No building regulations certificate for original construction of house

ag19lfc

I am close to exchanging on a house I am looking to buy but my solicitor has written to me to say there is no building regs certificate for the original construction of the property (built around 5 years ago).

The seller has advised the building control was delegated to NHBC but there is no evidence that this is true and the information held by my solicitor suggests this is not the case.

My solicitor has asked for my consent to inform my mortgage lender of the lack of certification. Is this likely to cause a major problem for me now? My offer for the property was accepted three months ago, so I had been keen to exchange by now.

davidmcn

Is there an Nhbc certificate for the house?

ag19lfc

Not sure. Haven't heard this referenced by my solicitor?

davidmcn

ag19lfc wrote: »

Not sure. Haven't heard this referenced by my solicitor?

Ok. I suggest you direct your queries to your solicitor in any event. This is what you're paying them for!

ag19lfc

Seller refused to take out an indemnity policy for the lack of building regs certificate and has instead contacted the council, meaning indemnity is no longer an option!

My solicitor has advised that any mortgage lender is unlikely to provide a loan without evidence of the certificate (or indemnity being put in place, which can't be done now), therefore I need to wait to see what the council come back with. Can the certificate be applied for retrospectively?

davidmcn

As queried above, is it covered by NHBC?

Is it part of a larger development? Would be odd for a house to be missed in a big estate, more likely that it was passed but the certificate has been misfiled (plenty of scope for confusion among plot numbers and postal addresses).

Yes, can be certified retrospectively, but may be fiddly depending on what sort of inspections or remedial works are needed.

Doozergirl

There will be a certificate. This comes up often.

It may have been passed before being given a postal address and, as above, is filed differently, or in bulk at the council.

NHBC wouldn't have even signed off the warranty without it.

ag19lfc

davidmcn wrote: »

As queried above, is it covered by NHBC?

Is it part of a larger development? Would be odd for a house to be missed in a big estate, more likely that it was passed but the certificate has been misfiled (plenty of scope for confusion among plot numbers and postal addresses)..

My solicitor wrote to me saying "There appears to be no building regulations completion certificate for the original construction. We have queried why this is and the vendors solicitors informed us that they believe the building control aspect was delegated to NHBC, however we have received no evidence of this and the information in our possession does not seem to suggest that this is the case".

And yes the house is part of a fairly new estate (five years old).

Jumblebumble

ag19lfc wrote: »

Seller refused to take out an indemnity policy for the lack of building regs certificate and has instead contacted the council, meaning indemnity is no longer an option!

My solicitor has advised that any mortgage lender is unlikely to provide a loan without evidence of the certificate (or indemnity being put in place, which can't be done now), therefore I need to wait to see what the council come back with. Can the certificate be applied for retrospectively?[/QUOTE

Personally I would pull out as my view would be that this vendor is likely to carry on playing the fool and will lead to a world of pain
I also wonder if this is true

"you cannot normally get indemnity insurance if there’s been contact with the council with regards to the building work in question during the three months previous to taking out the policy

davidmcn

Jumblebumble wrote: »

Personally I would pull out as my view would be that this vendor is likely to carry on playing the fool and will lead to a world of pain

Doubt it demonstrates anything about the vendor playing the fool at all, just some confusion/lack of effort on their solicitor's part about where to find the certificate

I also wonder if this is true

"you cannot normally get indemnity insurance if there’s been contact with the council with regards to the building work in question during the three months previous to taking out the policy

Yes, perfectly standard. As a general rule, indemnity insurers aren't going to cover you if you've already rocked the boat.

Owain_Moneysaver

AIUI unless there is something actually dangerously wrong with the building the council can't take legal action later than 1 year after the non-compliant/non-registered works anyway.

But with the state of new build homes in this country, buying without any sort of warranty could be rather risky. Missing wall ties / firebreaks?