Buying home with Building reg Plans Rejected

OrangeAnt

I am seeking for some a second opinion on the options i have available if i were to purchase a home where the there is no documents of the extension built in the 1990s. On the council site i was able to find that the planning permissions were approved but the building regs has a line saying the plans were rejected. The surveys found no issues regarding the extension and the house is kept in good condition.

• Could i be asked to have the extension demolished because of the building regs in this state?
  
  
• I could get indemnity Insurance but not sure how this helps.

• If, I were to sell the house in the future, this would make it more difficult to sell the house.

• If, I did buy the house taking the onboard the legal problems do people leave it as it is as there is no issue? or do people go back to the council to have the issue resolved?
  
  
• Am I protected by the 4 or 10 year rule?

Thanks, for any advice

Section62

OrangeAnt said:

I am seeking for some a second opinion on the options i have available if i were to purchase a home where the there is no documents of the extension built in the 1990s. On the council site i was able to find that the planning permissions were approved but the building regs has a line saying the plans were rejected. The surveys found no issues regarding the extension and the house is kept in good condition.

• Could i be asked to have the extension demolished because of the building regs in this state?
  
  
• I could get indemnity Insurance but not sure how this helps.

• If, I were to sell the house in the future, this would make it more difficult to sell the house.

• If, I did buy the house taking the onboard the legal problems do people leave it as it is as there is no issue? or do people go back to the council to have the issue resolved?
  
  
• Am I protected by the 4 or 10 year rule?

Thanks, for any advice

Much depends on why the plans were rejected and whether what was actually built was modified to take into account the concerns of BC.

If the rejection was due to (say) a structural issue and the extension was built as per the plans then any buyer should be be concerned, whether or not any enforcement action is likely (or indeed possible).  Likewise an indemnity policy isn't much comfort if there is a latent structural problem.

Plans being rejected is not the same as having no building control involvement.  The latter would be less of a concern on a 1990's build.

MeteredOut

Seem obvious, but you really should follow the advice of your solicitor/conveyancer. Without the details (s)he has, no-one can advise better. 

Do the building regs say the planning permission was rejected? If so, but the planning site says it was approved, that might be a mistake. Or was it that the building regs were not complied with?

It is perfectly possible for planning permission to be granted on a building/extension that cannot be built in accordance with building regulations.

But, it's been there since the 1990s. So, if your solicitor says its ok, I'd still go ahead. Are the vendors the people who built the extension? Your solicitor might ask them to take out an indemnity policy, and you may be asked to do the same if/when you come to sell.

If you do go ahead, I'd not bother taking it up with the council.

user1977

The council aren't going to care about an extension from the last millennium. And all that indemnity insurance will cover is the risk of the council taking enforcement action. But you might be expected to get it nonetheless. Be aware that indemnity insurance won't cover you if you've rattled the cage of the council recently, so don't be tempted to chat to them about it (unless you really think that's the best solution to remedy matters).

I would focus more on anything which is objectively "wrong" with the structure, but sounds like your surveyor was satisfied.

Obviously, don't forget about the rest of the house either, which I presume is even older and possibly never built to modern standards...

youth_leader

Could you get a structural engineer to look at the extension?  I realise this is an extra cost, but could put your mind at rest. 

My daughter liked a house in NI which had a double extension,  no mention of the extension on the  planning portal. Following her RCIS L3 survey, the surveyor said the kitchen would need pulling out completely as it was so 'wet' -and he also mentioned the bathroom.  She and her boyfriend paid for a structural engineer to look at the outside of the extension  ... seems the brickwork was allowing water ingress to the kitchen and bathroom, and it was severe.  They were so disappointed and had to withdraw as they didn't have the money to 'make good'.

OrangeAnt

MeteredOut said:

Seem obvious, but you really should follow the advice of your solicitor/conveyancer. Without the details (s)he has, no-one can advise better. 

Do the building regs say the planning permission was rejected? If so, but the planning site says it was approved, that might be a mistake. Or was it that the building regs were not complied with?

It is perfectly possible for planning permission to be granted on a building/extension that cannot be built in accordance with building regulations.

But, it's been there since the 1990s. So, if your solicitor says its ok, I'd still go ahead. Are the vendors the people who built the extension? Your solicitor might ask them to take out an indemnity policy, and you may be asked to do the same if/when you come to sell.

If you do go ahead, I'd not bother taking it up with the council.

Do the building regs say the planning permission was rejected? If so, but the planning site says it was approved, that might be a mistake. Or was it that the building regs were not complied with?

Correct the planning says it is approved. Then on the building regs says plans rejected. I do not know the reason as it does not say why.

OrangeAnt

thanks for all your responses. 

I will try the following:

• I will take your advice and speak with the solicitor/conveyancer. It may come down to getting a indemnity even though it may not be of any use (council unlikely to take enforcement action due to it being done in the 1990 as many mentioned and there is no structure problems from the L3 Survey Report). I have not asked the council if anything was missing as I thought it is best to left to someone who knows the right questions to ask.

• Since the sellers are the ones that paid for the extension work I will see what the solicitors say regarding the building regulations.

• I could get a structural engineer to take a look. I did get a L3 survey done and they found no issues they did say it they were satisfied with the property. Is there still a need for a private structural engineer/

I did meet the sellers during the viewings and they come across as sensible landlords. They have kept the whole house in good condition for the past 60 years based on the L3 survey and my observation on the viewings. No major structural damages anywhere in the house. 

I will post the results at the end of this to help anyone else in the same situation.

NameUnavailable

What have the vendors said when you asked them about the rejected buildings regs?

OrangeAnt

NameUnavailable said:

What have the vendors said when you asked them about the rejected buildings regs?

I am waiting to see what the solicitors say about this. I am new to property market so i had no clue that there was a planning / building reg process for any building work. At the time the estate agent queried the state of the planning work done to the vendors and they replied with they had the planning permissions approved which they did get approved but we did not ask about the state of the building regs at the time. It was only until i saw the TA form where the sellers said they did not have a copy of the paper work for the extension. This is when i started looking into the council site to do some investigation to go seek some advice on what does this mean for me (buyer).

retiredbanker1

To somebody like me who knows nothing about planning law I just have one question to ask the OP.

Why on earth are you doing all this - if you are a buyer and (obviously want good title) tell the seller to sort this out or just walk away?

OrangeAnt

retiredbanker1 said:

To somebody like me who knows nothing about planning law I just have one question to ask the OP.

Why on earth are you doing all this - if you are a buyer and (obviously want good title) tell the seller to sort this out or just walk away?

I do not see a problem of asking for help/advice from others before making any final decisions. Yes, any buyer could walk away but time/money is already spent. I would like to learn the laws also and asking for help is good way to learn.