6 days to exchange and this crops up...

[Mykittensmittens]

On our sale side.

Our house is 18 years old and has been owned by 4 people including the builder who built it. It’s in no way unusual.

Now 6 days to exchange and their solicitor is saying they can’t proceed without ‘irrefutable prood’ of the original planning permission for the house. We don’t have that and never had it or were questioned about it when we purchased. We have directed them to the planning portal where you can see that planning was given but as it was such a long time ago the documents aren’t there, but you can clearly see planning was granted. However this isn’t enough and they want us to show them the original planning consent.

I’m so bloody stressed - why would this be needed? It’s not like the house was built by us 5 minutes ago - it’s almost 2 decades - and it was never asked for when we bought.

How do I get this issue resolved? My solicitors are being absolutely useless.

I sympathise, OP. My solicitor held things up by asking for proof of when the windows were replaced and when the conservatory was added (property I was buying, not my house!) I didn’t care - I could see that both were old and needed replacing, and I just wanted to get on. In the end the poor seller managed to produce a written statement from her neighbour that she and the previous owner had had the windows replaced at the same time in 1998, and she found an aerial photo from 1995 that showed the conservatory was already there and therefore was exempt from planning. Load of faff about nothing! My solicitor was being over-zealous because my stepdad was a senior partner in her firm. Like you, the seller hadn’t had to find any of this info when she bought it so to ask for it when I bought it 11 years later seemed mad.

No we don’t @callmeadoctor. There are various companies that provide off the shelf policies where you just fill in the details and the price is based on the property value. Some firms charge for the extra admin involved.

@callmeadoctor

Mmmm No doubt solicitors get a cut of all these "Indemnity Insurances" that people are advised to take out.................

No. They don’t.

@Etulosba

I'd just tell them to stop dicking around

With my last house I was asked for proof of all sorts of things just before completion. I didn't have most to it so I asked them if they wanted the house or not. They did

OP if the building is 18 years old, you could point the buyer's solicitor to Section 157(4) of the Planning and Development Act, 2000 which says that the local authority may not serve an enforcement notice or take proceedings for an unauthorised development after 7 years have passed since the unauthorised development commenced.

Bingo!

And the official record, even though it's not a cert, on the council website. FFS this would do my head in!