We're in the process of buying an unmodernised house, which had some work done (through lounge on the ground floor and converting a smaller 3rd bedroom into an en-suite bathroom on the first floor). The sellers claim that all this work was done in the 70s prior to their ownership and they do not have any paperwork relating to this, insisting that it is sound and safe as it withstood the test of time for more than 40 years. They also refuse to give us some sort of indemnity insurance for the same reason that the council will not be able to bring any enforcing action after such a long time.
Would this concern you as a purchaser? What will happen when it comes to sell in the future, won't our potential buyers request the same? can we also have grounds to refuse any indemnity for work that was done prior to our ownership?
Also, the conversion of the bedroom into en-suite bathroom - the sellers insist that the door opening that is now connecting the en-suite to the main bedroom was not done into a load-bearing wall, and so there was no need to notify the council to seek Building Regulations. Is this true? I thought there must be some rules when adding to a house in terms of additional drainage and waste pipes, as this en-suite bathroom is on the opposite side of the existing family bathroom on the same floor, and additional pipes had to be connected to main sewer.
What would you do? Are we fretting for nothing? Our solicitor seems to agree with the sellers that it's OK not to have the proper paperwork. To us, this purchase would be quite a sizeable investment to make and I wouldn't want to proceed without all the T's crossed and I's dotted.