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Buying a house which has no Planning Permission
Comments
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What it means in reality is nothing. Even if it was completed in 2003 without consent, the LPA only have 4 years to take enforcement action. So that would have expired in 2007. So enforcement action can't be taken now.
You can apply for a Lawful development certificate if you want to formalise the process.Eat vegetables and fear no creditors, rather than eat duck and hide.0 -
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Nope, that's different.Bendy_House wrote: »Potentially the right house at the right price :-)
That's whether you buy the house or not.
I'm asking about the paperwork on top of buying the house.
The paperwork doesn't itself change the house, but does require work to be done to it. It is additional time, cost and blood pressure on top of the price you pay for the house.
Oh, and remember that the vendor isn't going to want to get involved in any of this... You're going to have to do it AFTER you make the decision to buy. And there's not going to be any going back if you don't like the answer you get.0 -
Nope, that's different.
That's whether you buy the house or not.
I'm asking about the paperwork on top of buying the house.
The paperwork doesn't itself change the house, but does require work to be done to it. It is additional time, cost and blood pressure on top of the price you pay for the house.
Oh, and remember that the vendor isn't going to want to get involved in any of this... You're going to have to do it AFTER you make the decision to buy. And there's not going to be any going back if you don't like the answer you get.
Fair points.
As far as the possible lack of PP and almost certain lack of Completion Cert is concerned, we are not too bothered about the former and will be asking our solicitor what the vendor intends to do about the latter - get one done retrospectively, take out an indemnity, or do nothing. We suspect the answer will be 'nothing'. At which point we tell the estate agent to withdraw our original offer of the full asking price, and replace it with one at least 10% lower.
We are pretty certain that we are the only serious contenders for the house, and were willing to offer the asking price before all this extra info came out, but almost certainly not now.0 -
As a vendor, that'd get me telling you where to go.Bendy_House wrote: »As far as the possible lack of PP and almost certain lack of Completion Cert is concerned, we are not too bothered about the former and will be asking our solicitor what the vendor intends to do about the latter - get one done retrospectively, take out an indemnity, or do nothing. We suspect the answer will be 'nothing'. At which point we tell the estate agent to withdraw our original offer of the full asking price, and replace it with one at least 10% lower.
Fair enough, but nothing has changed about the house. It's the exact same house in the exact same condition as it always was.We are pretty certain that we are the only serious contenders for the house, and were willing to offer the asking price before all this extra info came out, but almost certainly not now.
All that's happened is you've found out that a piece of paper's missing. A piece of paper that carries zero weight for any practical purpose.0 -
Bendy_House wrote: »At which point we tell the estate agent to withdraw our original offer of the full asking price, and replace it with one at least 10% lower.
Why? That makes absolutely no sense. It hasn't suddenly dropped in value.0 -
Thanks again gents.
It may well be the same house in the exact same condition as before, but what's changed is that there is now no evidence to demonstrate the quality of the build or the insulation standards to which it was built.
Our solicitor has suggested that a completion certificate is a usual requirement before a mortgage can be taken out on a property, although the necessity of this diminishes with time (he said 'it wouldn't necessarily be an issue on a 60-year old house', for example).
The house is reasonably priced for one with no skeletons, but not so for a house that requires a cash buyer. Our full-asking price offer was made in good faith for a house that would be a straight-forward purchase.0 -
Fair enough, but nothing has changed about the house. It's the exact same house in the exact same condition as it always was.
All that's happened is you've found out that a piece of paper's missing. A piece of paper that carries zero weight for any practical purpose.Why? That makes absolutely no sense. It hasn't suddenly dropped in value.
Buyer's prerogative ... they can argue that their emotional attachment to the property has changed. (House buying is as much emotional as it is financial).0 -
Bendy_House wrote: »
The house is reasonably priced for one with no skeletons, but not so for a house that requires a cash buyer. Our full-asking price offer was made in good faith for a house that would be a straight-forward purchase.
Nothing you've said suggests it has "skeletons", "requires a cash buyer" or isn't a "straightforward purchase". Even if any of those did apply , where has the figure of 10% come from? Being unmortgageable or requiring structural work would likely cost much more than that.0 -
"At least 10%" was just a figure of speech - an indication that, to our mind, the house is not as it was previously when we made the offer.
There was one very obvious breach of Build Regs which I noticed during the viewing, but it's a minor issue that doesn't case concern and would be easy to put right should we wish, and it had nothing to do with the quality of the build. But to discover that the seller has seemingly kept no records of the build, had no visits from the BCO, and did not employ a surveyor (these are the 'skeletons') is a bit concerning, and in my opinion the house does not have the same value as it would had all these things been put in to place.
The seller can respond in any way he chooses, as can we. I suspect he has limited options, tho'.0
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