Selling mum’s home - how to deal with lack of paperwork, regulations or planning

ss2020jd

In the next month or so we will have to put my mum’s house on the market to pay for her care home fees. 

I have power of attorney for her so am going to do it all on her behalf. She still has capacity but feels unable to cope with all the paperwork etc. The LPA allows for me to do this.

My stepfather passed away last November and had left a folder of general paperwork, including a FENSA certificate for 7 windows and 2 doors dated 2009.  

There is a small conservatory which is half brick and the rest UPVC double glazed windows and roof. It measures approximately about 6ft by 6ft and opens on to a dining table and a small kitchen area to the side of that, with a separate back door from the kitchen. The kitchen is then separated from the rest of the house by double doors.

I can’t see any building regs or planning paperwork for this. I did a planning search online and nothing came up. I’m not sure if the FENSA certificate is is for that as it was issued by a window and conservatory company. 

I understand from reading on here that a conservatory should be separated from the rest of the house to pass building regs but this doesn’t seem to be the case here. 

I’m not sure how to approach the sale without the required paperwork or detailed knowledge of the property but I don’t want it to hold things up as the funds are needed to pay for the care sooner rather than later. I’m aware that if I alerted building control at this stage it could cause more issues and delays. 

Apologies for lack of pictures but I am a long way from there and am not due back there for a few weeks. 

If anyone has any advice or experience in dealing with a situation like this I would appreciate it. 

user1977

You haven't told us how old the conservatory is? Such things are generally of less interest the more historic they are.

In any event I wouldn't hold up marketing - and do not try to contact the council before you have sought legal advice, as the solution may be an indemnity policy (which is invalidated if you've recently contacted the council...).

ss2020jd

user1977 said:

You haven't told us how old the conservatory is? Such things are generally of less interest the more historic they are.

In any event I wouldn't hold up marketing - and do not try to contact the council before you have sought legal advice, as the solution may be an indemnity policy (which is invalidated if you've recently contacted the council...).

Thank you @user1977, that’s what I suspected. I would say it must be at least 10-14 years old. My mum can’t remember the exact date and I can’t ask the conservatory/window company as they don’t seem to be in business any longer. 

gazfocus

As user1977 says, don’t contact building control because just them knowing about the issue will invalidate any future indemnity policy. 

For a relatively small conservatory, I don’t think you’ll have any issues either with having no FENSA certificate (unless as you say the one you have covers the conservatory) or lack of building regs.

In your position, I think I’d just present the paperwork you do have and be honest about not knowing about whether there’s building regs because of the circumstances and that you’ll cover the cost of an indemnity policy (sub £100). I’d get your solicitor to mention this to any buyers solicitor first off just to save it becoming an issue down the line. 

With regards planning permission, depending on when the conservatory was built, it’s highly likely it would have been built under permitted development so wouldn’t need planning permission. 

doodling

Hi,

All you need to do is answer questions from prospective buyers truthfully.  "I don't know" is a valid answer to many of the questions that are likely to be asked.

Obviously if you do know an answer then you should give it but not knowing stuff is normal where someone is selling on behalf of someone else and sellers should expect that once they know the circumstances.

Of course, not having everything to hand might mean that sellers want you to pay for various indemnities or reduce the price (effectively the same thing from your point of view), only you can decide the balance between speed of sale and selling price.

ss2020jd

gazfocus said:

As user1977 says, don’t contact building control because just them knowing about the issue will invalidate any future indemnity policy. 

For a relatively small conservatory, I don’t think you’ll have any issues either with having no FENSA certificate (unless as you say the one you have covers the conservatory) or lack of building regs.

In your position, I think I’d just present the paperwork you do have and be honest about not knowing about whether there’s building regs because of the circumstances and that you’ll cover the cost of an indemnity policy (sub £100). I’d get your solicitor to mention this to any buyers solicitor first off just to save it becoming an issue down the line. 

With regards planning permission, depending on when the conservatory was built, it’s highly likely it would have been built under permitted development so wouldn’t need planning permission. 

Thank you gazfocus, that’s good to know and good advice just to present anything and mention it upfront to the solicitor. 

I definitely won’t approach the council as it sounds like the usual required indemnity insurance will be the way to hopefully avoid it becoming an issue. 

eddddy

You should just sell the house as it is, with whatever paperwork you can find.

In your position, I'd mention any potential issues to the estate agent. If they're a good estate agent, they'll gently warn the buyers that there might be some 'bumps' along the way during conveyancing.

It's often better that way, than a buyer getting an unexpected, scary-sounding letter from their solicitor and panicking.

ss2020jd

eddddy said:

You should just sell the house as it is, with whatever paperwork you can find.

In your position, I'd mention any potential issues to the estate agent. If they're a good estate agent, they'll gently warn the buyers that there might be some 'bumps' along the way during conveyancing.

It's often better that way, than a buyer getting an unexpected, scary-sounding letter from their solicitor and panicking.

Thanks eddddy, agreed, that’s a good idea. 

I imagine a lot of the TA6 form will just say ‘not known’ as well. Hopefully if potential buyers know the circumstances in advance they will be aware of any issues. 

ss2020jd

doodling said:

Hi,

All you need to do is answer questions from prospective buyers truthfully.  "I don't know" is a valid answer to many of the questions that are likely to be asked.

Obviously if you do know an answer then you should give it but not knowing stuff is normal where someone is selling on behalf of someone else and sellers should expect that once they know the circumstances.

Of course, not having everything to hand might mean that sellers want you to pay for various indemnities or reduce the price (effectively the same thing from your point of view), only you can decide the balance between speed of sale and selling price.

Thanks doodling, that’s reassuring, and what I was thinking would have to be the case.

Since speed is really of the essence here, I’m prepared there will have to be some kind of reduction involved for missing information/knowledge. 

lika_86

doodling said:

Hi,

All you need to do is answer questions from prospective buyers truthfully.  "I don't know" is a valid answer to many of the questions that are likely to be asked.

Obviously if you do know an answer then you should give it but not knowing stuff is normal where someone is selling on behalf of someone else and sellers should expect that once they know the circumstances.

Of course, not having everything to hand might mean that sellers want you to pay for various indemnities or reduce the price (effectively the same thing from your point of view), only you can decide the balance between speed of sale and selling price.

If the owner still has capacity then even though the transaction is primarily being handled by someone else then as a buyer I'd expect better answers than 'I don't know' if in fact the owner can give a better answer. To do anything else would be misleading.

ss2020jd

lika_86 said:

doodling said:

Hi,

All you need to do is answer questions from prospective buyers truthfully.  "I don't know" is a valid answer to many of the questions that are likely to be asked.

Obviously if you do know an answer then you should give it but not knowing stuff is normal where someone is selling on behalf of someone else and sellers should expect that once they know the circumstances.

Of course, not having everything to hand might mean that sellers want you to pay for various indemnities or reduce the price (effectively the same thing from your point of view), only you can decide the balance between speed of sale and selling price.

If the owner still has capacity then even though the transaction is primarily being handled by someone else then as a buyer I'd expect better answers than 'I don't know' if in fact the owner can give a better answer. To do anything else would be misleading.

Of course if the answer is known it will be given. Unfortunately although my mum does still have capacity, my stepfather dealt with all things house-related so she has little knowledge of most of the information required.