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Original poster

Internal Works with no building regs :(

33 replies

sparkles311 · 23/04/2018 12:22

Hi All,

Hope you all are well. I would need some honest suggestions. We have found a property. Its a victorian terrace house. The previous owners have done lots of alterations to the property. Like Loft conversion and creating 2 rooms. Converted a bedroom to a family bathroom in the first floor. Removed the chimney breasts from all the rooms and also from the kitchen. And all these works don't have any building regulations and completion certificate. And the current owners have told the estate agents they would not be applying for any retrospective permissions.
We are really in big dilemma . What is your opinion on this ? Will anyone of you under our situation would go for such a property. Also one more thing the estate agents have marketed the property as loft rooms and also taking price of 2 bedrooms not a 4 bedroom property.

Kind Regards,

OP posts:
LIZS · 23/04/2018 12:29

Don't understand your last comment. If there are no buildings regs the loft cannot be counted as habitable rooms. EA should market accordingly. It is no so much the lack of br, and whether the council could enforce, but whether the quality of workmanship means the chimney was appropriately reinforced , or not, and the conversion has fire retardant materials and so on. Tbh the vendor is shortsighted, as it will be an issue for anyone buying even if you do not proceed.

37KAT · 23/04/2018 12:29

My main concern about this is the removal of chimney breasts & loft conversion without regulations. Will your mortgage company want to see documentation before lending on it? If anything happens in the future you could have a massive issue with possible insurance claims.

I would also want reassurance that the work was carried out to the required standard and was safe for my family. Without this I personally would not be comfortable.

I think reconfiguring the rooms internally is ok providing they've not added additional windows, moved external drains.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 23/04/2018 12:32

I wouldn't walk into a house that had chimney breasts removed without being signed off, never mind buy one.
You don't even know if it's structurally sound!

MrsMoastyToasty · 23/04/2018 12:35

I would worry about getting a mortgage on it.

Si1ver · 23/04/2018 12:35

If you're set on it, they can buy an insurance policy to cover the lack of sign off. These are not expensive.

uservvy · 23/04/2018 12:36

In addition to building control there should have been a structural engineer involved. Can you the SE details?

Original poster
sparkles311 · 23/04/2018 12:36

Hi Liz,

I meant that the EA had market the property as 2 bedrooms rather than 4 bedrooms. They are not considering the 2 rooms in the loft as bedrooms. So that is okay. But my concern is so many works have been done, without regs, what would be the future implications? Even if we buy the property will it be easy for us to regularise all these items in the future ? Or it will be a big hassle

OP posts:
uservvy · 23/04/2018 12:36

*get

Whatdoiladymcbeth · 23/04/2018 12:38

I would have a surveyor or structual engineer look to see work is good and get an indemnity policy. Only question would be if the work is sound.

CrustyCob · 23/04/2018 12:39

I would avoid it tbh. It probably is not the bargain it looks.
Potentially lots of big structural issues, plus as PP have said, loft rooms will not be "bedrooms" as no building regs approval.

What worries me also, is that the vendors have said that they do not intend to seek retrospective approval. Maybe they know that the work is unsound and would not get approval without a hell of a lot of remedial work?

uservvy · 23/04/2018 12:40

I would at least speak to building control and discuss the regularisation application. It's not your property yet so you are not at risk of a penalty. Problem is it's difficult to see the work involved once it's been built

Original poster
sparkles311 · 23/04/2018 12:42

Hi 37KAT,

Yes our solicitors have already informed our lenders about all the problems that the survey has come up with. Now the problem is RICS surveyor is telling us everything looks satisfactory, without doing invasive inspection, and exposing the walls they cannot tell us whether the chimney and the loft has been done properly. The report also mentions that one of the chimney stack in slightly bent which might suggest that no proper support is build for chimney breasts removal

OP posts:
jellycat1 · 23/04/2018 12:45

I wouldn't touch it and I'm not usually risk averse. Your best case is you'll hemorrhage a lot of cash on it one way or another. Unless you have robust legal and surveyor opinions to the contrary, I'd say keep looking.

OliviaBenson · 23/04/2018 12:46

Loft conversation and removal of chimneys and the seller won't get building regs in? Walk away now.

Getting builds by refs retrospectively will be quite intrusive works to check structural elements etc. Could you afford to do it all again if they don't meet the regulations?

ShotsFired · 23/04/2018 12:48

Walk - no RUN - away OP. This has got trouble written all over it.

The kind of householder who glibly rips out structural parts of a house without a care is not the type of person to buy a structure from!

37KAT · 23/04/2018 12:53

Sound like you've set your heart on it as you're a little down the line.

From my experience if the vendors are keen DIY 'ists' it's likely you'll unearth other issues in the future perhaps when you make your own alterations. You would not believe what we've discovered in our house lurking behind walls etc.

I feel like PPs it would be wise to cut your loses and run for the hills... something else that you like even more will come along.

BeyondThePage · 23/04/2018 12:59

If it is being sold as a 2 bed, not 4 because of building regs, then there is money to be made by bringing it up to spec and getting the regs done, so can understand wanting to buy it. But unless you are willing to buy and not move in til the work is done, would turn around and walk away.

BWatchWatcher · 23/04/2018 13:04

I echo what the others said here.
Do not touch with a barge pole.
We bought a house 10 years ago with a floored loft that the owners were using as a bedroom. They couldn’t market it as a bedroom as it wasn’t to building regulations.
We asked a building inspector some time later what we’d need to do to make it right and were advised the whole thing needed to be stripped back and redone.
This could be a massive money pit

OhMyGodTheyKilledKenny · 23/04/2018 13:09

Sorry but I wouldn't even touch it with someone else's barge pole!

SingleMinded · 23/04/2018 13:14

Walk away. We bought a house that had had work done and we had the building regs certificate but we didn't notice that the certificate was dated ten years after the work was completed, just before the house was put up for sale. They basically just paid a private company to sign off a certificate. The house has nothing but problems. Everything was done in the most shoddy way possible and it is costing us thousands to fix. We had a full survey and nothing was picked up. If the sellers are the types that would do major works with no building regs then you can bet everything else is dodgy too and it will be a nightmare to sort out. When we bought the house we thought that just the finishes were cheap but everything has been bodged from electrics to boilers to bathrooms.

Original poster
sparkles311 · 23/04/2018 13:59

Oh thats a huge response from everyone. Thank you so much for all the advises. I am very much confident now, that we are definitely not going to buy this. I know we have already lost quite a lot of money in survey, searches etc. And considerable amount of time. But cannot afford to take such a big risk and more surprises after buying the property. We will definitely pull out the offer.

Again a big thank you to everyone!

OP posts:
CrustyCob · 23/04/2018 14:12

You will find the right house eventually, Sparkles Flowers.

I know that you have spent a lot of money already, but that's why you get a survey done!
Think of it as money well invested, which has saved you from buying a nightmare. What a bunch of con merchants the vendors sound.

All good wishes Smile

alfiepetition · 23/04/2018 16:40

Run. Fast.

oldbirdy · 23/04/2018 16:53

A reputable builder would not undertaje such work without building regs consent so for that reason alone, they probably used a dodgy builder and I'd walk away.

kingjofferyworksintescos · 23/04/2018 17:48

Walk away

The 2 reasons that people don't bother with building regs are
1/ doing the work on the cheap and cutting corners
2/ lack of knowledge

An indemnity policy isn't going to stop the roof falling in around your ears - they are not worth the paper they are written on

It would probably cost you less in the long run to buy an unaltered property and do all the alterations yourselves with full building control and know the job was sound rather than the reworking of someone's previous mess - that way you would get exactly what you wanted

Hope it all goes well

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