Auction property

silvercar

I'd be asking a solicitor the risks before you talk to a structural engineer or surveyor.

If the property doesn't have permission to exist as a separate dwelling, you could be buying nothing!

Albermarle

For info we see a lot of threads on here, where there is a house that has had the loft converted, but without building control sign off. This brings two significant problems;

1. A loft conversion is a significant building project, involving the integrity of the roof structure and needing significant strengthening of the floor and a proper staircase fitted. It has to be done properly and supervised by building control.
2. Without the correct paperwork, it can not be classed as a habitable space, and should only be used for storage etc.

I know your situation is different, but thought the info might be useful.

sheenas

2 different things here Building control and Planning permission. The latter is a big issue as you could end up having to put the property back as it was.

Building control not signing off the conversion will prevent a Mortgage and most likely sale of the property. I wonder what state the dead are in regards things like party wall agreements.

poseidon1

From the outset of OP's post there was the suggestion that this was a property in Scotland and as later confirmed a conversion of a pre-existing tenement building to carve out a new tenement flat in the loft space.

If this is the position it appears such conversions would only require formal planning permission if the tenement was in a conservation area or the building itself was Listed - as indicated below

https://www.archiplanglasgow.com/tenement-alterations/

However, it appears the works may or may not have

• A Building warrant
• Structural engineers report
• Fire Standards compliance
• Completion certificate
• Formal consent for the conversion from all the pre exsisting co owners of the tenement building
• Formal confirmation in the deeds that the loft did not already belong to the flat below. If the deeds are silent on this question the presumption is the loft does attach to the flat below, so has separate title been correctly created?

Depending on how many elements of the above are missing, unknown or otherwise unresolved, this could as suggested by @TroubledTarts lead to a worse case scenario that OP ends up acquiring a space that cannot be used as a residence, unless there is conclusive evidence the local council already recognise it as such.

Does appear to be a high risk venture, where OP should not let heart rule head unless they can afford to expend monies for what could in the extreme turn out to be a well appointed 'storage space'.

Catonthemoon

I can’t see where the OP has mentioned that the property is located in Scotland. Unless you’re assuming that Coronation Street is in Glasgow (I thought it was in Manchester) 🤷‍♂️

Valli

My understanding is that 'tenement' is often used in Scotland to describe multi-occupancy dwellings but other than that I can't understand why this might be Scotland.

GDB2222

Bear in mind that the auction guide price may bear no relation to the final sale price. So, you might be spending lots of money on legal and survey advice but find that the price of the property escalates so it’s not worth taking the risk.

poseidon1

The intial clue ( at least from my perspective) was OP's reference to a Home Report being available for this auction property in the opening post.

I associate vendor supplied Home Reports with Scotland.

This coupled with later reference to a tenement property, strengthened the likelihood this was a Scottish Property, but if OP is still engaging with this thread they will no doubt clarify at some point.

On a more flippant note although not common, there are a couple of 'Coronation Streets' in Scotland.

user1977

If this is the position it appears such conversions would only require formal planning permission if the tenement was in a conservation area or the building itself was Listed

As I said above, the subdivision of the property would need planning, irrespective of what the physical works might need.

Correct though in saying this is clearly Scotland given the references to Home Report, tenement and a title plan which is in the style of the Land Register of Scotland.

XXI

Hi all

Many thanks for all your comments and help.

I spent the whole day yesterday in the area and viewed the property. The aesthetics are lovely from a distance and the whole vibe is very rustic however looking closely, the building work and alterations also looked very rustic. A bit too rustic for my liking. It would be an absolute nightmare if it had to be converted back to it's original layout and it didn't look particularly safe as is.

I looked on the councils portal for any planning applications and didn't find any. I did ask the vendor about the lack of planning permission and consents and he said that he obtained a plan from the council however he didn't like the look of it so decided not to proceed with their plan and went with his own. 

It's such a shame but I think I've definitely avoided the potential of a huge heartache.

Thanks all so much for your input. It was much appreciated.