Advice Please! Dormer conversion with no building regulation.

Sr81

Hello ,
I will be grateful for some advice. We are in the process of buying a bungalow which has had a dormer conversion. This was done in the 1970’s as there is a planning application from 1975 however no proof of building regulations. The previous owner has also done a ground floor kitchen and porch extension but with no planning permission or building regulation and I don’t know when this was done and the house is being sold by a third party as the owner passed away recently so we are unable to verify anything. I understand from my solicitor that completion certificates were not introduced at the time and hence no need for it.

My main concern is that we have had a full building survey which identified settlements cracks to the ground floor extension and a structural engineer survey and cctv drains survey was advised. Structural engineer unable to confirm the structural integrity without further intrusive investigation.

I have read that insurance company may refuse to pay out under a Buildings Insurance Policy if there is inadequate Building Regulation Consent for alterations to the property ?? Is this true? And in our case the structural engineer has not been able to confirm the dormer is structurally sound. Where does it leave us from an insurance point of view? My mortgage provider doesn’t know anything about the lack of regulations and my solicitor does not appear to be concerned about it .

I’m really confused and concerned, we like the house but not if I could potentially have problems with selling it in the future for lack of building regulations but it has been standing for more than 40 years so it can't be that bad but we have no paperwork!

Any advice would be much appreciated

Sorry for the length of my query

Thanks
SR

davidmcn

Sr81 wrote: »

I have read that insurance company may refuse to pay out under a Buildings Insurance Policy if there is inadequate Building Regulation Consent for alterations to the property ?? Is this true?

No, it's not true (where did you read it?), and chasing up paperwork for something done 43 years ago is largely pointless. But bear in mind that buildings insurance doesn't cover you for "fixing shoddily-built alterations" anyway.

I would focus on working out what the cause of the cracks is.

Sr81

Thank you, I read it in one of the threads in the website. Would lack of building regs for something done that may years ago put off a future buyer? It does put me off a bit but I'm wondering if I'm being irrational. The cracks appear to be settlement cracks between the new extension and original building in the ground floor and the brick pier supporting the purling in the roof space needs reinforcement. Not sure how significant these are, I'm waiting for a call back from my engineer.

davidmcn

No, any (sensible and properly-advised) buyer is unlikely to get excited about whether the house complies with 1970s-era building regulations. I stop being interested once you get to the 20 year mark. You need to draw the line somewhere.

Put it this way - how old is the rest of the house, and have you seen consents for its construction?

middleclassbutpoor

The regulations/standards would be different when it was done.

The house is still standing but you do need to understand what the crack is and have this investigated for peace of mind.

Indemnity insurance will protect you against the local authority/planning dept/building control if they decide to take enforcement is my understanding. I may be wrong here but they can only take action if they works were done within a short period of time - (12months sticks in my head).

Just see what your engineer says and see what the likely cost/work involved to see whether this is something you want to work with.

Sr81

Thank you for your response, appreciate it.