Loft and rear extension

reachmangu

Hello all,

We are in the process of purchasing a semi detached property in London. It has loft and rear extension. We checked with the current seller regarding the building control approvals and they don't have any. They are saying that both these extensions were done prior to their purchase and they took indemnity insurance when purchasing it.

I've checked on council building portal for this property and there has been an entry for Loft conversion with status 'Building works started' dated back 1993. Our solicitor has requested details from buyer solicitor but no response. The current seller purchased the property in 2008 and before that there was another sale transaction in 2003.

We are very confused how to proceed with this. Is there a way to check if completion certificates were issued without ordering local authority searches. Is there a way to apply for completion certificate through private or council inspector ?

Many thanks in advance.

Mark_d

I would leave it to your solicitor to check that you are not exposed to any liabilities here.  This is something best left to a professional.

Bigphil1474

If you ask Building Control, then any indemnity policy would like be null and void, but the indemnity policy only covers legal costs should there be any come back, it doesn't cover the cost of fixing anything that might need fixing .

The portal record for our house that we bought last year shows completed dates. I would guess if they haven't got a completed date, they haven't been signed off. Personally, I'd be a bit wary buying a house with either of those on with no sign off, but both is pretty risky. You could take the view that if they haven't fallen down up to now, they are probably be fine, but I guess if it's in London it's not gonna be a small investment? You can ask for retrospective sign off - called Regularisation - but might be difficult as they need to see the structural work not the final finish. I think there's a cut off for regularisation, pretty sure that's 1983 though.

The only glimmer of hope - if there is a record on the portal, they may have issued a completion certificate but the system just doesn't show completed. One of the extensions on our house had a certificate issued about 7 years after it was completed, as the inspector who had done the checks didn't issue it straight away for some reason.

Albermarle

A similar issue came up recently with a family member and I asked some questions on here.
For older extensions, building control completion certificates only became compulsory in the early 90's. The exact date will vary depending on the local authority.

Personally I would not worry about an old rear extension, but the loft is a more sensitive issue.
Without the right paperwork there is a question about whether it can be classed as a habitable space/bedroom.
Is it advertised as a bedroom ?
Also there could be questions about fire safety and even structural integrity, even if it has been there for 30 years.
This issue crops up regularly on this forum and seems like it is a more sensitive issue than it used to be.

reachmangu

Thank you for your inputs.

Would it be possible to get the loft and rear extensions inspected by someone private before checking with council.

Also, what will the possible issues of purchasing a property without completion certificate. Was completion certificate mandatory back in 1993 ?

Thanks

reachmangu

Albermarle said:

A similar issue came up recently with a family member and I asked some questions on here.
For older extensions, building control completion certificates only became compulsory in the early 90's. The exact date will vary depending on the local authority.

Personally I would not worry about an old rear extension, but the loft is a more sensitive issue.
Without the right paperwork there is a question about whether it can be classed as a habitable space/bedroom.
Is it advertised as a bedroom ?
Also there could be questions about fire safety and even structural integrity, even if it has been there for 30 years.
This issue crops up regularly on this forum and seems like it is a more sensitive issue than it used to be.

Thanks. It is advertised as 5th bedroom. Would a level 3 survey help in checking the structural integrity and other issues ?

FreeBear

reachmangu said:

Albermarle said:

A similar issue came up recently with a family member and I asked some questions on here.
For older extensions, building control completion certificates only became compulsory in the early 90's. The exact date will vary depending on the local authority.

Personally I would not worry about an old rear extension, but the loft is a more sensitive issue.
Without the right paperwork there is a question about whether it can be classed as a habitable space/bedroom.
Is it advertised as a bedroom ?
Also there could be questions about fire safety and even structural integrity, even if it has been there for 30 years.
This issue crops up regularly on this forum and seems like it is a more sensitive issue than it used to be.

Thanks. It is advertised as 5th bedroom. Would a level 3 survey help in checking the structural integrity and other issues ?

Even a level 3 survey would only be able to look at the surface. To know if the conversion (or extension) is structurally sound and compliant with building regulations would require a degree of intrusive investigation. It is highly unlikely that a vendor would permit holes to be made in the walls/floors.

Albermarle

reachmangu said:

Albermarle said:

A similar issue came up recently with a family member and I asked some questions on here.
For older extensions, building control completion certificates only became compulsory in the early 90's. The exact date will vary depending on the local authority.

Personally I would not worry about an old rear extension, but the loft is a more sensitive issue.
Without the right paperwork there is a question about whether it can be classed as a habitable space/bedroom.
Is it advertised as a bedroom ?
Also there could be questions about fire safety and even structural integrity, even if it has been there for 30 years.
This issue crops up regularly on this forum and seems like it is a more sensitive issue than it used to be.

Thanks. It is advertised as 5th bedroom. Would a level 3 survey help in checking the structural integrity and other issues ?

A level 3 survey will check what they can, by looking in the eaves, looking for any structural movement, outward signs of how it is constructed etc. Also they will able to see that it has a proper staircase and door, with linked smoke alarms.  However the idea of building control is that they check at various stages of construction as once it is finished you can not see behind the walls.