Please help: Mis-sold house, who’s at fault?

Rob-123

I know that the surveyor hasn’t said what needs doing to the conversion yet, but if it does run into the £100’s or £1000’s then I think the solicitor has a duty to compensate us for the work as this is something they should have notified us of.

AdrianC

Rob-123 wrote: »

I know that the surveyor hasn’t said what needs doing to the conversion yet

Nobody knows what's there or not there without ripping plasterboard out.

but if it does run into the £100’s or £1000’s then I think the solicitor has a duty to compensate us for the work as this is something they should have notified us of.

<raises eyebrows>
The solicitor's liable for the cost of the work...?

Good luck with that...

ReadingTim

teneighty wrote: »

So tumble driers never catch fire in the kitchen, potentially blocking the one and only escape route from the childrens bedroom in the loft because the builder did not fit a fire door on the kitchen or bedroom or fit any mains smoke alarms? They've probably got about 10 minutes before the smoke kills them.

But hell, who cares about a copies of silly things like Building Regulations approvals.

You have probably got a future carrying out fire risk assessments for a certain London Borough.

And you think this only happens in houses with loft conversions? Or that tumble driers don't catch fire if you've got a bit of paper relating to building regulation approval? Do tell us how this paper can prevent fires will you...?

Rob-123

UPDATE

The council surveyor carried out an inspection on the loft conversion yesterday afternoon. The following is a list of work which needs completing before they will sign it off:

• Fix insulation backed plasterboard (approx 40mm) to existing bedroom ceiling and en-suite ceiling
• Replaster ceilings
• Fix Celotex insulation board (approx 50mm) to back of both eaves storage doors
• Install (approx 300mm) insulation to both eaves storage floors and board this out
• Slide Celotex insulation (approx 50mm) up pitched wall between eaves storage and bedroom, gaining access from eaves
• Insulate wall between eaves storage and bedroom with Celotex (approx 50mm)

My solicitor has received my formal complaint, and phoned me yesterday. She said she can’t understand what the problem is as the council can’t enforce anything now and that is why she didn’t advise us of no certificate during the conveyancing process. I told her that I’ve been told the insulation that is on the approved plans has not been installed and the surveyor has told us this is why it is so cold.

I’ve told them this is now high priority for us as we can’t use the room this time of year because it is so noticeably cold, and that we want it signed off for when we ever sell the house.

Surrey_EA

Rob-123 wrote: »

My solicitor has received my formal complaint, and phoned me yesterday. She said she can’t understand what the problem is as the council can’t enforce anything now and that is why she didn’t advise us of no certificate during the conveyancing process.

That's a seriously poor excuse. They're either lying in the hope you'll go away quickly, or incompetent.

The council could take enforcement action if they really wanted to. They won't, but theoretically could.

Secondly, the existence of a completions certificate provides you with confirmation that the conversion was carried out to a satisfactory standard.

Rob-123

Thanks Surrey_EA

One things for sure, I won’t be going away quickly. This is exactly what she wrote in her email:

‘We confirm that as mentioned due to the age of the works and the fact that any enforcement period has expired we would not expect to receive copies of the same and would not raise any further enquires in respect of the same.’

Surely if another solicitor saw this they would say that yes they should raise or investigate this further?

I can’t work out what I should do next. This morning I emailed them with the list of work, and I asked them what they intend to do next.

Surrey_EA

Rob-123 wrote: »

‘We confirm that as mentioned due to the age of the works and the fact that any enforcement period has expired we would not expect to receive copies of the same and would not raise any further enquires in respect of the same.’

If the work had been carried out in 1976 then that is probably fair enough, but for a loft conversion done in 2005 there is no way that a solicitor should not be asking for a copy of the completions certificate.

Rob-123

She has sent me a copy of the local searches done which were from our council. It says on there that there is no completion certificate, so she must have known? If she knew shouldn’t she have written that in the Report on Title instead of what she did write?

AdrianC

Surrey_EA wrote: »

...but for a loft conversion done in 2005 there is no way that a solicitor should not be asking for a copy of the completions certificate.

And what to do if one doesn't exist? You'd be happy watching the sale fall apart, and the vendor stomp off, !!!!ed-off that they've got to do a load of remedial work before you'll let 'em back in the shop?

Or a near-on-useless indemnity will get sold?

Surrey_EA

AdrianC wrote: »

And what to do if one doesn't exist? You'd be happy watching the sale fall apart, and the vendor stomp off, !!!!ed-off that they've got to do a load of remedial work before you'll let 'em back in the shop?

Or a near-on-useless indemnity will get sold?

If one doesn't exist then the solicitor should be informing their client of this fact, and then they are able to consider how best to proceed. It may make no difference whatsoever, or it may make the buyer wish to withdraw.

It seems in this case that the solicitor did not adequately advise the OP that the conversion lacked the required sign off from building control.

I agree indemnity policies are useless, bordering on being a scam.