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Kekdal
Kekdal Posts: 8 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi Experts,
I am a first time buyer and my solicitor said following for the freehold property built in 2002, I am trying to purchase:
"There do not appear to be any planning permissions or building regulations approval shown on the local search."
They have said the building regulations may have been dealt under NHBC but it is still strange that nothing is revealed on the local search.They have asked the sellers solicitors for any related documents my sellers (who are the original purchasers of this property) may have but none.

The street has loads of similar freehold houses so nothing appears unusual.
I have tried hard ( with my limited knowledge) to look for any planning permissions associated with this property on the council's public domain but none found.

I am planning to speak to the council, however would be grateful if any of you have come across such situation or if any of experts could kindly guide me with what else can I do or should I steer clear of this property (of course ideally I want to exchange asap :D)

I tried looking on the forum and mostly the missing permissions are for extensions and hence the new thread.
Many thanks for your time and inputs.

Comments

  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    Probably nothing sinister. The usual difficulty is that the consents for newbuild developments are typically indexed under something like "Phase 2, Wellmeadow Estate" and cover the whole development, and not the individual (new) postal addresses eventually allocated to the houses.

    Asking the developer (or their solicitors) is sometimes useful. Should really be the solicitors doing the running around though rather than you!
  • Kekdal
    Kekdal Posts: 8 Forumite
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    Hi David,
    Many thanks for the quick reply, it gives some confidence. I think that might be the case, I did find one building control application which is almost the same area saying site XX phase YY however there is no way to ascertain that property of my interest lies in there.
    My problem is I am trying to be able to purchase the property to align with school admissions and 2 months later the solicitors seem to be dragging their heels (or may be I am expecting too much) so I thought I will do what I can.

    Thanks for the lead on developers one avenue that was not on my list yet :)
  • Tom99
    Tom99 Posts: 5,371 Forumite
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    [FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]I would pay a personal visit to the planning dept, it might yield quicker results to your query.[/FONT]
  • Kekdal
    Kekdal Posts: 8 Forumite
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    Hi Tom,
    Thanks for this, based on Dr google it appears that contacting council/LA would shut even the indemnity insurance route as it counts as deliberate provocation on policy, although I am not sure of intricacies around provocation before/after policy. I am not sure anymore if its a good idea to contact council.

    Also the property seems to have building regulation approval but no completion certificate is there an indemnity insurance for lack of building completion as well (not lack of building regulations).

    Would appreciate any inputs from any experts.

    Thanks
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
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    Kekdal wrote: »
    Hi Tom,
    Thanks for this, based on Dr google it appears that contacting council/LA would shut even the indemnity insurance route as it counts as deliberate provocation on policy, although I am not sure of intricacies around provocation before/after policy. I am not sure anymore if its a good idea to contact council.

    Also the property seems to have building regulation approval but no completion certificate is there an indemnity insurance for lack of building completion as well (not lack of building regulations).

    Would appreciate any inputs from any experts.

    Thanks

    As a property built in 2002 with a 10 year NHBC policy in place, it simply is not feasible that there are no permissions. You have been given the correct advice from the start.

    Both PP and BCA will be covered under major applications which are usually deliberately kept off the LA websites and will never appear in an individual search because your postcode simply didn’t exist, let alone your door number when these processes occurred.

    You can speak to the LA. There will not be an indemnity policy needed for an NHBC new build because there will be permissions. Just imagine an entire street popping up without planning. It just doesn’t happen.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Kekdal
    Kekdal Posts: 8 Forumite
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    Hi Doozergirl,
    Thanks a tonne, it puts my mind at peace.
    The unlikelihood of a house being there without any permission whatsoever did occur to me but being a first time buyer and my Solicitor chasing the sellers looking for it made me nervous.
    Thanks again for your time and useful inputs :)
  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596 Forumite
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    Any significant development isn't going to have gone "under the radar" of planning and building control, and 16 years on there's little practical need to worry about whether there were consents anyway - this is largely an exercise in getting the paperwork so that you have it when any future buyers/lenders ask for it.
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
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    Doozergirl wrote: »
    Both PP and BCA will be covered under major applications which are usually deliberately kept off the LA websites and will never appear in an individual search because your postcode simply didn’t exist, let alone your door number when these processes occurred.

    You can speak to the LA. There will not be an indemnity policy needed for an NHBC new build because there will be permissions. Just imagine an entire street popping up without planning. It just doesn’t happen.

    Exactly. The OP's house at the time would be "Plot XX" in "Development south of (insert road name here)" or "Development of (name or area, former area, etc)", or "Site at ..."

    OP, does your council's planning portal have options to search by date, or by map? I've found these the best way to find what you're looking for.
  • Kekdal
    Kekdal Posts: 8 Forumite
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    Hi Googler,
    Yes it does, it has filters by Ward, Parish, various dates and so and I have tried to find it by almost every combination but none found.

    I found a building control application BC reference (which of course had ward/parish and lot of values as N/A which explains why I couldn't search it directly) which is for the very cul-de-sac my property of interest is in.

    Also some other house numbers in this street near by have had small changes like conservatory, gas boiler door changes etc, since they were granted permission I am assuming those houses had proper permissions on original dwelling and by extension of that my house should be ok as well. Its a semi detached property as well so risk also gets kind of halved ;)

    I think I will just take the plunge, you guys have been more help than my own solicitor in helping to understand this..
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