We're buying a new home, which had a single storey rear extension built in 2003. Our surveyor has raised no issues with the quality of the build, but the seller, who has lived there for 23 years, couldn't produce a building regs completion certificate. Our solicitor approached the local authority to see if they could get one. They wrote back to say no certificate exists, but that they're unlikely to do anything about it after all this time.
Because the council has already been approached, we're now unable to take out an indemnity policy to cover the (very small) residual risk that they might change their mind in the future.
Our solicitor says that if we were to try and sell it again within a short amount of time, then the inability to take out an indemnity policy might put off buyers. However, he also said that after another 5 years or so it should once again be possible to get an indemnity policy. Is he right about that? If so, we're minded to go ahead as we're expecting to live there more than 5 years.