Garage conversion not done to building regs

kiss_my_face

To cut a long story short: We offered on a property where they converted a garage (or part of the garage, it's hard to tell) into a dining room. Essentially it's a DIY job from 20 years ago and doesn't have any building regs or documentation. It was advertised as a dining room. It's a 4 bed house and, without a dining room, it has a fair sized living room, a small kitchen, and a study (which I guess is the 'old' dining room) . 

Is the only sensible thing to walk away before we even go to the cost of having a survey and probably structural engineer in?

I guess we could convert back to the original garage but at great cost, time, and effort no doubt.
The estate agent suggests getting a survey done and possibly structural engineer in. But I feel that a) it shouldn't have been advertised as a dining room in the first place and this detracts from the value, and b) we'd be buying something potentially defective to put right. The risk is all ours. 
Any advice appreciated. 

molerat

No regs approval or did not conform to regs ?  2 entirely different things.  My SIL lives in a house built in the 1600s with no building regs approval and it certainly would not pass any form of inspection now but is a perfectly habitable property.  The problem with a survey would be that they likely spend more time covering their backsides than telling you anything useful.  What do you suspect is wrong with the conversion ?  What would be the difference in value with a storage room and no dining room, what price have similar properties with a garage sold for in the area ?

kiss_my_face

The inside side retaining wall has been partly removed and a porch added. And we'd obviously be concerned about the structural integrity and the affect on rooms upstairs.
It definitely has no regs and doesn't conform to regs if anyone can call it a 'habitable' room - the roof is just a flat roof with no insulation for example. It's basically a garage with electricity, stud walls, a carpet, a radiator, and part of a wall knocked out. 

Albermarle

Why did you make an offer on it, when you had these concerns?

kiss_my_face

Albermarle said:

Why did you make an offer on it, when you had these concerns?

We didn't know the extent of it. It was marketed as a dining room. When we put our house up for sale, we had to provide proof of building regs for our extension to our agent before they marketed it. Rightly or wrongly, we assumed this was the same. 

Albermarle

kiss_my_face said:

Albermarle said:

Why did you make an offer on it, when you had these concerns?

We didn't know the extent of it. It was marketed as a dining room. When we put our house up for sale, we had to provide proof of building regs for our extension to our agent before they marketed it. 

So you did a viewing of the house and presumably saw the 'dining room' and were happy enough to make an offer.
You have not had a survey done, so how do you now know its a DIY job and there are no building regs documents?
Did the EA tell you , or has your solicitor found out. Or have you maybe been for a second viewing and noticed more about the 'dining room'?

Regarding when you sold your house, I am not sure most EA's are quite so rigorous about asking for such documentation.

kiss_my_face

I had an initial call with a surveyor who checked the planning portal, and have also contacted the estate agent has confirmed with the owners that there is no documentation in the house. 

Albermarle

kiss_my_face said:

I had an initial call with a surveyor who checked the planning portal, and have also contacted the estate agent has confirmed with the owners that there is no documentation in the house. 

Ok that is clear now.

You could reduce your offer, and if accepted book a full survey/structural engineer.
Or walk away .

dannim12345

I agree with the above. Are you happy to do work? Even if the survey finds the structure is fine, it will be a cold room if there is no insulation in any of it 

kiss_my_face

We need to think about this. The rest of the house needs some updating/TLC. But when we embarked on this house hunt, it certainly wasn't in the plans to buy anything that needs structural repairs. 

silvercar

kiss_my_face said:

I had an initial call with a surveyor who checked the planning portal, and have also contacted the estate agent has confirmed with the owners that there is no documentation in the house. 

Checking the planning portal means seeing if they had planning permission. It may not have needed PP, particularly if it is joined to the house. They should have had building regs certified, but they may not have bothered. 

On the plus side it is 20 years old and remains standing without any obvious problems, which is more reassuring that if it was built a year ago. 

Some insulation in the roof area and possibly some internal insulation on the walls maybe all that you need.