Buying a property in conservation area, England

JonMitchell

Slithery said:

JonMitchell said:
I have read news that insurer turned down insurance claims with loft conversion with no building regulations certificate, so it would be prudent for me to spell it out to them then be sorry later?

What about the vast majority of housing in the country that doesn't have building regs? Is that uninsurable too?
No. It isnt.

Diverting a bit away from my OP?

user1977

JonMitchell said:

user1977 said:

JonMitchell said:

user1977 said:

JonMitchell said:

user1977 said:

JonMitchell said:

Slinky said:

JonMitchell said:

Slinky said:

Have you looked at the Fensa website to see when the windows were installed? You can just put in the postcode and house number and it will give you the dates.

Thanks, just did a search and the address for the property did not come up.... the windows must have been installed after April 2002 as on google street view, I could see the windows are single glaze sash windows

Sounds as though they were done by a non-Fensa registered installer.

If the seller is not able to exhibit building regulation approval/certificate for the loft conversion, it possibly means no insurance company will likely to take us up for it.

No, this is nonsense. Buildings insurers don't ask about building regulation approval for such things.

I do hope it is nonsense too. I called an insurance co and enquired if building insurance can be purchased. Explained the situation to them as per my OP and they reverted, sorry can't cover. Also mortgage lender reverted that they will not accept indemnity insurance either.

I suspect you're confusing matters by trying to explain things to call centre staff which they haven't asked you about and are off their scripts. You only need to answer questions which the buildings insurers ask you about on the proposal form, and it's not at all normal for them to ask about things like building regulation compliance.

If it's a conservation area then I'm guessing the original portion of the house has never complied with any building regulations, but obviously it's still going to be insurable and mortgageable. The lender will pay heed to any specific warnings by their surveyor if there appears to be actual problems with the structure etc, but otherwise they're not going to be concerned by building regulations enforcement if there's an indemnity policy in place.

I have read news that insurer turned down insurance claims with loft conversion with no building regulations certificate, so it would be prudent for me to spell it out to them then be sorry later?

Where have you read this, and what were the circumstances of the claim? Insurers can't just reject claims for arbitrary reasons. Though bear in mind that "house falling down because of poor workmanship" etc isn't going to be an insured risk anyway, whether or not it was ever signed off for building regulations purposes.

https://dbcp.co.uk/dbcp-warns-home-owners-that-loft-conversions-could-invalidate-home-insurance/

"the insurer denied the claim as the policyholder had wrongly insured their home as a five-bedroom house when, in fact, it had seven bedrooms".

So, nothing to do with whether those extra bedrooms complied with building regulations or not (and "number of bedrooms" is a standard question on an insurance proposal form).

If anything the story disproves the other urban myth about loft conversions, that it isn't a "proper bedroom" if it doesn't have paperwork.

JonMitchell said:

Slithery said:

JonMitchell said:
I have read news that insurer turned down insurance claims with loft conversion with no building regulations certificate, so it would be prudent for me to spell it out to them then be sorry later?

What about the vast majority of housing in the country that doesn't have building regs? Is that uninsurable too?
No. It isnt.

Diverting a bit away from my OP?

I don't think so - you seem to be shying away from a property at first glance because it apparently doesn't have paperwork for all the past works done to it, whereas this is a very commonplace and (generally) acceptable situation, for buyers, insurers and lenders.

babyblade41

I think you are overthinking everything.

Get a surveyors report on loft conversion, and indemnity insurance on the windows . 

I think you are looking for problems that don't really exist .

Don't contact council you could do more damage to yourselves , the current owner or any other prospective buyer 

Are you a FTB ?

ETA, I live in a conservation area and have plans passed for a full  wrap around extension with no problems whatsoever 

JonMitchell

JonMitchell said:

Slithery said:

JonMitchell said:
I have read news that insurer turned down insurance claims with loft conversion with no building regulations certificate, so it would be prudent for me to spell it out to them then be sorry later?

What about the vast majority of housing in the country that doesn't have building regs? Is that uninsurable too?
No. It isnt.

Diverting a bit away from my OP?

I don't think so - you seem to be shying away from a property at first glance because it apparently doesn't have paperwork for all the past works done to it, whereas this is a very commonplace and (generally) acceptable situation, for buyers, insurers and lenders.

Sorry I am not. I just want to make sure my money is well used.

JonMitchell

babyblade41 said:

I think you are overthinking everything.

Get a surveyors report on loft conversion, and indemnity insurance on the windows . 

I think you are looking for problems that don't really exist .

Don't contact council you could do more damage to yourselves , the current owner or any other prospective buyer 

Are you a FTB ?

ETA, I live in a conservation area and have plans passed for a full  wrap around extension with no problems whatsoever 

Nope not a FTB. But first time purchasing a property with a loft converted that possibly does not have the relevant paperwork, which needs further querying with seller.