Planning permissions/indemnity

WDWGunner25

Hi all,

so we bought a house that has a conservatory built over 23 years ago which didn’t have permissions (needed it as on heating system and open). We didn’t know what the requirements were but solicitor advised as it was declared by the seller as over 20 years old we are outside enforcement. We don’t have any receipts but she filled in the property info legal paperwork as 1997 and been told that’s sufficient for our legal standing.

The house also has a single skinned extension. Basically the separate garage has been converted to a garden room/downstairs shower room, and a utility and new garage have been added (all between 14-20 years ago so again outside enforcement) they are lean to style structures was stated they were within planning guidelines to not require permissions. They are not the best quality but do a job for basic utility purposes and we were going to do some internal works to insulate the walls better etc.

We moved in a month ago and our solicitor advised for peace of mind to take out an indemnity policy as the there was a restrictive covenant on the garage area saying it ‘could not be built upon’. Now the garage area was only ‘converted’ not built upon - but legal ambiguity meant we decided it was best for less than £200, especially as it covers all additional additions to the house.

My question is that our surveyor did a terrible job (paid £700 and missed so much) and turns out one of the single skinned walls joining the old garage to utility and conservatory has severe penetrating damp. If we are told to rebuild that wall (which looking at the standard seems likely) does that reset the 4 year planning permission enforcement period (I know I said she declared it was all within the rules but I doubt her more and more) and could it void our indemnity policy?

We REALLY need the work doing and didn’t know it would need it before moving in. We know we can’t ask for permission from the council without voiding the policy, so are a bit stuck! 

Any help to a probably very badly worded question (sorry) much appreciated 

sxd901

Did any of the work undertaken require building regulations approval?  I would suggest that the garage conversion would have done and therefore your solicitor should have requested a copy of the bg regs final certificate.  The fact that it has not been mentioned may mean that this approval was not applied for by the previous owner and therefore was not inspected by bg ctl and not entered on the land charges register.
IMHO this is what you are paying your solicitor for, to ensure all relevant permissions have been applied for where required.  If the works were mentioned by the previous vendor then the solicitor should be requesting a bg regs certificate for the work.
Secondly if the surveyor has carried out a poor survey missing items then you are entitled to claim against them on their insurance for repairs /  replacements.  So if the wall needs replacing then the surveyors should pay for this as they did not mention it in the survey report.
Register a compliant with both and if you are not satisfied with the outcome then take it to their relevant governing bodies who I assume would be Law Society and RICS.
Hope that helps a bit.  Good luck.

WDWGunner25

sxd901 said:

Did any of the work undertaken require building regulations approval?  I would suggest that the garage conversion would have done and therefore your solicitor should have requested a copy of the bg regs final certificate.  The fact that it has not been mentioned may mean that this approval was not applied for by the previous owner and therefore was not inspected by bg ctl and not entered on the land charges register.
IMHO this is what you are paying your solicitor for, to ensure all relevant permissions have been applied for where required.  If the works were mentioned by the previous vendor then the solicitor should be requesting a bg regs certificate for the work.
Secondly if the surveyor has carried out a poor survey missing items then you are entitled to claim against them on their insurance for repairs /  replacements.  So if the wall needs replacing then the surveyors should pay for this as they did not mention it in the survey report.
Register a compliant with both and if you are not satisfied with the outcome then take it to their relevant governing bodies who I assume would be Law Society and RICS.
Hope that helps a bit.  Good luck.

Our solicitor asked about building regulations but it was done by the owner BEFORE the one we bought off and we believe it wasn’t requested, hence the recommendation to take indemnity insurance. 
Regarding  the surveyor, yes we have an ongoing complaint in place with them, we are waiting for them to do a viewing with the director of the firm but got cancelled with Corona.

sxd901

So I'm not sure what these indemnity policies cover.  I think it is against the Local Authority finding out that unauthorised work has been undertaken at the premises.  Does it cover planning matters aswell?  If work needs putting right, who pays for that?
Also should your solicitor have asked the vendor to pay for the insurance not you?  The vendor is selling a dwelling with illegal works undertaken, why should you pay for an insurance.
One thing to watch out for with surveyors is that they may make an offer to settle but on the proviso that you do not make another claim.  Example; Mrs T bought a bungalow with a loft conversion which included a bedroom and bathroom.  The original bathroom was downstairs.  On moving into the property some of the windows were found to be faulty even though a full structural survey had been undertaken.  The surveyors paid for replacement windows.  FFL bathroom WC blocked and turned out it was a pumped mascerator system.  There was no gravity fed WC to the property.  This was not picked up by the survey, (every house should have a gravity fed WC).  Surveyors refused to entertain a claim as a condition of the previous claim was that not further issues could be raised.
Hope that is of some use.