Loft Conversion no proven buildings regs - renegotiate price - help!

Kulpio

The surveyor has just rung me to explain more in depth. He said that if the searches and if we find there is no building regulation approval then we will most likely have to take down the stairs, put a trap door in as they can not be classed as habitable or atleast, bedrooms.

Is this view extreme? That is part of where we are at, is that we paid over asking price, but if we have to pay say £20k or more to rectify the first floor, then we would most likely want to reduce back down to asking price. It is hard to gauge the price of the house in comparison to others because the plot is kind of unique and not many similar properties are on offer but at the end of the day we are approaching what think is the ceiling and the rest of the house needs modernising, so we would need to reduce.

We are just concerned that when we hinted towards us finding out these issues in the survey and what that could lead to, he said the other people that put offers in have been ringing to see how the sale is going to check if it has fallen through etc. He put a lot of pressure on us to make the offer the day we did so, and he lied during that viewing saying the owner had died where we have found out they haven't. Are all estate agents this sly, I know they work for the sellers, but I don;t think I can ever trust an estate agent after this guy...

Cakeguts

Kulpio wrote: »

The surveyor has just rung me to explain more in depth. He said that if the searches and if we find there is no building regulation approval then we will most likely have to take down the stairs, put a trap door in as they can not be classed as habitable or atleast, bedrooms.

Is this view extreme? That is part of where we are at, is that we paid over asking price, but if we have to pay say £20k or more to rectify the first floor, then we would most likely want to reduce back down to asking price. It is hard to gauge the price of the house in comparison to others because the plot is kind of unique and not many similar properties are on offer but at the end of the day we are approaching what think is the ceiling and the rest of the house needs modernising, so we would need to reduce.

We are just concerned that when we hinted towards us finding out these issues in the survey and what that could lead to, he said the other people that put offers in have been ringing to see how the sale is going to check if it has fallen through etc. He put a lot of pressure on us to make the offer the day we did so, and he lied during that viewing saying the owner had died where we have found out they haven't. Are all estate agents this sly, I know they work for the sellers, but I don;t think I can ever trust an estate agent after this guy...

You haven't paid over the asking price you offered over the asking price. However you offered over the asking price for a 4 bed house what the surveyor is telling you that what you have here is a 2 bed with a nice storage loft. You can't use the bedrooms in the loft as bedrooms because they are likely to be dangerous if there is a fire.



Listen to what the surveyor is telling you. They know what they are doing. This is probably the kind of house that needs to be bought by a builder. The problem is that if the previous owners thought it was alright to do a DIY loft conversion you are likely to find that all sorts of other things have been bodged. It is possble that you will need a new roof. Where are you going to get the spare cash from to pay for a new roof? The money for the repairs will not be paid for by the mortgage. You will have to find this money out of your savings.

Doozergirl

I think it's an extreme view. Everything can be fixed. The question is the cost and the value to the person that owns it.

Every converted loft was a typical loft with a hatch and some Xmas decorations in it at one point.

Perhaps there is some element that prevents it from meeting regulations - which would be headheight, but I'd be surprised, OP, if you didn't feel it was a bit poky up there. The requirement is 2 metres above the stairs . Even headheight can be addressed. At a cost!

I do think your surveyor's report is your friend for negotiation.

Tink_x

Haven’t read all the replies so may of already been mentioned but I think you can get indemnity insurance policies to cover things like missing regs.

LeoTLion

OP you haven't mentioned if you are cash buyers or require a mortgage.

If the latter, and given the issues highlighted in the survey, isn't it unlikely for a mortgage company to grant a loan for anywhere near the asking price, if at all?

Angry_kittens

A family member encountered a similar issue when buying his first house, the seller was unwilling to negotiate or get the building regs so he pulled out of buying it, much to the shock of the estate agent who thought as a first time buyer he wouldn't have the stones to pull out. Put the seller in a pickle as he was about to complete himself etc. House sold a long time later for 15k less than offered.

If you're not happy don't buy, a house is the biggest purchase you will ever make! It could cost a lot more in time, effort and money in the long run.

sevenhills

Kulpio wrote: »

The surveyor did not give a value in his report. I am not sure the other parties know about the issues, the estate agents certainly do know but didnt tell us or anyone. They said, well the vendors were selling it as a project. Then why not be clear with us to start with... The other top offer came from someone deep in a chain whereas we are non-chain so it is helpful for them.

I assume that means that you will not be able to get a mortgage on it.

Surrey_EA

sevenhills wrote: »

I assume that means that you will not be able to get a mortgage on it.

I think this was a buildings survey, carried out solely for the benefit of the purchaser, not necessarily connected to a mortgage valuation carried out for the benefit of the bank, in the event a mortgage is required.

A buildings survey does not necessarily include a valuation of the property.

Hoploz

Thinking of the mortgage here, and wondering what stage your application is at.... Your solicitor will pass these survey results on to your lender who will use it to determine the value and whether they want to proceed or whether they will proceed if certain conditions are met.

I think you need to hang on and wait to see what the lender says before attempting renegotiation, for two reasons -
1) You can probably not afford to proceed if the lender values it lower than your offer
2) It's more concrete evidence to put before the seller in support of your reduced offer

Kulpio

We have our mortgage approved already and waiting to go, they were no issues with the value on their behalf. However we must tell them about these issues before we proceed I feel so it maybe that we need indemnity insurance to appease them no matter how useless I feel that insurance is from researching.