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Kulpio
Posts: 11 Forumite
Hi, we are first time buyers and have been looking for a year for a house in the right area, and the perfect location has come up. It is rural so not many options outside of a flood zone (Somerset).
Anyway we can't seem to get any guidance from Solictor or anyone about what to do.
So it is a bungalow that has had a first floor added in the early 90s. We have a full building survey and the survey basically said it is a DIY bodge job that would not meet current building regs.
The sellers can;t provide the original regs either. Thing is the house was on the market for a week and it has something like 3-6 offers, some over the asking price. We put an offer in 20k over asking price and we got accepted. We were happy as its a lovely, peaceful location and we want to live there for years.
But the survey uncovered this about the loft and we are worried we may have to fork out another 20k or so to have it rectified to meet modern building regs. We basically went to the agent yesterday to let them know what has come up and to hint we may want to decrease our offer. He said there are the other people who offered ringing up asking if things have fallen through etc. So now we do not think we will be able to drop the price.
Bearing in mind the first floor has 2 out of the 4 bedrooms, we feel like the estate agent misled us into thinking these are actually bedrooms when the conversion does not meet building regs and is very dubious towards fire regs...
Long old story here but do we try for a lower price? (It has been two months since our offer was accepted because they lost the deeds and wasnt registered with land registry and all sorts). We don't want to go in too low for them to say, No thanks, see you later, because deep down we really want the property but we have already gone above asking price to secure it but to put in another 20k or so, well we cant afford it...
It is a difficult situation and no one is bloody helping us
Anyway we can't seem to get any guidance from Solictor or anyone about what to do.
So it is a bungalow that has had a first floor added in the early 90s. We have a full building survey and the survey basically said it is a DIY bodge job that would not meet current building regs.
The sellers can;t provide the original regs either. Thing is the house was on the market for a week and it has something like 3-6 offers, some over the asking price. We put an offer in 20k over asking price and we got accepted. We were happy as its a lovely, peaceful location and we want to live there for years.
But the survey uncovered this about the loft and we are worried we may have to fork out another 20k or so to have it rectified to meet modern building regs. We basically went to the agent yesterday to let them know what has come up and to hint we may want to decrease our offer. He said there are the other people who offered ringing up asking if things have fallen through etc. So now we do not think we will be able to drop the price.
Bearing in mind the first floor has 2 out of the 4 bedrooms, we feel like the estate agent misled us into thinking these are actually bedrooms when the conversion does not meet building regs and is very dubious towards fire regs...
Long old story here but do we try for a lower price? (It has been two months since our offer was accepted because they lost the deeds and wasnt registered with land registry and all sorts). We don't want to go in too low for them to say, No thanks, see you later, because deep down we really want the property but we have already gone above asking price to secure it but to put in another 20k or so, well we cant afford it...
It is a difficult situation and no one is bloody helping us
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Comments
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How much do 2 bedroom properties in the area sell for because that's essentially what you're buying, a 2 bedroom property with a hooky loft conversion.0
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It's a bungalow with a first floor.
What exactly did the survey say?
The fire regs issues you're talking about is an escape window for each habitable. The other elements of loft conversions on third storeys don't apply to second storeys.
No one would expect a conversion carried out in the 90s to meet current regs. If you want to do that, it's a choice.
What exactly did the survey say? Are you sure "it's a bodge".Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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My view on bodge jobs is its not a bodge if it works. It seems to have worked for almost 30 years.
My house doesnt meet current building regs because the plug sockets are too low on the wall. If someone tried telling me my house was a bodge because of it and tried to renegotiate to a lower than agreed price when i had other similar offers on the table i would be negotiating with someone else.
That said, the simplest solution and one you should speak to your solicitor about is an indemnity policy. It basically covers you for any enforcement actions as a result of works not being approved. It wont cover you for losses as a result of any poor work but it will cover you if someone says it shouldnt have been done or hasnt been done properly (to the time). A few hundred quid, ask the seller to pay it. If its been up for nearly 30 years and a surveyor can only point out it doesnt meet current regulations then in all likelihood it will be okay. If it was about to fall down or dangerous they wouldnt be shy in holding back.0 -
Who cares if it meets current regs. Probably most of the housing stock in the UK doesn't. Is it structurally stable, weatherproof, etc? If so, just enjoy it. If you are concerned, get a structural survey done. The surveyor will tell you if anything needs fixing, and then you can get quotes.0
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'An original well built bungalow that has significant amount of dubious quality DIY work. We feel the first floor conversion is unlikely to have had either planning or building regulation approval and is possibly DIY work'
Is the summarising quote.
'Cracks and distortions at ground floor level which could be result of conversion and the headroom and poorly fitted velux windows are a poor feature'
OK, so I did a CTRL+F and 'bodge' was perhaps my view on the matter as it is not mentioned, I guess it is not professional. But the current sellers have bought this place without taking any of this into account. Why are we the ones to bear that cost seeings though we have identified it.
It may have stood for nearly 30 years, but its definitely in a state of disrepair with active woodworm.
The fire escape (velux) windows are greater than the maximum height from the floor and therefore do not abide to current regs. So surely the estate agent can not call them bedrooms?0 -
Who cares if it meets current regs. Probably most of the housing stock in the UK doesn't. Is it structurally stable, weatherproof, etc? If so, just enjoy it. If you are concerned, get a structural survey done. The surveyor will tell you if anything needs fixing, and then you can get quotes.
Yeah, a building survey is what they used to call structural survey, it is what we had done.0 -
Doozergirl wrote: »It's a bungalow with a first floor.
What exactly did the survey say?
The fire regs issues you're talking about is an escape window for each habitable. The other elements of loft conversions on third storeys don't apply to second storeys.
No one would expect a conversion carried out in the 90s to meet current regs. If you want to do that, it's a choice.
What exactly did the survey say? Are you sure "it's a bodge".
I have mentioned above the summarising quote, but it goes into depth about the timbers under the floor, the lack of timbers supporting the veluxs, the distorted and poorly fitting doors (likely due to movement) and also the poor headroom.0 -
Ok, sounds like you've dodged a bit of a bullet with that one.
I'm afraid it's what surveys are for. Estate Agents market properties, it isn't their job to survey the house or check the relevant permissions. That's for your solicitor to do.
It's the nature of the game, I'm afraid. You pay people to find the bad ones if you can't do it yourself.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Have you actually investigated whether it had planning / building control? The surveyor doesn't know and is assuming.
I must admit it doesn't sound good ... Personally I'd be concerned about the woodworm.0 -
It is a difficult situation and no one is bloody helping us
What did the surveyor value the property at in it's current state?
Other interested parties are going to encounter the same issues. If the property is highly desirable due to location for example. Then having the neccessary work done may not be an issue for some people. As they might have bigger plans for the property.0
This discussion has been closed.
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