no building regs for whole floor

MarcoM

hello there,


we were looking to buy a house which was marketed as a four bed house.

turns out the whole second floor does not have building regs hence the valuation is a total joke.

surveyor says ea should not have marketed said property as two floors four bed when the second floor

is legally only loft space.

We have pulled out. My question is do i have any recourse against the ea for misrepresenting the property?

i obviously lost 500 quid worth of survey.

mije1983

MarcoM wrote: »

My question is do i have any recourse against the ea for misrepresenting the property?

No.

The EA's information is only as good as what they are told. They are not surveyors so wouldn't have known about a lack of building regs. It wouldn't be in their interests to hide this even if they knew. It would come out in a survery and the sale would fall through.

Hence EA's usually have some sort of disclaimer on their adverts saying something along the lines of 'to the best of our knowledge'.

Doozergirl

A lack of a building regulations certificate does not mean that it is not safe, nor does it automatically mean that it is not a room. Surveys are there to point you towards potential issues. You then decide what to do. They are not pieces of paper for a filing cabinet but a list of actions.

What exactly did your survey say? I should imagine it says that you should seek the required paperwork; that what they normally say. If it blatantly says that the loft is unfit for habitation then you have had a lucky escape.

You may be walking away from a decent house. If your reaction to a potential issue is to walk away, then that is your choice. £500 is not a decent survey. You may have got slightly better advice/information by purchasing a better survey report. Personally, I'd be calling the surveyor before pulling out and asking for an opinion on the actual structural condition.

Building regulations, their history and the history of what is acceptable over the years is a long and complex story. You could but and older conversion that is utterly awful but complient through never having to conform at all, versus one that could be totally compliant, safe and warm apart from 5cm of headheight, rendering the whole thing incapable of ever having sign off. It does not mean that it isn't a room.

Estate agents can be (in a large percentage, really) completely ignorant of the nuances of buildings. They market and sell, not build.

MarcoM

ultimately it is an issue of resale. also the stair case has been condemned as unfit. there is no fire escape as well.
how do you determine if a loft conversion is suitable without ripping off plasterboards and checking joists etc etc?
also insurance could be a problem if a claim is made. all well and good buying indemnity policies but these do not protect agains shoddy work or insurance issues.

davidmcn

MarcoM wrote: »

also insurance could be a problem if a claim is made. all well and good buying indemnity policies but these do not protect agains shoddy work or insurance issues.

Whatever else might be a problem, there aren't insurance issues. Insurance companies don't ask or care about whether your house has certificates for everything done to it (and a huge proportion of properties won't).

Doozergirl

MarcoM wrote: »

ultimately it is an issue of resale. also the stair case has been condemned as unfit. there is no fire escape as well.
how do you determine if a loft conversion is suitable without ripping off plasterboards and checking joists etc etc?
also insurance could be a problem if a claim is made. all well and good buying indemnity policies but these do not protect agains shoddy work or insurance issues.

Is this your years of experience in property telling me what's what? Or something that someone else has told you?

I asked you what the survey said. I'd put money on the fact that the wording was not "I condemn these stairs as unfit".

When was the house built? Do you have a building regulations certificate for the actual house build? Do you think that's an insurance problem too if the house was over 30 years old with no certificate?

MarcoM

Doozergirl wrote: »

Is this your years of experience in property telling me what's what? Or something that someone else has told you?

I asked you what the survey said. I'd put money on the fact that the wording was not "I condemn these stairs as unfit".

When was the house built? Do you have a building regulations certificate for the actual house build? Do you think that's an insurance problem too if the house was over 30 years old with no certificate?

i guess i should take the word of a tradesman over that of a surveyor...
i trust my surveyors report more than i would trust your tax return thats for sure...

mije1983

Surveyors always err on the side of caution. It's to cover their own backsides more than help the purchaser!

As already asked, what did the survey actually say with regards to the second floor?

Cakeguts

The point about having a survey is that it will show up any potential problems.

Doozergirl

MarcoM wrote: »

i guess i should take the word of a tradesman over that of a surveyor...
i trust my surveyors report more than i would trust your tax return thats for sure...

There's a clue in word "girl" and you don't know what I do. The only property professional I don't need to employ is a surveyor and my tax returns are immaculate. I make no less than 18 of them each year.

I haven't asked you to take my word over anyone's and I haven't questioned your surveyor, I've questioned where you get much of your knowledge from. It didn't come from a surveyor, because contains garble.

£500 doesn't buy you a comprehensive survey and I bet you didn't even meet "your" surveyor. Your OP asking if you can get money shows a lack of understanding of why you commission a survey in the first place. A surveyor points you towards other property professionals to help make an informed purchase.

If you don't like the information then you can pull out but it doesn't entitle you to a refund.

You don't seem to understand what surveys are for. It's for due diligence to help you make an informed decision. You don't lose money on a survey, you spend money on a survey.

AdrianC

MarcoM wrote: »

we were looking to buy a house which was marketed as a four bed house.

turns out the whole second floor does not have building regs hence the valuation is a total joke.

surveyor says ea should not have marketed said property as two floors four bed when the second floor is legally only loft space.

When was the second floor converted?

We have pulled out.

And such is your choice.

My question is do i have any recourse against the ea for misrepresenting the property?

What proof do you have that the EA knowingly misrepresented it?

i obviously lost 500 quid worth of survey.

Your survey did its job.

MarcoM wrote: »

ultimately it is an issue of resale.

Really? Why? Just because you walked away following potentially misunderstooding the surveyor's comments (I say potentially, because you haven't told us what the surveyor said, or whether BR sign-off is even remotely relevant) doesn't mean every buyer will.

also the stair case has been condemned as unfit.

In what way?

there is no fire escape as well.

99% of houses don't have one. Why does this house need one?

how do you determine if a loft conversion is suitable without ripping off plasterboards and checking joists etc etc?

And that doesn't apply to the rest of the property?