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Buying a House with No Building Control Certificate for Extension - Will Lender Still Approve?

redrosecounty
redrosecounty Posts: 2 Newbie
First Post
in House buying, renting & selling

Hi everyone,

We’re buying a freehold terraced house in England with a mortgage from Barclays. The house has an extension with a Lawful Development Certificate but no building control completion certificate.

We've already received a mortgage offer, and the seller will provide indemnity insurance.

Our main concern: Will Barclays still lend us the money given this situation?

Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Comments

  • user1977
    user1977 Posts: 18,857 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 11 July 2024 at 10:24AM
    When was it built? What’s your solicitor’s advice (given in practice Barclays will do what they say).
  • redrosecounty
    redrosecounty Posts: 2 Newbie
    First Post
    user1977 said:
    When was it built? What’s your solicitor’s advice (given in practice Barclays will do what they say).
    house was built 1950, lawful development 2020 and extension is built 2022. solicitor send request to Barclays, now waiting for decision from them, but it is so nervous-cant do anything(((
  • propertyrental
    propertyrental Posts: 3,391 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    You're right - 'can't do anything'.
    So sit down with a beer, chat about the weather, and wait for Barclays to respond.
  • Albermarle
    Albermarle Posts: 29,751 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Seventh Anniversary Name Dropper
    Our main concern: Will Barclays still lend us the money given this situation?

    Another concern is to wonder why the extension has no building control certificate. Maybe because it was not built properly ?

  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,306 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    redrosecounty said:
    user1977 said:
    When was it built? What’s your solicitor’s advice (given in practice Barclays will do what they say).
    house was built 1950, lawful development 2020 and extension is built 2022.
    Lawful development certificate issued in 2020 won't cover an extension built in 2022 (unless you have the dates the wrong way round). In either case, 2022 is recent enough that it wouldn't be too difficult to get Building Control in to sign off on the extension. But if they were not involved from the outset, that opens up a whole can of worms.
    If BC were not notified at the start, I'd be wanting additional assurances that the extension is up to scratch and want additional reports beyond a basic homebuyer survey. trouble is, these additional surveys would be intrusive which the vendor probably wouldn't allow. Then there is the question of what would you do if the extension was found to be substandard.

    Any language construct that forces such insanity in this case should be abandoned without regrets. –
    Erik Aronesty, 2014

    Treasure the moments that you have. Savour them for as long as you can for they will never come back again.
  • Hoenir
    Hoenir Posts: 7,742 Forumite
    1,000 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    redrosecounty said:


    Our main concern: Will Barclays still lend us the money given this situation?


    You are happy with the build quality?  Looks can be deceiving . Also the words of sellers. 
  • Section62
    Section62 Posts: 10,523 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    FreeBear said:
    redrosecounty said:
    user1977 said:
    When was it built? What’s your solicitor’s advice (given in practice Barclays will do what they say).
    house was built 1950, lawful development 2020 and extension is built 2022.
    Lawful development certificate issued in 2020 won't cover an extension built in 2022 (unless you have the dates the wrong way round)....
    OP, can you confirm the dates? If correct, you'll need to check the LDC/CLD very carefully to make sure what has been built matches what the certificate says.

    It is possible to apply for a LDC for a proposed development - for example where you want to check that the proposal is permitted development - but typically you'd only do that where there was significant doubt whether the development needed full planning consent or not.  If you are so close to the limits that you need to ask for one, then it is crucial that what gets built accords with the LDC rather than being a little bit bigger, or a little bit taller, or just that little bit closer to the property boundary.

  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,935 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Have the vendors supplied info such as the plans - surely there must be some drawings! - and the name of the builder used? They should have this, at only two years old, certainly they should be able to provide the builder's details.

  • loubel
    loubel Posts: 1,065 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 12 July 2024 at 10:27AM
    If the seller built the extension then I'd be putting my foot down and insisting that they get it finished and the building regulations certificate issued. If they won't I would certainly be asking why and presuming it is because it is not compliant in some way.
  • Sam_666
    Sam_666 Posts: 181 Forumite
    100 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Why are you paying for solicitor if you cant get ansewers?
    Paying penuts usualy means you get ...
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