Buying a house that has been extended by current owners

Jet

My son and his GF are thinking about putting an offer in on a house.

It's been extended by the current owners and the work has been done by the current owner - a builder by trade.

What paperwork should they be asking for to check it has all been approved and signed off?

Also, what happens with regards to the council tax being re-assessed?  It currently is in a band  for the original size but I suspect it will change at some point?

Peter999_2

I'd be getting the conveyancer to check that it's been correctly approved etc.

When you buy a house it is very possible that it will be re-assesed, it happened to a work colleague and also on this thread.

Council tax banding change notification after buying house — MoneySavingExpert Forum

RHemmings

Peter999_2 said:

I'd be getting the conveyancer to check that it's been correctly approved etc.

When you buy a house it is very possible that it will be re-assesed, it happened to a work colleague and also on this thread.

Council tax banding change notification after buying house — MoneySavingExpert Forum

My reading of the OP was that they wanted to check the documentation before making an offer. The conveyancer will check as well, but it might be more efficient to do some sort of pre-check before making an offer, instructing the conveyancer, and running up bills. 

The house I live in is band B for council tax, but according to calculators, should be band C. So far the council hasn't said anything and I'm keeping quiet, but I've heard from neighbours that getting an extension may trigger the increase. I'm guessing I've been here long enough that if the sale was going to trigger the banding change - it probably would have by now. 

AlexMac

Start by looking the house up at
https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/check-council-tax-band/search

And see if, after telling you what your and neighbours’ banding is, the line described as “Improvement Indicator” says “yes” or “no”. We converted our home’s garage into an en-suite room, and cos we correctly notified the Council Building Control inspector and got a certificate, they obviously told the CT people, so ours shows as “yes” with the implication that when we next sell, it might be re-evaluated.

And I’ve not only got the Building Control certificate but other stuff like Electrical certs; so, while none of this can be trusted til your conveyancing solicitor gets it in writing, you could just ask if there are any certs. 

And in the unlikely event that it was such a big extension that it exceeded “permitted development” , you could ask whether planning permission was sought or granted (although you could look that up yourself, by property address on the Council website) 

LSB90

Have you looked at the council website? There is usually a section where you can look at building plans / regulations that have been submitted to be approved

YoungBlueEyes

I think the council tax band gets updated when a house is sold. So he might sell you his band B house, which will become a band C house (due to the extension) when your purchase completes.

lincroft1710

RHemmings said:

Peter999_2 said:

I'd be getting the conveyancer to check that it's been correctly approved etc.

When you buy a house it is very possible that it will be re-assesed, it happened to a work colleague and also on this thread.

Council tax banding change notification after buying house — MoneySavingExpert Forum

My reading of the OP was that they wanted to check the documentation before making an offer. The conveyancer will check as well, but it might be more efficient to do some sort of pre-check before making an offer, instructing the conveyancer, and running up bills. 

The house I live in is band B for council tax, but according to calculators, should be band C. So far the council hasn't said anything and I'm keeping quiet, but I've heard from neighbours that getting an extension may trigger the increase. I'm guessing I've been here long enough that if the sale was going to trigger the banding change - it probably would have by now. 

How long have you been in the house? It can take up to 2 years before the VOA increase the band

EssexHebridean

IIRC you can check the banding for council tax and if it will increase when the property changes hands, there will be an "improvement marker" against it. IN fact, I've just checked it - use the checker on gov.uk, put the details in, then click through to the property itself - check the line that says "Improvement indicator".  We bought a house last year which had been extended and checked it that way - all good for us, and in fact even next door's HUUUUUGE extension hasn't triggered anything, it appears! 

RHemmings

lincroft1710 said:

RHemmings said:

Peter999_2 said:

I'd be getting the conveyancer to check that it's been correctly approved etc.

When you buy a house it is very possible that it will be re-assesed, it happened to a work colleague and also on this thread.

Council tax banding change notification after buying house — MoneySavingExpert Forum

My reading of the OP was that they wanted to check the documentation before making an offer. The conveyancer will check as well, but it might be more efficient to do some sort of pre-check before making an offer, instructing the conveyancer, and running up bills. 

The house I live in is band B for council tax, but according to calculators, should be band C. So far the council hasn't said anything and I'm keeping quiet, but I've heard from neighbours that getting an extension may trigger the increase. I'm guessing I've been here long enough that if the sale was going to trigger the banding change - it probably would have by now. 

How long have you been in the house? It can take up to 2 years before the VOA increase the band

About 5 months now. And, I've mentally accepted it's going up to band C. I was told that most of the houses in my part of my road were band B, by my neighbour who was angry that he went up a band after a minor extension (carbuncle at back of house merged into kitchen to have an even longer one than my long thin kitchen.) 

However, when I used the link in this thread further up, I found that all of the similarish houses in my part of the road (mine is probably the cheapest due to no extension at all and old roof) were already band C, except for two. One being mine. 

As you infer (to my reading), the band change is coming... 

Slinky

RHemmings said:

The house I live in is band B for council tax, but according to calculators, should be band C. So far the council hasn't said anything and I'm keeping quiet, but I've heard from neighbours that getting an extension may trigger the increase. I'm guessing I've been here long enough that if the sale was going to trigger the banding change - it probably would have by now. 

Are you saying that your property was extended by your vendors prior to you buying it? If it hasn't, then it won't be rebanded. Under current rules, if you extend the property it will remain in the existing band until such time as you sell. The house sale will only trigger a potential reband if it has an improvement indicator lodged with the council.

Incidentally we extended our previous house which should have triggered a rebanding when we sold it, but for some reason the improvement indicator was missed even though our extension was all done with planning permission and building control signoff.  It's been 5 years since we moved out and the house is still band E. Others that have been extended in a similar way have been rebanded to F when the property has changed hands. It's a mistake somewhere at the council.

Bigphil1474

OP, if it was permitted development, you'd be looking for building control sign off, gas and electric certificates. If it required planning permission, then you'd need the approval docs for that as well as the others - as a minimum. 

I wouldn't worry about council tax re- banding myself - we're moving from a B to a C soon and it's about an extra £19 a month, so hardly worth sweating over given we're getting one and a half extra bedrooms and a much bigger garden.