Buying a house with Conditional building approval

munro_wilson

It had a loft and ground floor extension added in mid 2015. Planning permission wasnt required. Conditional approval (certificate provided) was given by the council (Oct 2015) subject to some structural calculations.

The agent tells us it was regarding the bolts used for attaching the Juliet Balcony, a ground floor existing beam and an existing central pier. Changes, calculations and photos supplied were.

The vendor also supplied them to the council, but nothing more was heard. She never pushed it and its been left since.

I heard you can take an insurance policy out to cover this or is this a red flag and walk away?

AdrianC

Nothing to insure against. The council cannot pursue you for lack of sign-off after five and a half years.

davidmcn

Your "insurance" is to get it inspected by your surveyor and then they can tell you whether there's actually anything to be worried about.

munro_wilson

What is the time cut off for the council pursuing?

AdrianC

12 months.

eddddy

munro_wilson said:

The agent tells us it was regarding the bolts used for attaching the Juliet Balcony, a ground floor existing beam and an existing central pier. Changes, calculations and photos supplied were.

The vendor also supplied them to the council, but nothing more was heard. She never pushed it and its been left since.

I guess that if you are really concerned (and/or suspicious that you're being misled), you could show those calculations and photos to a structural engineer, and ask them to confirm that everything is ok - in return for a fee.

Alternatively, if the documents with the calculations and photos were clearly provided by a reputable structural engineer, you might be happy with that. (You could even phone the engineer to double check that they really worked on that project - but I guess they might decline to tell you.)

munro_wilson

***Update***
We had an update from the EA yesterday  after viewing over the weekend. The agent showing us around misspoke and the works were carried out in 2019 with the conditional approval given in October 2019.

The EA advised that the vendor's original inspector went bust just before the final inspection and it ended up with the council at that final stage.

The last two correspondences from the council were Dec 2019 requesting  some structural calculations as set out in my first post and then in Feb 2020 requesting a site visit as they has not visited since Sept 2019. The vendor made the changes and sent the photos plus calculations in mid March 2020 and then resent after the end of the first lock down.

The vendor received email acknowledgement of receipt. According to the EA nothing has been heard since from the Council and he has that in writing from the seller. 

Does the above alter anything? 


.

AdrianC

I wonder why the council might be slow in replying to things since March 2020...?

FreeBear

munro_wilson said: The last two correspondences from the council were Dec 2019 requesting  some structural calculations as set out in my first post and then in Feb 2020 requesting a site visit as they has not visited since Sept 2019. The vendor made the changes and sent the photos plus calculations in mid March 2020 and then resent after the end of the first lock down.

Does the above alter anything?

So pretty recent works - Push the vendor to get the work signed off by Building Control (the council). You won't get indemnity insurance as the council are aware. Sign off should just be a formality.

munro_wilson

AdrianC said:

I wonder why the council might be slow in replying to things since March 2020...?

Nothing comes to mind thats obvious to me