Are we nightmare buyers?

[Elouie]

We had an offer accepted on a 4 bed property in February. Arranged a homebuyers report and got the mortgage offer quite quickly.

There isn't a chain so I thought we'd move quite quickly and in the documentation requested a completion day of 10th April which would have been 10 weeks.

However... the homebuyers report came back with some issues about the timber frame and also that the 2 additional bedroom and kitchen are extensions to the original property and we need to be certain there is planning permission and building regs for both.

There isn't! I spoke to a second surveyor and he advised asking the sellers to get retrospective building consent and to speak to the building company that did some work on the house to check some details rather than paying him more for an additional building survey.

I did had he suggested but the buyers have stated they cannot afford to get retrospective consent and the building firm is no longer trading.

I have gone back to the original surveyor to ask for a re valuation as we are now buying a 2 bedroom property with attic rooms that will likely need work to comply with building regs and I've asked the second surveyor to do a full building survey, a valuation and an indication of the cost of works.

We will then need to reduce our offer.

I'm not playing games and really want the property but there is now more work than we thought and we're not buying the 4 bedroom house that we thought. It can be made so but at a cost.

I keep reading threads on here about nightmare buyers. Please tell me I'm
not one of these?

I'm doing everything I can to move everything along as quick as possible.

[DarylDixonsAllMine]

I work in building control. Don't bother with indemnity policy. That indemnifies you from finding out the work needed an application. You know it did. Policy therefore pointless.

Do not take on that property until you have the regularisation certificate in your hand. £1000 might cover the cost of the application fee, but will go nowhere towards the cost of remedial work, opening up etc if required.

A mortgage company won't lend on a property unless they have all relevant certification in place. That may not be an issue for you, but think about if you need to sell in the future.

Finally, don't underestimate how dangerous some badly laid out loft conversions can be. Like you said, you are planning on your kids sleeping up there.

[Astro55]

I would also consider the same issues I you need to sell in future - it will keep coming up -

Unfortunately the paperwork needs to be in place

[user1487194234]

The mortgage company may very well lend
Essentially all they care about is will they get their money back if they have to repossess

If I had a client who wanted to buy in these circumstances I would advise them of the risk on resale and if they still want to go ahead I would write to the mortgage company and explain the position

They will check with the surveyor and if they will lend or not

[adriennewillfly]

I had exactly the same issue, but on mine they said they had all the paperwork in place. I was furious (as I'd spent a load on surveys and solicitors fees).

I had said I would proceed if a structural engineer agreed that I could get a regularisation certificate without additional work. They initially agreed, but then pulled out when they realised the engineer would need to make some openings to see the structure of the loft extension. I did it this way, as I knew I could get a regularisation certificate if the works were okay.

[alreadytaken]

I wouldnt say you are nightmare buyers but you may be making a bit more of this than is absolutely necessary. It is a 4 bed house, not a 2 bed, because the planning really is not an issue. However it's a 4 bed house with possibly more work needing to be done than you realised. So seeking to explore what is needed, how much it will cost and a price reduction based on that is fine but pretending it's only a 2 bed house isnt.

[zombiesarecoming]

Not ready every comment above so sorry if going over stuff already mentioned

We had neighbours at our last house complain to council about work we had done under permitted development regs 4 years after it had been done

Council asked us to put in the do I need planning forms (which I knew we didn't) and the only thing they highlighted was we needed building regs. I rang building regs and they said yes we needed them, I said ok that's a pain as it's been up 4 years but do you want to send someone down to take a look, he said how long ?, 4 years oh I won't bother we can't enforce after a year and he put it in writing to confirm.

So if it's been up long enough it's pretty much unenforceable if enough time has past

[Astro55]

The OP wants to know if it's safe for her children to sleep in, and is trying to negotiate a way of confirming that - suggesting it's OK and unenforceable isn't really the issue - having seen plenty of shoddy jobs in the property boom - banks lending ridiculas amounts of money to 'extend' and cowboys 'having a go' I don't see that she's being unreasonable - particularly if this creates an issue to sell the property on

[noclevername]

We pulled out of a purchase for this reason - loft conversions and fire regs / safety are a minefield. We eventually found our that the property we wanted to buy needed a sprinkler system and fire door if properly loft converted, for safety and home insurance etc. The sellers probably know this. I would be very cautious. Planning is a potential issue - we found out that we wouldn't have got planning permission to put in a fire escape window on the 3rd floor (previously loft), because it overlooked the adjacent property. Caveat emptor.