Completion certificate

No41edwardianhouse

The next saga…

The property we are trying to buy had a single story rear extension completed in 2008. Planning permission granted. However, the seller is saying they don’t have the completion certificate. We’ve had a survey done and the work is said to be sound. 

According to the CML handbook, our lender (Accord) states in part 2 that they will accept indemnity insurance. Basically it’s down to our solicitor to rectify the issue. However, in one part of the lenders website it also says this issue could result in the need for a revaluation. So, it’s both a valuation and legal matter. The indemnity insurance would appear to solve the legal matter BUT would not having a completion certificate for an extension that was done years ago really have an impact on the value of the property today?!? 

Help!! 

user1977

No, it will have no impact on value, especially if there's indemnity insurance (not that there's really any risk after this length of time anyway).

No41edwardianhouse

user1977 said:

No, it will have no impact on value, especially if there's indemnity insurance (not that there's really any risk after this length of time anyway).

Cheers. I am wondering why the mortgage lender has the above? 

user1977

No41edwardianhouse said:

user1977 said:

No, it will have no impact on value, especially if there's indemnity insurance (not that there's really any risk after this length of time anyway).

Cheers. I am wondering why the mortgage lender has the above? 

The normal advice from the solicitor to the lender would be that the indemnity insurance covers any risk. The valuer isn't going to come up with a lower valuation anyway for this sort of situation.

No41edwardianhouse

user1977 said:

No41edwardianhouse said:

user1977 said:

No, it will have no impact on value, especially if there's indemnity insurance (not that there's really any risk after this length of time anyway).

Cheers. I am wondering why the mortgage lender has the above? 

The normal advice from the solicitor to the lender would be that the indemnity insurance covers any risk. The valuer isn't going to come up with a lower valuation anyway for this sort of situation.

I suppose it’s the fact that it may get referred back to the valuer is the thing that worries me. 

user1977

No41edwardianhouse said:

user1977 said:

No41edwardianhouse said:

user1977 said:

No, it will have no impact on value, especially if there's indemnity insurance (not that there's really any risk after this length of time anyway).

Cheers. I am wondering why the mortgage lender has the above? 

The normal advice from the solicitor to the lender would be that the indemnity insurance covers any risk. The valuer isn't going to come up with a lower valuation anyway for this sort of situation.

I suppose it’s the fact that it may get referred back to the valuer is the thing that worries me. 

The valuer will just roll their eyes and say the value is the same provided the solicitor covers off the lack of completion certificate...which they do by either getting the indemnity policy, or explaining to the lender that it's too late for enforcement action to be taken.

eddddy

I guess you could look at it this way...

Having the correct planning consent (if required) and the correct completion certificate is an indication of professionalism and doing things properly.

In particular, having a completion certificate means that the local authority building control should have checked the plans and inspected the work being done on the extension. (Although they would be pretty cursory checks and inspections.)

If the builder and/or homeowner didn't bother with planning consent and a completion certificate, there's a risk that they might be cowboys. If they don't do the legal stuff properly, I guess there's a risk that they might not do the building stuff properly either.

In the worst case, they might even have knowingly done something 'dodgy', so they didn't involve Building Control because they knew it would not be passed and no completion certificate would be issued.


As a result, some people might consider the property to be a bit more risky - and therefore feel it's worth less than a similar property which had an extension built more 'professionally'.



(As an aside, if you have concerns about the quality of the extension, you can get it inspected by a surveyor. But the surveyor probably won't be able to see things like joists - to make sure that the correct ones were used.)

user1977

eddddy said:

As a result, some people might consider the property to be a bit more risky - and therefore feel it's worth less than a similar property which had an extension built more 'professionally'.

But in the real world, I've never seen a surveyor downvalue a property on that sort of basis.

No41edwardianhouse

eddddy said:

I guess you could look at it this way...

Having the correct planning consent (if required) and the correct completion certificate is an indication of professionalism and doing things properly.

In particular, having a completion certificate means that the local authority building control should have checked the plans and inspected the work being done on the extension. (Although they would be pretty cursory checks and inspections.)

If the builder and/or homeowner didn't bother with planning consent and a completion certificate, there's a risk that they might be cowboys. If they don't do the legal stuff properly, I guess there's a risk that they might not do the building stuff properly either.

In the worst case, they might even have knowingly done something 'dodgy', so they didn't involve Building Control because they knew it would not be passed and no completion certificate would be issued.


As a result, some people might consider the property to be a bit more risky - and therefore feel it's worth less than a similar property which had an extension built more 'professionally'.



(As an aside, if you have concerns about the quality of the extension, you can get it inspected by a surveyor. But the surveyor probably won't be able to see things like joists - to make sure that the correct ones were used.)

As mentioned in my original post:

- the building had consent
- the surveyor we appointed had no issues with the quality of the work.

it appears it’s as simply as a lost certificate! They said they couldn’t find the certificate. 

No41edwardianhouse

user1977 said:

eddddy said:

As a result, some people might consider the property to be a bit more risky - and therefore feel it's worth less than a similar property which had an extension built more 'professionally'.

But in the real world, I've never seen a surveyor downvalue a property on that sort of basis.

Especially as the extension was done in 2008, right? 

user1977

No41edwardianhouse said:

eddddy said:

I guess you could look at it this way...

Having the correct planning consent (if required) and the correct completion certificate is an indication of professionalism and doing things properly.

In particular, having a completion certificate means that the local authority building control should have checked the plans and inspected the work being done on the extension. (Although they would be pretty cursory checks and inspections.)

If the builder and/or homeowner didn't bother with planning consent and a completion certificate, there's a risk that they might be cowboys. If they don't do the legal stuff properly, I guess there's a risk that they might not do the building stuff properly either.

In the worst case, they might even have knowingly done something 'dodgy', so they didn't involve Building Control because they knew it would not be passed and no completion certificate would be issued.


As a result, some people might consider the property to be a bit more risky - and therefore feel it's worth less than a similar property which had an extension built more 'professionally'.



(As an aside, if you have concerns about the quality of the extension, you can get it inspected by a surveyor. But the surveyor probably won't be able to see things like joists - to make sure that the correct ones were used.)

it appears it’s as simply as a lost certificate! They said they couldn’t find the certificate. 

Ah! And you have a search showing that the council did issue a completion certificate? You just haven't seen the certificate itself? That's not even an issue then.