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pinklady21
Posts: 870 Forumite
Hello I am hopeful some with the knowledge on this will know the answer!
I have a building warrant on my home for an extension project in Scotland.
The warrant is about to expire. The work has never started, and the house has been on the market for over a year now. We would like to sell it with the permission included. I believe I can apply to the Council for an extension of 9 months in the first instance in return for an additional fee of £100.
My question is - is this time extension likely to be granted with no questions asked, or are there any specific circumstances when the local council may refuse to grant an extension to the time limit?
Thank you.
I have a building warrant on my home for an extension project in Scotland.
The warrant is about to expire. The work has never started, and the house has been on the market for over a year now. We would like to sell it with the permission included. I believe I can apply to the Council for an extension of 9 months in the first instance in return for an additional fee of £100.
My question is - is this time extension likely to be granted with no questions asked, or are there any specific circumstances when the local council may refuse to grant an extension to the time limit?
Thank you.
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Comments
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It only seems worthwhile if your buyer wants to go ahead with exactly the plans you had - and if you're also able to transfer to them the rights to use your plans etc. I don't think I'd bother. They can resubmit the application at a later date if they wish.
I doubt there are any circumstances in which the council wouldn't extend the time limit though, unless there has been e.g. some relevant change to building regulations.0 -
should be fairly straightforward, especially if the work hasn't started - you could phone up the officer who dealt with the warrant and explain that you haven't started works and that you would like an extension, just so they know it's coming.
For the sake of £100 it's probably worth doing0 -
Just phoned the Council to find out a bit more - apparently they will only consider an extension to the existing Building Warrant if the work is "substantially underway".
So it looks as we have not started the works at all, we are out of luck for a time extension and the only thing to do would be to re-apply for a fresh B/W.
I will leave this to the new purchaser, assuming we ever find one, and they can apply for whatever they choose to do.0 -
That's interesting - I must admit, the only time I've ever applied for extensions it has been on projects where work is underway - what local authority are you with?pinklady21 wrote: »Just phoned the Council to find out a bit more - apparently they will only consider an extension to the existing Building Warrant if the work is "substantially underway".
So it looks as we have not started the works at all, we are out of luck for a time extension and the only thing to do would be to re-apply for a fresh B/W.
I will leave this to the new purchaser, assuming we ever find one, and they can apply for whatever they choose to do.
There's isn't anything in the procedural handbook which states that this is the case, would be worth pushing a wee bit!0 -
This is the part that I was looking for info on - I couldn't find anything in the regs either that covers this. I was rather surprised to be told that the only option was to start work (too late) or start again with a new application. I have previously managed to extend a B/W with no difficulty, but in the same circs as you - the work was partially completed.
I assume this is up to the Council's discretion?0 -
pinklady21 wrote: »This is the part that I was looking for info on - I couldn't find anything in the regs either that covers this. I was rather surprised to be told that the only option was to start work (too late) or start again with a new application. I have previously managed to extend a B/W with no difficulty, but in the same circs as you - the work was partially completed.
I assume this is up to the Council's discretion?
It is discretionary I guess but the procedural handbook says3.5 Duration of warrant
3.5.1. A building warrant is valid for three years, commencing the day it is granted.
The applicant must either finish the work within that period or apply for an extension of
the warrant. An application for extension is required to be made before the expiry of the
warrant, although verifiers have the power to accept late applications in cases of hardship.
If the verifier agrees to extend the warrant, the first extension will be for nine months. There
is no legal limit to the number of extensions but they are at the verifier’s discretion and
the need for further extensions will have to be very clearly justified, for example, by the
size or complexity of the project. To prevent misuse of extensions of time, verifiers have
the power to insist that work done after the expiry of the original warrant must meet the
building regulations in force on the date of the application to extend the expired warrant.
This is, however, only likely to be appropriate where little work has been commenced.
it doesn't say that an extension can't be issued if work hasn't started and I can't find any labss guidance which confirms either way, if I was you, I would ask to speak to the team leader and then ask for some confirmation of the guidance they are using to base their interpretation on. (You can also write to labss and ask for their opinion, but you can only make a general enquiry to them without specific reference to your warrant)0 -
I am just doing this for my own self build. I am paying £200 to extend it for 2 more years.
The disadvantage of letting it lapse is you might have to re submit and pay a whole new fee later on, and you will also have to meet any changes in the regulations. e.g in my case I am working to the 2013 regs as that was what was in force at the time of my application, and as long as I keep renewing it, I still work to those now out of date regs.0
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