Selling house, no permission for decking

Scoobyxxxx

I am selling my home and have just stumbled across the fact that when installing decking in 2011 I should have obtained permission. It is slightly taller than the permitted 30 cm and when including the permitted conservatory extension the addition of decking would, combined, cover more than 50% of the garden. It never even crossed my mind at the time that it would be subject to permissions due to it not being a building per se. I have been googling this evening and I see there are suggestions that I could simply pay for an indemnity policy if the matter is raised during the house sale. Is this true, is it really that simple to get me out of this pickle? Any advice appreciated.

Davesnave

If you did this in 2011 there's no problem now, because planning rules cannot be enforced after 4 years have elapsed from the date of construction. (assuming it's not something special, like a listed building.)

baldelectrician

Davesnave wrote: »

If you did this in 2011 there's no problem now, because planning rules cannot be enforced after 4 years have elapsed from the date of construction. (assuming it's not something special, like a listed building.)

Unless in Scotland- up here you have to apply and comply to the building regs on the date you apply (not the date you dom the work)

Scoobyxxxx

That is amazing news! Thank you so much for this info. Such a relief.

Ithaca

You can still expect your buyers' solicitor to raise it as part of pre-exchange enquiries, and they may decide they want an indemnity policy regardless. Even if it's pointless some solicitors seem to be very fixed on these policies so worth getting your solicitor to review the position and consider how you will respond if it comes up.

getmore4less

The buyer may not realise the need for planning either, then not mention there is decking to their solicitor.

Ithaca

getmore4less wrote: »

The buyer may not realise the need for planning either, then not mention there is decking to their solicitor.

On the TA6 Property Information form (which is often used by solicitors) it asks:

"Is the seller aware of any breaches of planning permission conditions or Building Regulations consent conditions [...] or work that does not have all necessary consents".

It will be up to OP to decide if they want to answer that truthfully based on what they know. It could be as straight-forward as "Planning permission was not sought for the decking but this was completed in 2011 and the enforcement period has now passed".