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AIBU?

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Original poster

To consider pulling out of a house purchase...

81 replies

SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 15/05/2018 21:50

Our solicitors have only just told us that the vendors have not got building regulations approval for the conservatory extension they built. We've just been finalising all the paperwork before exchanging and have discovered this. They offered indemnity insurance which I'm not comfortable with.

I'm really upset. I love that house but i feel that we can't take the risk in buying something that may be a risk and may not be compliant, so we'll have problems selling it on. The conservatory is the real selling point of the house.

OP posts:
ObiJuanKenobi · 15/05/2018 22:49

I'm an estate agent and it really is very common! The reason it's putting you off is because you don't fully understand it - which is also very common and in no way meant to sound patronising or rude!! Have a good chat with your solicitor about what they know about when it was built and any paper work collated from the builders/fitters and go from there. An indemnity is definitely sufficient in this situation though and not something that would put me off buying - some people use it as a negotiating tool to chip the price before exchange which normally ends up delaying things for very little gain and not something I would overly recommend.

RhurbabAndCustard · 15/05/2018 22:50

Ally

yes spring and autumn lovely. The rain on the polycarbonate roof is fun. We have to shout for the ketchup to each other 😂. However it's nice to sit with the doors open into the garden and we hunker down in the separate lounge in the winter with doors closed. The oven gives off residual heat after cooking a roast if leave door open too

Jamiefraserskilt · 15/05/2018 22:53

Usually building regs are required when there is no door between the original house and the new structure. Buyers often miss this one but sellers are supposed to make it clear. The seller has the option of putting a door in or the buyer decides it is not needed and purchases indemnity insurance. Really, this should be deducted from the sale price.

TrinaN · 15/05/2018 22:53

Just because it doesn't have building regs isn't necessarily nefarious.

I have heard all sorts of reasons over the years and your solicitor will have too. Some can't be bothered, some get muddled between planning and building regs thinking I'd they have one they have both.

Some know they couldn't get them if they applied but do the work anyway (more common with loft conversions).

A common one for conservatories is not realising as some can be exempt and people muddle the rules - being slightly over the size limit, too close to the boundary or it not being separated by external doors (so it is open to the house) are common mistakes.

RhurbabAndCustard · 15/05/2018 22:54

The seller buys the insurance not the buyer

sugarnotsweetener · 15/05/2018 22:55

Sorry not RTFT, when we purchased our house the vendors had to also get idemnity for us for the conservatory, agree that it must be quite new because they didn’t build the conservatory either and hadn’t needed it when they bought the house years before.
The reason for ours as it was an estate built by developers (in 1985 I think was the year) and they wanted to give approval before any changes were made to the appearance of the houses. The people who built it didn’t ask permission, I spoke to the solicitor about it because it was the first we’d heard of it too and she said as it had been there for X number of years that they wouldn’t be able to question it anyway but if it ever went any further the policy would cover us for everything. Hope you feel reassured by all the replies you have

Bluntness100 · 15/05/2018 22:57

The surveyor and my solicitor hinted very strongly that things were amiss

That doesn't make sense. You pay both to tell you exactly what's amiss. Not to hint and keel schtum or guess Confused

AllyMcBeagle · 15/05/2018 23:07

yes spring and autumn lovely. The rain on the polycarbonate roof is fun. We have to shout for the ketchup to each other

Oh yes the rain noise! We decided to use ours as a sitting room with a TV in it and shall we say the subtitles button is used frequently with this British weather. We also had to get the brightest TV we could find because when the sun shines you can't see what's going on. We have created a little snug in what would otherwise be the dining room for use when then the temperature is not right in the conservatory, but I do so love looking out on the garden...

cistersofterfy · 15/05/2018 23:09

Had to have it when I bought my current house. Loft had been converted without planning or building regs - staircase isn't compliant. It's my bedroom and I use it daily. It made me uncomfortable at the time but four years on, I'd forgotten all about it until I saw your thread.

NeverTwerkNaked · 15/05/2018 23:15

Indemnity insurance is the standard solution and this really isn’t anything to be spooked by. Someone very pragmatic might not even bother with the insurance, but it is a safe middle

NeverTwerkNaked · 15/05/2018 23:15

middle ground.

fourquenelles · 15/05/2018 23:23

Bluntness I have bought a fair few houses in the past and have never had the solicitor really emphasise coming up to exchange that that is the point of no return. The surveyor couldn't get a good look at how well built the extension was as it was boarded out but was very circumspect in his report. Reading between the lines the extension was coming away from the rest of the house.

FireworksBaby · 16/05/2018 08:18

Is the conservatory added on from existing external doors, or have they knocked holes in the wall to add it? If it's a freestanding structure then an Indemnity would be fine, if they've made additional holes in the house then I'd be more concerned about structural problems. Building regs would judge if the steels holding up those walls were sufficient, this could be done retrospectively, but you'd have to remove plaster, etc to expose the steels.

Scoogle · 16/05/2018 08:36

Indemnity insurance is all very well and good, but it is only there to protect you in the event of enforcement action, not for structural defects. If it's in the last three years, you can ask the seller if they can apply for retrospective consent. If you accept indemnity in respect of enforcement, then I would deffo get it surveyed as well, as you don't know it's structurally sound.

It is really really common to have indemnity policies BUT I do view them as a sticking plaster solution. the caveat I always tell my clients is, essentially if it falls down or breaks or doesn't work after purchase, then there's no recourse for you.

LoislovesStewie · 16/05/2018 08:41

During our last house sale/purchase we both had to buy and ensure that the vendor had purchased indemnity insurance. It's not expensive but is there if needed. Talk to your solicitor, it will put your mind at rest.

WizardOfToss · 16/05/2018 08:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Storminateapot · 16/05/2018 08:52

We put a massive conservatory running across the back of our house 16 years ago. At the time we didn't need planning permission (still wouldn't as it's been deliberately sized & set up to be just within limits) or building regs. It did have a number of different guarantees but think they've all expired now.

So I guess we might need to offer indemnity if we wanted to sell the house now, but the reason why we didn't do any of it is because it wasn't required at the time. That being so and given it's been there 16 years without issue I guess the Council's window to do anything is gone. In fact we are one of 4 on a small development and we've all added conservatories over the years, nobody needed permission or regs at the time they were built.

LoislovesStewie · 16/05/2018 08:54

Sorry I assumed that you had obtained a full structural survey. I can't imagine purchasing a property without.

Trillis · 16/05/2018 09:08

have been looking into this myslef lately. This link may be useful:

freeconveyancingadvice.co.uk/diy-conveyancing/building-regulations-conveyancing

if you scroll down to the bottom there's a section on indemnity insurance for lack of building regs approval.

WhatATimeToBeAlive · 16/05/2018 09:09

Why don't you ask the solicitor? That's what you're paying them vast sums of money for.

Original poster
SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 16/05/2018 09:59

@WhatATimeToBeAlive
Will be speaking with them today
Slightly narked with them that they didn't think to explain this to us given we're first time buyers!

OP posts:
Seahorse146 · 16/05/2018 10:11

How long ago did they do the conservatory?

As the local authority can only take enforcement action within four years of completion of any work which has been carried out without permission. (s171B of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990)

Or perhaps look into doing a retrospective planning application?

TheViceOfReason · 16/05/2018 10:34

It's really common for all sorts of things - we had to take out an indemnity on our last house sale as we didn't have an official wayleave / authorisation to run the septic tank drainage across a lane. It was put in by the people that built the house and no expected issues, but the indemnity policy is just standard.

FireworksBaby · 16/05/2018 18:26

How did it go with solicitor OP?

Original poster
SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 16/05/2018 19:01

Well we spoke to the solicitor who basically confirmed what everyone here said.
We spoke to an independent estate agent who also confirmed what everyone here said.

We spoke to a surveyor who said that a few days ago there has been some change in regulation (due to Grenfell) and that we may have problems selling. She recommended getting a regularisation, though this would take time.

We spoke to a different surveyor who's going to come back to us with a quote with a view to going round and inspecting the whole thing.

The thing that troubles me is that the vendors originally said that they couldn't find the bit of paper that confirmed they'd got building regulations approval, so they're offering this insurance to speed things up. But wouldn't it be a simple case of going to the LA and getting a copy of the approval?

OP posts: