Extension built by vendor causing massive headache.

Dmv18

My partner and I are buying a property. To keep it brief, our vendors bought this current house before Covid and during Covid redid the whole property. They extended the rear by 2x2m to make the dining room bigger. However as it was being done during Covid, they didn’t get any permission for the extension (building regs). We also think that they thought it was gonna be their forever home so just did it anyway as they were never gonna go through all these checks.

We found out a few days before exchange through our solicitors when they finally came  and said they didn’t have any building regulation documents. They also ended up going to the council in that time to try get a certificate, however the council would not give them one so now they can’t have Indemnity cover either.

Initially we were told we need to make sure our lender are willing to continue before moving ahead. They are still happy. We also wanted proof the council will not take any enforcement action (with us or future owners). They have managed to get an email for proof. Yesterday a structural engineer attended to make sure it was safe and sound- its all sound!

Now we have asked why is it not possible to get retrospective but we found out they built over a manhole cover. This is why the council can’t give this certificate. We have been told the way it works for this, during the build an officer would come to check at different stages to make sure it is safe and compliance with their regulations. Because they couldn’t do that, no cert can be provided. We are massively worried about reselling in the future. Because we will go through all of this until we knock it down and rebuild. Should we run away from this? Any advice on how to get retrospective etc etc?

Some other things we found out from SW, we need to confirm whether the manhole is private or public. If its private, its fair game. If its public, there are alot of implication of not getting rights to build over a public manhole. The vendors dad said the manhole are all private but im not sure i want to belive them.

Schwarzwald

Dmv18 said:

The vendors dad said the manhole are all private but im not sure i want to belive them.

Don't believe some random dad ...

dander

Covid is no reason to not get building regs - if you can have builders in, you can have a building regs inspector in the open air in a mask, so that excuse doesn't stack up. Getting building regs is not particularly arduous or expensive if done at the right time so one has to wonder why they decided to avoid it. 

housebuyer143

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

SuzeQStan

Defo run - when we had our extension built
our builders has to move 4 x sewers + manhole at great expense and work.  They’ve not done one thing right with this situation. What other nightmares will come to light!!

Dmv18

housebuyer143 said:

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

They redirected the sewer system so below the manhole is literally closed off from the house. We just don’t know if the sewage system is public so going through the neighbours etc. 

In terms of accessibility, unless we lift the floor I don’t think it would be accessible. Although they do have another manhole outside the property

Scotbot

Just had the same problem and I withdrew from the sale. Vendor insisted they didn't need building regs approval.  Lot's of inconsistencies in their stories. Turns out the work was done by a mate.

I finally lost patience when the vendor said the council were coming the following week and the certificate would be issued the next day. Having spoken to the council myself I knew this would not happen as the owner has to expose works for the surveyor to check. The first visit is to assess what the needs to be done. Needless to say council came and no certificate issued.

My main concern was resale as it was not a forever property. 

I  did learn something useful by speaking to the council, they have a website where you can check if building approvals have been applied for. This doesn't prove the work was certified but if they didn't apply it certainly won't be. I think most councils have this facility so worth checking before viewing. 

Dmv18

Scotbot said:

Just had the same problem and I withdrew from the sale. Vendor insisted they didn't need building regs approval.  Lot's of inconsistencies in their stories. Turns out the work was done by a mate.

I finally lost patience when the vendor said the council were coming the following week and the certificate would be issued the next day. Having spoken to the council myself I knew this would not happen as the owner has to expose works for the surveyor to check. The first visit is to assess what the needs to be done. Needless to say council came and no certificate issued.

My main concern was resale as it was not a forever property. 

I  did learn something useful by speaking to the council, they have a website where you can check if building approvals have been applied for. This doesn't prove the work was certified but if they didn't apply it certainly won't be. I think most councils have this facility so worth checking before viewing. 

To be fair, a structural engineer did come and assess the extension, and it did have a good report with no concerns. But again the only thing I worry about it the built over of the manhole. 

I did check the council website and they did apply for it. It was at the beginning this year but it there is no decision outcome of it. 

housebuyer143

Dmv18 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

They redirected the sewer system so below the manhole is literally closed off from the house. We just don’t know if the sewage system is public so going through the neighbours etc. 

In terms of accessibility, unless we lift the floor I don’t think it would be accessible. Although they do have another manhole outside the property

Well that's less of a concern if the man hole has been moved because you just need access, and if it were sealed and no access it will cause problems. You can you an indemnity for lack of a build over agreement if you are happy with everything else regarding the construction. Maybe get a drain survey to assess the moved drain?

Have you had the a look at the water searches because it should be on there.
Which direction does the sewer run? If it goes into next door and your house wasn't built before 1947 I believe then it's probably public.

I would likely go ahead if all looked well and you had the indemnity tbh. 

anselld

Dmv18 said:

housebuyer143 said:

Did they move the manhole or literally seal it up? If it's not accessable then that's a real problem for you if something blocks your drain

They redirected the sewer system so below the manhole is literally closed off from the house. We just don’t know if the sewage system is public so going through the neighbours etc. 

In terms of accessibility, unless we lift the floor I don’t think it would be accessible. Although they do have another manhole outside the property

If they genuinely redirected the sewer so that it does not go under the extension then there is not an issue because the manhole is redundant and nothing active has been built over.  The question is how to prove that.  If there are other manholes outside the property it might be possible to map the new route (if indeed there is one), camera survey, etc.

itsthelittlethings

Run! When I bought my property my solicitor advised me not to buy because of a clause in the lease saying they will not rebuild if the building is destroyed in a natural disaster. She said this clause needs to be varied and this may cost me. I wish I’d taken her advice. I feel like morally I will have to tell the next buyer, although my neighbour sold her property ok so some solicitors must not be as conscientious as my solicitor was. I used a specialist shared ownership solicitor.