FTB - Brand new extension no building regs - please help!

lincroft1710

Mollydog112 said:

lincroft1710 said:

Either he gets retrospective BR  and makes good any damage or walk away. Even if he does get BR, think about lowering your offer.

I have a feeling the seller will not want to get BR and will be a “like it or lump it” mindset. We love the house and really don’t want to lose it but at the same time, if he does refuse to get it I think it’s even more suspicious. He wants a quick sale which is likely why he won’t want it - but it could also be because he knows it won’t get BR, how are we too know?!

 

If that is his attitude, it just says it all, he has no business being a property developer. Walk away! BR approval, nothing less!

Section62

Mollydog112 said:

In your opinion, if we got a full structural survey done on it and that came back implying it was safe...
 

In a case like this the structural safety isn't the real issue. More of a problem is if things like damp proofing, insulation, ventilation, and foundation design haven't been given the attention they need as they can result in difficult to solve problems emerging at a much later date.

As FreeBear says, there is a limit to what a surveyor can and will look at. To be assured there are no problems you would need the kind of intrusive inspection that would typically go with BR regularisation.

It could all be fine. But the owner has created a massive problem for themselves by avoiding the BR process. The question is whether you like the house and him enough to voluntarily take that problem off his hands? And will your mortgage company (if there is one) agree?

user1977

FreeBear said:

Mollydog112 said: He wants a quick sale which is likely why he won’t want it - but it could also be because he knows it won’t get BR, how are we too know?!
 

Even with a full building survey, the surveyor will not be able to make holes in the walls or dig holes to check that the extension is of satisfactory construction. So without that certificate of completion from Building Control, you have no assurances that it is well built and safe.

If you did buy with the current lack of paperwork, you will face difficulties when you come to sell the place.

And like I said above, assuming you're buying with a mortgage then your lender will also need to be satisfied - and I suspect they will want either building regulations sign-off, or an indemnity policy (the latter being impossible for something this recent).

verytired11

It may be that there was a problem at the back of the house that he is trying to hide by building the extension, and he wouldn't get building regs because of the pre-existing problem that he presumably hasn't fixed.  It seems suspicious to me that someone who has lived so long in a house goes to the trouble of an extension just to sell it.

Mollydog112

Thanks everyone. It’s not what we wanted to hear but we agree with you all - clearly not getting building regs is ridiculous for an extension, especially one he has done specifically to sell. We are going to call our solicitor first thing on Tuesday morning after the bank hol to discuss our options - in our minds we need retrospective BR or very sadly we will have to walk away. 

Aspiration

Sounds like a plan and hopefully going through it again with the solicitor is helpful.

It is hard to believe he wouldn’t have known about needing building regs, sure the builder would have even mentioned it. There may be good intention and he believes it’s been done to a great standard so no malice but it is a basic requirement. 

Good Luck 

phoebe1989seb

user1977 said:

FreeBear said:

Mollydog112 said: He wants a quick sale which is likely why he won’t want it - but it could also be because he knows it won’t get BR, how are we too know?!
 

Even with a full building survey, the surveyor will not be able to make holes in the walls or dig holes to check that the extension is of satisfactory construction. So without that certificate of completion from Building Control, you have no assurances that it is well built and safe.

If you did buy with the current lack of paperwork, you will face difficulties when you come to sell the place.

And like I said above, assuming you're buying with a mortgage then your lender will also need to be satisfied - and I suspect they will want either building regulations sign-off, or an indemnity policy (the latter being impossible for something this recent).

Things might have changed during the intervening seven years, but in 2014 when we sold a property that had building regs for everything except new timber double glazing that had been fitted within the past ten months, it was possible to obtain an indemnity policy.....it was just considerably more expensive than the bog standard ones.

Jeepers_Creepers

phoebe1989seb said:

Things might have changed during the intervening seven years, but in 2014 when we sold a property that had building regs for everything except new timber double glazing that had been fitted within the past ten months, it was possible to obtain an indemnity policy.....it was just considerably more expensive than the bog standard ones.

What did that policy covers, Phoebe?

Mollydog112

phoebe1989seb said:

user1977 said:

FreeBear said:

Mollydog112 said: He wants a quick sale which is likely why he won’t want it - but it could also be because he knows it won’t get BR, how are we too know?!
 

Things might have changed during the intervening seven years, but in 2014 when we sold a property that had building regs for everything except new timber double glazing that had been fitted within the past ten months, it was possible to obtain an indemnity policy.....it was just considerably more expensive than the bog standard ones.

That’s interesting to know, will ask our solicitor on Tuesday. What indemnity doesn’t cover though is the safety aspect - we will not be buying a newly extended house with no paperwork because how on earth do we know if it’s been done properly!?

Boyfriend and I have had lots of discussions in the last 24 hours - we refuse to buy without knowing it’s been done properly so the only option is for the seller to agree to retrospective BR or we walk away. We will be heartbroken but we are not fools or mugs!

Martin_the_Unjust

Mollydog112 said:

phoebe1989seb said:

user1977 said:

FreeBear said:

Mollydog112 said: He wants a quick sale which is likely why he won’t want it - but it could also be because he knows it won’t get BR, how are we too know?!
 

Things might have changed during the intervening seven years, but in 2014 when we sold a property that had building regs for everything except new timber double glazing that had been fitted within the past ten months, it was possible to obtain an indemnity policy.....it was just considerably more expensive than the bog standard ones.

That’s interesting to know, will ask our solicitor on Tuesday. What indemnity doesn’t cover though is the safety aspect - we will not be buying a newly extended house with no paperwork because how on earth do we know if it’s been done properly!?

Boyfriend and I have had lots of discussions in the last 24 hours - we refuse to buy without knowing it’s been done properly so the only option is for the seller to agree to retrospective BR or we walk away. We will be heartbroken but we are not fools or mugs!

Sounds like you’ve come to a sensible decision to me.