Extention Information

BTCTSWS

hi just looking for some advice

We are in the process of selling our house which had an extention on it when we bought it 3 years ago. Our Solicitor who is acting for us now sent us a letter asking us to contact our previous solicitor for any documentation on the extention as it should of been investigated.

so my wife called our previous solicitor today asking for the information and he went mad down the phone demanding to know why we didnt use him and that we should of thought of this before then cutting her short and hanging up.

Is there anywhere else this information can be obtained from as we are now concerned that he may really drag this on and not supply the required information. can this be reinvestigated again?

thanks in advance

Dinah93

Wow how professional, thank god you're rid of her.

Anyway, contact your local council, all information on planning is required to be held indefinitely, and they will likely only charge you a nominal amount for photocopying a copy of the decision (we charge 6p per bw side). This is if it required permission, if it was under 75 cubic metres, and doesn't take you nearer a highway, is the only extension etc etc it may well have been permitted development, but just call the planning office, they will be able to tell you any files relating to your address. The same goes for building regs, although these could have been done privately, but most are done through the council as it's cheaper.

Doozergirl

Please DO NOT contact your local council to talk directly about the house!!

How old do you think the extension is? The truth of the matter is that after a year, Building Control would have to actually get a court order to ask you to rectify anything. After four years, even if a property does not have planning permissio, it would be deemed to be accepted unless you lived in a conservation area, or the building was listed.

As long as a surveyor is satisfied that the extension is sound, then I would simply go with offering your buyer an indemnity policy, which is actually pretty pointless, but it usually solves the problem of chasing around for paperwork and discovering that the extension doesn't actually have planning or building regs. If you get to the point of talking to the council, it immediately voids any indemnity policy you could have taken out if indeed the extension doesn't have the relevant paperwork. :oThe indemnity will usually work out cheaper and timlier than trying to get things retrospectively
approved.

What you could do is search on your council's planning website for your property to see if there was a planning application, but it won't help with whether there are building regs, so I still say offer the indemnity if the buyer's solicitor are asking questions.

BTCTSWS

hi the property is around 6-7 years old we had a full structural survey yesterday and the surveyor said the property and extention was fine

brett

Dinah93

It's very very rare any council will have backlisted council applications for planning permission from before about 5 years ago, mine only started 3 years ago. If a property is purchased on a mortgage and then it later emerges that an extension was done without planning permission worst case senario is the mortgage is void, even if this is a house you sold, potentially you're opening yourself up to a messy legal situation. Don't get me wrong, this is incredibly rare, usually a mortgage company will demand a retrospective application if needed, and so long as it passes/ any problems are fixed, there isn't an issue. I only know this can happen as I am a planning officer, and last summer there was a distraught lady locally who was in exactly this position after her next door neighbour reported a two storey extension done without permission along the party boundary, it didn't get approved for planning permission, failed at appeal, I really felt sorry for the lady, but whilst it's harsh planning law takes the position that you take the risk by building without permission, and no leniency will be given, as otherwise everyone would build first and worry about getting permission later! When it comes to building regs and planning its better never to stick your head in the sand. I'm not saying you are by any means, I just think you shouldn't be afraid of the council planners! For the record, even if it was a extension without permission, unless the enforcement team receives a complaint from a member of the public or a councilor, they won't investigate it as it's not seen to be a problem, and they are extremely unlikely to have the time or resources available to create more work for themselves!

If it's 7 years old you can either get a copy of the planning permission, or a letter from the council officers stating that it is lawful development, which will sort everything out for the solicitor. :j

Oh and it's still 4 years even if it is in a conservation area or has article 4 rights removed, if it's a listed building the time frame for enforcement action is indefinite, but again it would have to be reported by someone.

D x

BTCTSWS

hi the property had planning permission and building regs as this was checked when we purchased the property 3 years ago so we know everything is ok the only problem is getting this information from the old solicitor as he seems a real pain also why would he still hold this information? would this not of been kept with the deeds of the property or somewhere else what happens if you live in a property for 25 years when you come to sell the old solicitor is not arround any more?

brett

Doozergirl

If you KNOW that the property has planning and building regs then you can go to the council offices and get photocopies of the original documents! Costs pennies.

If you don't KNOW that they do, then I suugest you opt for the indemnity policy. I don't for a second doubt what Dinah says, but when it comes to conveyancing, you really shouldn't dig yourself in any further than you need to. Your goal is to get sold, not to find that you are without the relevant docs AND unable to purchase insurance. The insurance is next to useless but the average person is not aware of the legalities of building work and they panic.

Richard_Webster

If you KNOW that the property has planning and building regs then you can go to the council offices and get photocopies of the original documents! Costs pennies.

If you don't KNOW that they do, then I suugest you opt for the indemnity policy. I don't for a second doubt what Dinah says, but when it comes to conveyancing, you really shouldn't dig yourself in any further than you need to. Your goal is to get sold, not to find that you are without the relevant docs AND unable to purchase insurance. The insurance is next to useless but the average person is not aware of the legalities of building work and they panic.

Exactly what I would have said!