Selling a self build within 12 months of warranty sign off, help needed

Issy_81

I have a Self Build Zone Structural Warranty for my self build that was signed off in April this year.

The build was delayed by a year due to contractor shortages and sign off was delayed by months due to a few final items such as landscaping to provide level access. We are now going through a divorce and I also need to move away from the area due to work so looking to sell the property. Obviously never the original intention when we purchased the land 4 years ago!

A structural warranty will be a requirement of a mortgage company for any buyer. I have checked the structural warranty terms and this states:

Structural Warranty E177:TRANSFER OF INTEREST 

It is a condition of this policy that the insured (or an immediate family member) occupies the housing unit named herein upon completion and does not transfer ownership for 12 months from the date of inception as specified in the Certificate of Insurance issued upon satisfactory completion of the site audit process.

I have have spoken to Self Build Zone who said I can’t transfer it within the first 12 months.

Having taken a look online the Self Build Zone website it states:

Cover automatically transfers to successors in title after the first 12 months’ following completion.

Q. Would this be accepted by a mortgage provider if bought after 9 or 10 months after completion that the policy will automatically change to the new owner after 12 months?

I have also seen the following advice https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/advice/self-build-warranties

Self build warranties often come with a ‘lock-in’ of one or two years which restricts the transfer of the warranty to a new owner. For most self builders, this is not a problem, but it can cause an issue when circumstances change (typically death or divorce). In exceptional cases, the warranty providers have the power to relax the lock-in.

Q. Has anyone had experience of this? I would consider my circumstances exceptional and I could push this option with Self Build Zone, but they weren't very helpful on my first call to them.

Or alternatively, could I take out a new warranty for the new owners upon completion?

Thanks for your help.

user1977

Issy_81 said:

Structural Warranty E177:TRANSFER OF INTEREST 

It is a condition of this policy that the insured (or an immediate family member) occupies the housing unit named herein upon completion and does not transfer ownership for 12 months from the date of inception as specified in the Certificate of Insurance issued upon satisfactory completion of the site audit process.

I have have spoken to Self Build Zone who said I can’t transfer it within the first 12 months.

Having taken a look online the Self Build Zone website it states:

Cover automatically transfers to successors in title after the first 12 months’ following completion.

Q. Would this be accepted by a mortgage provider if bought after 9 or 10 months after completion that the policy will automatically change to the new owner after 12 months?

I can't see why they would, given the previous condition has been breached? You'd need to get the warranty varied.

Issy_81

I have raised this again with the structural warranty provider. There were inspection and approval costs throughout the build but the premium itself was only £811. They have given me a cost to remove the Transfer of Interest clause of £605. To me this seems excessive and almost taking advantage of such situation. Has anyone had experience of such change?

Thanks

eddddy

It seems unreasonable, but I'm not sure that you really have any recourse.

I guess you could try negotiating with them, to see if they'll reduce the price. But if you need to sell the property, you don't really have a strong negotiating position..


In many ways, they're in a much stronger negotiating position - they can simply say "If you don't pay the £605, you'll find it hard to sell your property."