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Solicitors Concerns
pixiepeep
Posts: 82 Forumite
Hi all
We're so close to finally buying a house (it's been a drama) and we've received the contract pack through from our solicitors today.
They're still chasing a few things - the property has been rented for years, so they want absolute proof of ownership from the lady selling it which seems to be slowing things down?!
Also, the conservatory on the back of the property (half brick built) has no documentation to go with it, so we've no idea if it's to regs or not. Our solicitors want the seller to take out indemnity insurance, but I'm not entirely sure how this works. The conservatory was in place when she bought the property, and it is over 10 years old.
We're waiting for our survey to come back (Homebuyers as the property was built in 1962, plus an Electrical survey as the fuse box looked original!) but now I'm just wading through various recommendations.
I need this bloody purchase to be over. We moved out of our property on the 20th of September as our buyer was a nightmare and we had the chance to move in with my very understanding in-laws. But I just want to be in now. There's other work that we'd like to do straight away and I'm getting really restless - plus hubby is going off on expensive sounding tangets for what he'd like to do...
Does the request for indemnity insurance sound like something that would be accepted, or is it just going to be adding more time to the wait?!?
We're so close to finally buying a house (it's been a drama) and we've received the contract pack through from our solicitors today.
They're still chasing a few things - the property has been rented for years, so they want absolute proof of ownership from the lady selling it which seems to be slowing things down?!
Also, the conservatory on the back of the property (half brick built) has no documentation to go with it, so we've no idea if it's to regs or not. Our solicitors want the seller to take out indemnity insurance, but I'm not entirely sure how this works. The conservatory was in place when she bought the property, and it is over 10 years old.
We're waiting for our survey to come back (Homebuyers as the property was built in 1962, plus an Electrical survey as the fuse box looked original!) but now I'm just wading through various recommendations.
I need this bloody purchase to be over. We moved out of our property on the 20th of September as our buyer was a nightmare and we had the chance to move in with my very understanding in-laws. But I just want to be in now. There's other work that we'd like to do straight away and I'm getting really restless - plus hubby is going off on expensive sounding tangets for what he'd like to do...
Does the request for indemnity insurance sound like something that would be accepted, or is it just going to be adding more time to the wait?!?
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Comments
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An indemnity for something over 10 years old seems pointless, the council can't require you to demolish it even if it doesn't have building regs or planning permission.
If the conservatory means a lot to you then make sure it's in good condition by getting a proper survey at least. If it's not that important then don't worry about it. You could always dismantle the conservatory if it's not sound.Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.0 -
Indemnity insurance covers the cost of complying with requirements to remove / bring up to code if it doesn't have the necessary planning permission or building regs.
If the conservatory is over 10 years old then unless there are special circumstances (I think rules are slightly different for listed buildings and in conservation areas, for instance) an indemnity policy isn't necessary, as councils can't enforce after that length of time.
A policy doesn't cover poor workmanship or poor repair, so as Stator says, if you are concerned about the condition of the property get a survey.
In terms of the ID / ownership, is the property registered? If so, then provided that the sellers ID has been checked and matches the details on the land registry records there should not be a problem. Have the tenants moved out? Sitting tenants would be a much bigger issue.
If the proeprty is unregistered, or if the owner has inherited it without updating the deeds at the time, then things take a little longer.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
Indemnity policies can be purchased pretty much instantly, so if/when someone agrees to get one it's not going to delay matters.0
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Thanks for the replies. I figured the fact that it's been there for 10 years would mean it's fine from a planning point of view. We're just waiting on the report from the surveyors, they're very thorough so I'm hoping they might bring anything up.
The house is empty, has been for a little while. I think that's why the solicitors are so concerned - there's been a few cases of people acting as if they own the empty property, and then when the buyers have parted with their money it turns out they don't have any claims to it.
We have a copy of the land registry stuff from our solicitors, but it doesn't mention the owner by name.0 -
We got an indemnity policy when we sold the house to cover work done before we bought it (our surveyor had missed it, but that's another story).
One phone call, online form, 48 hours later get an email and printable certificate of insurance, send to our solicitor by email, job jobbed.
It shouldn't hold you up in any major way.0
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