I know I'm going to have to suck it up, but...........

[louiseaaa]

We're hoping to complete this week on sale/purchase of property.

We secured a buyer in July and we had an offer accepted in August

Our buyers now want us to provide an indemnity policy on a brick built shed at the bottom of our garden as we don't have building regulations approval for it.

We bought the property with the shed in situ. We had a replacement roof put on 9 years ago

They can fuck off to the far side of fuck .... as far as I'm concerned. But I know that we'll have to give them it

A pain, definitely irritating, almost certainly a waste of money. But, sometimes you have to do these things to get a sale exchanged. What's the cost? Be surprised if it's more than £100.

Almost certainly their solicitor insisting upon it too, probably in their capacity as acting for the mortgage lender, rather than the individual buyers themselves.

I’d be amazed if it cost more then £50 to be honest

So I checked with the council - as it's not a dwelling and intended for domestic use (ie not a business building) they say that as long as it's compliant with planning (which it is) they're not interested (Have it in writing now too)

So I may just send that over and say no

they are cash buyers, btw

That should probably do it.

Indemnity insurance probably can't be taken out now anyway as the council have been contacted.

The council were aware of the dwelling anyway because when we put the replacement roof on they came out because someone complained and they said that it was in planning regs so nfa - the buyers have that, they just want us to guarantee it won't fall down due to shoddy workmanship - surely the time for that has passed, the shed's been there for more than 20 years. Everything falls down eventually, especially if it's not maintained. We maintained it by replacing the roof.

They still want a policy, but for what is unclear so we have asked them to clarify.

Indemnity insurance probably can't be taken out now anyway as the council have been contacted.

^ this.

The council were already contacted, see above

A indemnity policy won't guarantee it won't fall down! Sounds like they, or their solicitor, are being a little silly.

Clarification has come

They are worried that we don't have any buildings regulations for the build of the brick shed. It was done over 20 years ago. It's well maintained. It's not damp and it has a sound roof.

It doesn't form part of the house as it's stand alone, but the surveyor recommended that they check that the building has been built to a structural standard and that we take out indemnity on that? I'm confused and so is my solicitor, as it's not part of/or a separate dwelling ie, not built to be lived in.

We had to take indemnity against some work the previous owners did without building regs.
It was about £40. It's not worth the stress, just pay it.

Hi @louiseaaa - I've just started a thread on indemnity issues too, but from the other side - I'm a buyer :-)

As I understand it, the seller has to purchase indemnity insurance for a structural alteration or outbuilding that building regulations certificates weren't obtained for at time of building. The indemnity insurance protects the buyer against the local authority from coming along and saying "hey, you didn't get building regs certs for this, take it down at your own expense!"

However, as a PP pointed out, it's pointless now as the local authority has been made aware of the existence of the outbuilding, so any indemnity insurance purchased now would be null and void.

I keep repeating myself but the local authority have been aware for years .... 9 to be precise, because some lovely neighbour complained when we replaced the roof.

The buyers know about this because we disclosed the correspondence from the time that this happened.

The buyer's solicitor has seen that info twice - once when we disclosed and also when searches were carried out. We have also had a back and forth discussion about it at the time.

The latest is the insurance company want to come and value the (shed!) building to see about re-build costs to enable them to cost an indemnity for re-build costs. This is farcical to the extreme, and if the case would definitely hold up exchange that should be happening this week.

I may propose to take the shed down ourselves - there problem solved - they are buying a house not a brick built shed ffs

The latest is the insurance company want to come and value the (shed!)
20 years of working in property, these days it seems like almost every sale has an indemnity policy of one type or another, and I have never heard of an insurance company asking to come and value any element of the property.

The cost of such a visit will likely be far greater than the cost of the policy.

Ask your solicitor to get a quote for the policy your buyers are seeking. As has already been mentioned it's almost certain to be less than £100, then pay it. It's not worth the hassle.

Like others have said but you aren't seeming to get.... you will not be able to get an indemnity policy as the council are aware of it's existence and that it adheres to planning permissions

The proposed indemnity isn't for the council though it's for the insurance company.
I'd agree the whole thing sounds madness. If the surveyor can't judge the soundness of a brick shed then they shouldn't be doing anymore surveys.

redpanda
But the council wouldn't make you take it down if it didn't have building regs.

Offer to knock it down for them??

If you've already spoken to the council about the fact it doesn't have planning/regs then any indemnity policy against them pursuing the buyers for building regs is void anyway. Planning permission is granted by default after X years (can't remember how many) with no objection being raised so you'd only be looking to indemnify building regs. Too late now though!

We had to get a policy for an extension on our last house so I've been through this myself.

@Mildura beat me to it. I should RTFT!