Would this affect property valuation

masjntt1977

Hi I am trying to keep this as brief as possible.

A property has been valued by an agent who was not aware that the current owner did not apply for any building regulations for any renovations he has made to property during his ownership ( removed stud wall, loft conversion - creating dormer space , underfloor heating, roof re tile without insulation)

Local searches have shown that previous owner has also had work carried out without approval (internal wall removal, rear extension and garage conversion.  

I am aware an indemnity policy can be purchased to cover lack of building regulations but I’m aware of the other potential risks due to safety, structure etc and that it will deter future buyers / mortgage lenders and affect resale valuation 

an indemnity policy is also needed as the property is possibly built on contaminated land 

My question is if the agent had been aware of all of this, would this have affected their valuation and if so would anyone have a very rough t idea of how much by ? Percentage wise maybe ? 

Wonka_2

'Valuation' has a number of meanings and in your case, assuming it relates to your previous post, then Mortgage 'valuation' isn't an issue. The 'value' becomes what you (or someone else) is prepared to pay given the use they expect to make of the property.

If you're looking at a long term (10yr+) tenure then during that period if any of the issues are real then you'll have dealt with them by the time you come to sell, if they were just perceived then you don't have a problem

If it's a potentially shorter tenure then you may have the same issue when you come to sell - and the chances are a buyer may need a mortgage at which point the Mortgage 'valuation' becomes a valid concern

As for a % there isn't one - there are way too many variables here  

BJV

To be honest yes. Building regulations are important and while I am sure that the work was carried out to a good safe standard there is no way to know. You can not see what is behind a wall, what supports have been put in place. etc.

We looked at buying a property which had some work done which had not been signed off ( not as much work was done as yours)  and asked our solicitor about an indemnity insurance as we really liked the house, some work had not been signed off she said it would with not cover it. Instead she suggested that it was more for basic work not major restructuring . She told us to walk away. 

We have also just had an extension built and the building reg people were all over it. They wanted to see under foundations, levels of support, thickness of insulation. All things that might not seem important but really are. 

Ref percentage??? I don't think it is as easy as that as it will depend on the work. Did your solicitor not flag this to you when you bought the property?

I seem to remember that if  the work was done over 10 years ago it can have a big impact, also ref loft conversion is it legally able to be classed as a bedroom?

Hoenir

masjntt1977 said:

My question is if the agent had been aware of all of this, would this have affected their valuation and if so would anyone have a very rough t idea of how much by ? Percentage wise maybe ? 

Encountered this situation some years ago.  Property was finished visually and fitted out to to an extremely high standard. Recall we offered £225k.  Due to the age of the property and amount of work that had been undertaken.  We had a full building survey undertaken for purposes of the mortgage. Surveyor came back with an opinion of £185k.  The list of required rectifications was both extensive and concerning. The Estate Agents refunded our surveyors fees as a gesture of goodwill after some pressure. As they too had been been totally misled by the vendors.  

user1977

It depends what objectively (if anything) is "wrong" with the property and whether those are essential repairs or things which would be nice to have. The mere lack of consents is covered by the indemnity policy.

Same principle for the contamination - big difference between there actually being contamination which needs cleaned up (very rare), and there merely being some vague reference on an old map to a possibly contaminative past use. And again, it can be insured against.

masjntt1977

Thank you 

I’m worried about coming to sell the property on in the future - eg affecting sale price or potential mortgage lenders willingness to lend. ( and of course worried that the property is safe etc)

I am buying as a cash buyer.

I don’t have definite plans for as to how long I plan to stay in the property for before selling. 

The surveyor said he would advise that we ask seller to ask council to access the work but my solicitor doesn’t think seller will agree to that and tbh I don’t think he will too as he wants to complete asap. The solicitor highlighted the lack of building regs from the local searches but said that she cannot influence my decision as to whether or not to proceed.

current seller has owned the property for 5 years so it’s possible that the seller before him had his work done more than 10 years ago but definitely only 5 years for the current sellers work. 
 

The loft conversion isn’t used as a habitable space but potentially could be but as there are no building regs surveyor can’t confirm if its structure would safely support using it as a living space (hope that makes sense) 

I’m really disappointed, I do love the property but I’m concerned what I would be taking on. I ve also reason to suspect that the seller hasn’t been entirely truthful about things and i just don’t know whether to walk away, request that he gets work signed off properly or ask for a reduction in price - but if I did ask for a reduction I ve just no idea by how much which is why I wondered if had this all been declared to agent at time of their valuation would they have adjusted the asking price to reflect the circumstances.

Albermarle

The loft conversion isn’t used as a habitable space but potentially could be but as there are no building regs surveyor can’t confirm if its structure would safely support using it as a living space (hope that makes sense) 

Some of the older stuff, contaminated land etc. I would be less worried about. However if the current owner did a loft conversion within the last 5 years, with no building regs approval, then I would be concerned about that.

When we had a loft conversion the building regs person came around at least 3 times at different stages to have a look. AIUI it is not just about supporting the floor but making sure the roof is properly supported after the original struts etc are removed. Plus fire safety.

Bigphil1474

We looked at a house round near us that has had a loft conversion and an extension put on, but no building reg sign off. You can get the council to look at it retrospectively but it is very difficult as they need to look at what you can't see not what you can. My buddy who works in Building Control said walk away, so we did.

Imagine if it turns out it was a complete bodge job? If you are still interested, price accordingly. I wouldn't worry so much about the roof myself, although lack of insulation is not good. If they reused some of the old tiles (can't remember the %), then they don't need to insulate as far as I know. The removal of two internal walls and an unknown quality loft conversion would be enough to put me off. 

Herzlos

You need to price assuming that it'll need a proper inspection (which will mean cutting access holes everywhere) and associated cost of redecorating, and that most of the work will need redone.

I'm incredibly wary about work getting done without the appropriate approvals - it either means they didn't know enough about it to apply or they deliberately didn't apply either to cut corners or because they knew it wouldn't be approved.

Unless there's something incredible about this house (or plot), then I'd just look for something else.

FreeBear

Bigphil1474 said: I wouldn't worry so much about the roof myself, although lack of insulation is not good. If they reused some of the old tiles (can't remember the %), then they don't need to insulate as far as I know. The removal of two internal walls and an unknown quality loft conversion would be enough to put me off. 

Removal of more than 25% of the roof, even if you reuse the tiles, triggers building Control involvement. As you point out, insulation is often required, but if you are already at current recommended levels, it need not be increased.

Although some people will say stud walls are not structural, that opinion is flawed - Stud walls can be providing stability for other walls, supporting the floor below, or the ceiling joists above. No wall (stud or brick) should be removed without first consulting a structural engineer. If I were in the OP's shoes, I'd be insisting that the vendor provides a report from a qualified structural engineer confirming that all alterations are of a suitable standard and supports have been inserted where required. This will require intrusive investigation by the surveyor and cost a good chunk of money. Should the vendor refuse, walk away before investing any more time & money.