Extending house - do I need to tell the bank?

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That's it really. We are at the 'getting buildings control sign off on the plans' stage of our extension and I'm unsure what my obligations are regarding my bank/existing mortgage (and would rather check here before I barrel in and call them, lovely as they are). We are not planning to remortgage as part of the process.

Someone has told my DH that we need to engage a solicitor to speak to the bank to advise them on the extension - does this sound right? And why can't we do this ourselves rather than use a solicitor as a go-between - is it that complex a discussion?

I understand that I will need to get some special insurance during the build process and we will need to get new buildings insurance once its complete, which I guess the bank will require anyway as a condition of its mortgage, but is there anything else I haven't thought about?

Thanks in advance

I have no idea TBH, but I can't see the harm in just calling them (not sure why you'd need a solicitor).

They might even be able to advise you on things to include (types of lock etc) that can bring the insurance down, which could be useful.

You do need to talk to insurance company. We didn't have to pay any extra insurance, but did have to check what the builder's own insurance covered.

We also asked if putting in a fire sprinkler system would reduce the insurance in future as it would be impossible to burn down. Remore rural - but apparently no change to risk so we haven't fitted one as it was going to cost £3k! So don't hold your breath about any reduction.

The solicitor and bank thing does sound a bit OTT to me.

I need to look into sprinklers anyway as I may need something along those lines for the building regs sign off, but hadn't factored in 3k

We phoned our lender before we started major building work but they weren't the slightest bit interested and said there was no need to let them know. Probably worth a call just to check.

House insurance just needed to know when building started and finished and specified that the builder's tools, machinery etc weren't covered.

Thanks, thinking I will give them a quick call tomorrow.