Buying a property that has an extension without planning permission/building regs

tsolrm

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

Not because of the lack of paperwork, no.

I have been told by numerous parties now not to accept idemnity insurance and get retrospective building regs signed off so I am not sure what to do now.

What are the credentials of these numerous parties? Have they explained their rationale? There's no risk of the council popping round to enforce it after this length of time.

Indemnity insurance offers 0 protection that's why it's so cheap. It is voided under many conditions and it doesn't actually solve the issue of the dodgy extension.

Correct. So if there are actual problems with the quality of work, you can either get those sorted, or be prepared for buyers to account for it in the price if their surveyors comment on it (in the same way that they'll be looking at the rest of the construction of the property).

The paperwork isn't all that relevant, especially if you're talking about something done years ago - it could have deteroriated (or had other stuff done to it) since it was signed off, and being compliant with building regulations just means it ticked some minimum boxes, not necessarily that it was done particularly well.

 Of-course the paperwork is relevant, don't be silly. The work is less than 5 years old.

Is it? Ok, all you said in the OP is that it was somewhere over 4 years old.

The issue is not missing paperwork but WHY it is missing. What if the work done can never possibly comply with building regs?

A huge proportion of properties can never possibly comply with current building regulations. Many of them predate building regulations even existing. It really isn't a big problem. Enforcement doesn't happen unless it's something actually causing a hazard to third parties. "Why" it's missing is often just because whoever did the work couldn't be bothered applying, not that it wouldn't have been signed off. But if you want to know what (if anything) is actually wrong with it, get somebody to have a look at it. Do you have all the paperwork for the original construction of the property?

The property is then forever tainted with it because you wouldn't be able to get any work done on it AND get building regs sign off.

No it isn't "forever tainted". As time goes on it becomes ancient history. People do not typically try to get retrospective sign off.

Not to mention implications to home insurance

There are no problems with home insurance, that's a popular myth.

Myth? Wow you really are producing a lot of nonsense on this forum.. If your extension roof falls down you can absolutely expect the home insurance people to ask about building regs and they WILL refuse to pay if there are none. Any solicitor can tell you that.

davidmcn

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

Not because of the lack of paperwork, no.

I have been told by numerous parties now not to accept idemnity insurance and get retrospective building regs signed off so I am not sure what to do now.

What are the credentials of these numerous parties? Have they explained their rationale? There's no risk of the council popping round to enforce it after this length of time.

Indemnity insurance offers 0 protection that's why it's so cheap. It is voided under many conditions and it doesn't actually solve the issue of the dodgy extension.

Correct. So if there are actual problems with the quality of work, you can either get those sorted, or be prepared for buyers to account for it in the price if their surveyors comment on it (in the same way that they'll be looking at the rest of the construction of the property).

The paperwork isn't all that relevant, especially if you're talking about something done years ago - it could have deteroriated (or had other stuff done to it) since it was signed off, and being compliant with building regulations just means it ticked some minimum boxes, not necessarily that it was done particularly well.

 Of-course the paperwork is relevant, don't be silly. The work is less than 5 years old.

Is it? Ok, all you said in the OP is that it was somewhere over 4 years old.

The issue is not missing paperwork but WHY it is missing. What if the work done can never possibly comply with building regs?

A huge proportion of properties can never possibly comply with current building regulations. Many of them predate building regulations even existing. It really isn't a big problem. Enforcement doesn't happen unless it's something actually causing a hazard to third parties. "Why" it's missing is often just because whoever did the work couldn't be bothered applying, not that it wouldn't have been signed off. But if you want to know what (if anything) is actually wrong with it, get somebody to have a look at it. Do you have all the paperwork for the original construction of the property?

The property is then forever tainted with it because you wouldn't be able to get any work done on it AND get building regs sign off.

No it isn't "forever tainted". As time goes on it becomes ancient history. People do not typically try to get retrospective sign off.

Not to mention implications to home insurance

There are no problems with home insurance, that's a popular myth.

Myth? Wow you really are producing a lot of nonsense on this forum.. If your extension roof falls down you can absolutely expect the home insurance people to ask about building regs and they WILL refuse to pay if there are none. Any solicitor can tell you that.

Which insured risk would you be claiming under?

frogglet

We had an extension, a few years later in bad windy weather we had tiles fall off, only on the extended bit, not on the original part of the house.
We didnt have to produce any documents to claim on the insurance.

jimbog

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

tsolrm said:

davidmcn said:

Not because of the lack of paperwork, no.

I have been told by numerous parties now not to accept idemnity insurance and get retrospective building regs signed off so I am not sure what to do now.

What are the credentials of these numerous parties? Have they explained their rationale? There's no risk of the council popping round to enforce it after this length of time.

Indemnity insurance offers 0 protection that's why it's so cheap. It is voided under many conditions and it doesn't actually solve the issue of the dodgy extension.

Correct. So if there are actual problems with the quality of work, you can either get those sorted, or be prepared for buyers to account for it in the price if their surveyors comment on it (in the same way that they'll be looking at the rest of the construction of the property).

The paperwork isn't all that relevant, especially if you're talking about something done years ago - it could have deteroriated (or had other stuff done to it) since it was signed off, and being compliant with building regulations just means it ticked some minimum boxes, not necessarily that it was done particularly well.

 Of-course the paperwork is relevant, don't be silly. The work is less than 5 years old.

Is it? Ok, all you said in the OP is that it was somewhere over 4 years old.

The issue is not missing paperwork but WHY it is missing. What if the work done can never possibly comply with building regs?

A huge proportion of properties can never possibly comply with current building regulations. Many of them predate building regulations even existing. It really isn't a big problem. Enforcement doesn't happen unless it's something actually causing a hazard to third parties. "Why" it's missing is often just because whoever did the work couldn't be bothered applying, not that it wouldn't have been signed off. But if you want to know what (if anything) is actually wrong with it, get somebody to have a look at it. Do you have all the paperwork for the original construction of the property?

The property is then forever tainted with it because you wouldn't be able to get any work done on it AND get building regs sign off.

No it isn't "forever tainted". As time goes on it becomes ancient history. People do not typically try to get retrospective sign off.

Not to mention implications to home insurance

There are no problems with home insurance, that's a popular myth.

Myth? Wow you really are producing a lot of nonsense on this forum.. If your extension roof falls down you can absolutely expect the home insurance people to ask about building regs and they WILL refuse to pay if there are none. Any solicitor can tell you that.

 Nonsense