Selling house, missing external door separating conservatory and house - what issues?

Arfa__

We're currently selling our house, it has a conservatory that was built in 2010 and was within guidelines for a conservatory not required planning permission etc. Many years ago, we got fed up with the old back door that separates the house from the conservatory, as it opened inward into a small kitchen and was very inconvenient. When the kids were young, countless times they would trip over the plastic frame sticking up on the old doorstep. As such, we removed the door and the trip-hazard frame, lived without and not thought anymore for many years (never found the conservatory too hot/cold to use or negatively affecting the rest of the house).

However, I've learnt that having an external grade door separating the conservatory from the house is a requirement for building regulations.

I will mention this on the TA6 form where it asks about work done to the house that may contravene building regulations. What implementations could this have? Could it hinder the sale? Should I be getting some quotes to replace the door ready? It's still a busy market where I am, high demand and in sellers favour, can I just be hard-nosed to insist the price is for the house as-is?

user1977

I would do nothing unless somebody raises it.

GDB2222

"I will mention this on the TA6 form where it asks about work done to the house that may contravene building regulations. "

It doesn't ask that specific question. It asks:
"Have any of the following changes been made to the whole or any part of the property (including the garden)?
(a) Building works (e.g. extension, loft or garage conversion, removal of internal walls)
...."

I don't think that removing a door, but leaving the opening, counts. However, if in doubt, mention it. You certainly don't need to state that you think it might contravene building regs. 

GDB2222

You can see all the TA forms here.

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/en/topics/property/transaction-forms

Arfa__

This was the specific TA6 section I was going to mention this detail in:

"Is the seller aware of any breaches of planning
permission conditions or Building Regulations
consent conditions, unfinished work or work that
does not have all necessary consents?"

Though, upon re-reading that, I'm still not sure it's directly applicable.

Ultimately, was just wanting to be truthful and didn't want to risk it cropping up later and delaying matters.

Soot2006

Our house has a basic internal door instead of external grade between kitchen and cheap lean-to. The surveyor mentioned it as a big problem, breach of regulations, etc. I said OK thanks. It was never mentioned again.  Most people won't mind if the rest of the house looks fine.

NameUnavailable

It will probably be picked up by the buyers surveyor but shouldn't be a surprise to them in that they will have seen the house before offering (?). They will have to decide themselves if they want to leave it as it is or fit a new door.

Doozergirl

Put some doors in. 

Our buyers lost two buyers because of the same issue.  Why they didn't put a door in after the first sale fell through, I don't know.  

When you're selling, the best thing to do is to rectify any potential issues before they become problems.  There might be some things that you can't do anything about, but those you can, you should.  
 

AdrianC

Arfa__ said:

This was the specific TA6 section I was going to mention this detail in:

"Is the seller aware of any breaches of planning
permission conditions or Building Regulations
consent conditions, unfinished work or work that
does not have all necessary consents?"

Though, upon re-reading that, I'm still not sure it's directly applicable.

It's not.
There was no breach of PP. None was needed.
There was no breach of BR conditions. None were imposed.
There is no work that needed consent but doesn't have. Removing a door does not need consent.

The conservatory may not meet current BR standards... but the door is probably the least of that, because BR standards have changed since it was constructed.

Ramouth

AdrianC said:

Arfa__ said:

This was the specific TA6 section I was going to mention this detail in:

"Is the seller aware of any breaches of planning
permission conditions or Building Regulations
consent conditions, unfinished work or work that
does not have all necessary consents?"

Though, upon re-reading that, I'm still not sure it's directly applicable.

It's not.
There was no breach of PP. None was needed.
There was no breach of BR conditions. None were imposed.
There is no work that needed consent but doesn't have. Removing a door does not need consent.

The conservatory may not meet current BR standards... but the door is probably the least of that, because BR standards have changed since it was constructed.

I’m not convinced this is correct.  The conservatory was built with the external door in place and therefore did not need to meet the requirements of part L because it was outside the thermal envelope.  Removing the door means that it is now part of the building and would therefore need to either be upgraded to meet minimum u-values (likely to be impossible for most glazed structures) or have other elements of the building upgraded to compensate.  Removing the door would therefore be an element of work that would require building regulations notification in it’s own right.  

You could wait and ask potential purchasers what they would like to do but their mortgage company may insist on an indemnity policy or rectification.

Arfa__

Fair enough, sounds like I'm worrying unnecessarily. I'll leave it off and just see if it crops up on a survey and if any buyer is particularly bothered.

I've been inundated with viewing bookings, most buyers around here are landlords and developers, so hopefully shouldn't be too big a stickler.