we werent worried but we were maybe too relaxed. Our buyer is very uptight and questions everything, which i understand as its a lot of money but if it were me i would be more worried about the original house as its 120 years old and its not got building regs.

Freecall

Firstly, if it dates from the 1980's it is beyond enforcement limits for both PP and BC so nothing to worry about there.

Having said that however, a prospective buyer can ask for anything they want and walk away if they don't get it. So if they want a BC Completion Certificate (or anything else for that matter) you will have to consider your response. They may be being advised that these things are required.

I guess that this is where indemnity insurance comes in but in your position I would suggest that any prospective buyer pays for it themselves if that is what they want.