lots of structural alterations and no paperwork!!!

[Christmascookiesmmmm]

We are buying a house and all the searches are back. The sellers have included a lot of paperwork about every single service for the gas and the burglar alarm for example, and also when they replaced the windows, but absolutely nothing about several structural changes I’m fairly sure they’ve made to the property (it was either them in 2007 or the people who owned it for a few months before they bought it..)

These were highlighted in the survey, which said our solictor should source building regulations certificates for or we should have them looked at by a structural engineer:

Load bearing wall between kitchen and breaKfast room removed

Chimney breast removed

Loft boarded and structural changes made, also roof covering changes with addition of velum windows.

Also no paperwork on kitchen extension estimated 1990s.

I find it odd how they’ve provided all info on lots of other things but nothing on these structural changes.

The surveyor said (homebuyers report) there is no sign of distress but still I don’t want to buy without knowing it’s ok for sure.

Would it be reasonable to ask sellers to pay for structural engineer to have a look? They’ve got a good offer from us, and we haven’t asked for any money off so far, despite a couple of things coming up in survey so haven’t pissed them off. We’ve pushed things along quickly as we’re ftb and they want a quick sale. Just basically we’ve gone to our absolute max and it’s going to be very tight. I did not expect we’d have to pay for a structural engineer too!! Or even split the cost ?

That may be true as the absolute bare minimum you need to transfer the ownership of a property to another party.

However, if a property owner has carried out extensions and structural alterations to their property and is unable to provide supporting documentation to confirm the work has been done to the required standard then I think the property owner will find the pool of buyers who might be interested in purchasing would be devastatingly small, and would make it significantly harder for any buyer needing a mortgage to complete the purchase.

Ahh a bit of an update, it turns out I wrongly assumed that it was then who removed the wall. I think it must’ve been the people who owned before (but they only owned for a few months which makes it seem even more dodgy).. so even though the work is over 10 years old and there’s no sign of distress according to our survey and ‘no reason to think it wasn’t done properly’ I think we’re gling to get a structural engineer to confirm that the steel beam was inserted. Is this what you’d do? Apparently mortgage companies don’t require building regs from work over 10 years old so they’re not bothered.

Only thing is I got a few quotes (£300-400) but also they say we need to also hire a builder (£150) to drill a hole in the wall so they can confirm it’s been done properly, then cover it up. Waiting on vendor to agree to this.

Am I right in thinking it’s unlikely they will spilt the coat with us..?

Apparently mortgage companies don’t require building regs from work over 10 years old so they’re not bothered

Is this the advice from your solicitor?

I'm not a solicitor, but have been an estate agent for over 20 years, and I would be surprised if a solicitor were to say there's a 10 year cut off from a lender point of view. I am not aware of anything within the CML guidelines (Council of Mortgage Lenders) that specify this.

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The vendors may well agree to the drilling if you are serious buyers. It’s in their interests to know about structural integrity (they were not bothered when they bought it though) but whether they will share costs is another matter. I would get the survey done if they agree and don’t forget the chimney removal too. You can ask them to share costs and you both then get a copy of the report. It would depend on whether they value you as a buyer and whether you are worth keeping!

A structural inspection report usually costs between £500-£750 and remember to add VAT to that price. 12 years is the length of time structural engineers are required to keep all information relating to any calcs or drawings they have been employed to do incase of a claim against their insurance.

Yes @Mildura, our solictor advised us of this. I suppose it would be different if there was an obvious problem but as the survey assumed it was all fine then I suppose it’s fine!

Yes @Bubbles I think we’re pretty good buyers, and everything else is ready for exchange. Mortgage offer sorted, all other solicitor stuff back. The lady’s husband very sadly died and she’s older I think and going into rented so family are keen for it to be wrapped up I think. And I doubt they will want to put it back on market just before Christmas! We will ask I suppose as there’s no harm in doing so. We haven’t been difficult with anything else, so fingers crossed she will as money is going to be very very tight for the next 2 months!!