Buying a house without a garage conversion

Leard91

I'm in the process of buying a house that has both a roof and a garage conversion into living space.

We've just had our Homebuyers report back and the surveyor notes there are no documents confirming the conversions have been done to building regulations.

Speaking with the agents I've found out that the roof conversion has the documents. However the garage doesn't. Because it wasn't done to building regulations.

The agents confirmed that the sellers are happy to pay for an indemnity insurance policy for us on this however. What this means I don't really know.

Also the double glazing windows fitted were done by family and so there is no FENSA certificate for them. Again the sellers are happy to buy indemnity insurance for us.

My concern is now what happens when we want to sell the house, and how much of an issue this will really be?

sooty&sweep

Hi

I'm no expert but I'd want to know in what ways it's not compliant & if it will effect whether you can use the space.

Is it going to create alot of work & cost you money to rectify ?

Jen

Owain_Moneysaver

Indemnity policy is pointless as after 1 year the council can't take enforcement action for building regs breach unless the work is actually dangerous.

But with no building regs you have no reassurance whatsoever that the work was actually done to any minimum standard.

Cakeguts

So you are thinking of paying for a house with a garage conversion that hasn't been done properly? How much extra are you being expected to pay for that over the cost of a house where the garage hasn't been changed? You don't want to pay extra for something that you might have to do yourself.

Alan2020

Depends on which part of the country and there are many reasons why people don’t bother:
1. Maybe built badly
2. Unrealistic insulation standard leaving little headroom due to planning restrictions, so use thinner insulation.
3. Want more glass area than meeting insulation
4. No point paying an extra money, sliding doors cost £500 with 10 year warranty, we have 3 sliding doors, if I DIY, total cost £1500, for a piece of paper FENSA and indifferent installation total cost £7000, now work out the cost for entire house. No smart person will bother paying for cons like this. I had to redo all gaps in previous home with FENSA install.

Look at house with eyes open and pay accordingly.

Davesnave

The garage conversion may give issues down the line that aren't apparent yet if it's recent.

Integral and 'joined-on' garage conversions are 'normally' permitted from a planning perspective, so a lack of paperwork suggests an overall bodge intended to dodge the extra work needed for building regs. That extra work is often the difference between a pleasant extra space and one with condensation issues, or worse.

Personally I wouldn't pay a lot extra for the added area if it has a ??? over it, but then I did our garage properly.