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Please help: Mis-sold house, who’s at fault?
Rob-123
Posts: 66 Forumite
Desperate for some help on this one I know it’s a long post!
I moved into a house with my wife to start a family in May 2017, we bought the house as advertised by the EA’s as a 5 bedroom, with the main bedroom being a loft conversion. As it is now cold, the room doesn’t retain heat so had someone round to check insulation - which they don’t think is up to scratch. I contacted council to get a copy of the building reg certificate and was told they weren’t aware the conversion had taken place and therefore was never inspected, or signed off although it did have planning permission in 2005.
The homebuyers report states: ‘Ensure legal representative obtains all relevant certificates for loft conversion’. (I guess this covers them?)
On the solicitors Report on Title paperwork they have written: ‘Our search has revealed a building regulation for a loft conversion, however due to the age of this, the sellers solicitors have not provided a copy. (If my solicitor had no proof when the conversion was complete, why didn’t they check this further?)
On the fixtures/fittings paperwork completed by the vendors, they have written loft conversion in 2005, and then It says do you have copies of building reg certificates, to which they have ticked ‘enclosed’ but the only certificate we ever recieved was for the electrical installation to the loft which is dated May 2016. (This is surely misleading as at the time I thought they had enclosed a copy to their solicitor?)
The council is now saying a surveyor will need to come round and it may need to be brought up to spec which could cost £1000’s.
Anyone know where I stand?
I moved into a house with my wife to start a family in May 2017, we bought the house as advertised by the EA’s as a 5 bedroom, with the main bedroom being a loft conversion. As it is now cold, the room doesn’t retain heat so had someone round to check insulation - which they don’t think is up to scratch. I contacted council to get a copy of the building reg certificate and was told they weren’t aware the conversion had taken place and therefore was never inspected, or signed off although it did have planning permission in 2005.
The homebuyers report states: ‘Ensure legal representative obtains all relevant certificates for loft conversion’. (I guess this covers them?)
On the solicitors Report on Title paperwork they have written: ‘Our search has revealed a building regulation for a loft conversion, however due to the age of this, the sellers solicitors have not provided a copy. (If my solicitor had no proof when the conversion was complete, why didn’t they check this further?)
On the fixtures/fittings paperwork completed by the vendors, they have written loft conversion in 2005, and then It says do you have copies of building reg certificates, to which they have ticked ‘enclosed’ but the only certificate we ever recieved was for the electrical installation to the loft which is dated May 2016. (This is surely misleading as at the time I thought they had enclosed a copy to their solicitor?)
The council is now saying a surveyor will need to come round and it may need to be brought up to spec which could cost £1000’s.
Anyone know where I stand?
0
Comments
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A question more suited to the House Buying and Selling board:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=160 -
So if you had all this information to hand prior to completion then why did you continue with the sale?Desperate for some help on this one I know it’s a long post!
I moved into a house with my wife to start a family in May 2017, we bought the house as advertised by the EA’s as a 5 bedroom, with the main bedroom being a loft conversion. As it is now cold, the room doesn’t retain heat so had someone round to check insulation - which they don’t think is up to scratch. I contacted council to get a copy of the building reg certificate and was told they weren’t aware the conversion had taken place and therefore was never inspected, or signed off although it did have planning permission in 2005.
The homebuyers report states: ‘Ensure legal representative obtains all relevant certificates for loft conversion’. (I guess this covers them?)
On the solicitors Report on Title paperwork they have written: ‘Our search has revealed a building regulation for a loft conversion, however due to the age of this, the sellers solicitors have not provided a copy. (If my solicitor had no proof when the conversion was complete, why didn’t they check this further?)
On the fixtures/fittings paperwork completed by the vendors, they have written loft conversion in 2005, and then It says do you have copies of building reg certificates, to which they have ticked ‘enclosed’ but the only certificate we ever recieved was for the electrical installation to the loft which is dated May 2016. (This is surely misleading as at the time I thought they had enclosed a copy to their solicitor?)
The council is now saying a surveyor will need to come round and it may need to be brought up to spec which could cost £1000’s.
Anyone know where I stand?0 -
The information I had prior to purchasing:
Vendor said loft conversion had building certificate, said it was enclosed
Solicitor said due to the age the sellers solicitor hadn’t provided a certificate, although the way they worded it sounds like the sellers had a copy but didn’t need to supply it. We thought our solicitor knew something we didn’t about the age of the loft conversion and as such we didn’t ask questions as we thought that this wasn’t an issue and they knew what they were doing. Now we know that it was never signed off so we don’t actually know the age of the works, for all we now know it could have been completed in May 2016 which is when the electrical were tested. So now we are wondering why the solicitor didn’t complete more extensive searches on this is they didn’t have proof when it was completed...0 -
Yes, and you had every opportunity to check this information was there prior to completing. If the searches throw up anomalies then it's up to you to query this or walk away, that's the purpose of the searches after all, isn't it.The information I had prior to purchasing:
Vendor said loft conversion had building certificate, said it was enclosed Did you check, I guess not!
Solicitor said due to the age the sellers solicitor hadn’t provided a certificate, although the way they worded it sounds like the sellers had a copy but didn’t need to supply it. We thought our solicitor knew something we didn’t about the age of the loft conversion and as such we didn’t ask questions as we thought that this wasn’t an issue and they knew what they were doing. Now we know that it was never signed off so we don’t actually know the age of the works, for all we now know it could have been completed in May 2016 which is when the electrical were tested. So now we are wondering why the solicitor didn’t complete more extensive searches on this is they didn’t have proof when it was completed...Why didn't you ask them at the time0 -
Yes, but surely when you are paying for a solicitor to ensure that the purchase goes through with all the legal requirements completed correctly, it should be that solicitor who checks that all of the required documentation is there.Yes, and you had every opportunity to check this information was there prior to completing. If the searches throw up anomalies then it's up to you to query this or walk away, that's the purpose of the searches after all, isn't it.
After all, the solicitor is the expert in these matters.0 -
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