Should I buy a bungalow with extension work without sign off from the Building Control?

[yodasw101]

Hi,

My offer was accepted for a 4 bedroom Bungalow in east London, the house was renovated in 2016. After my offer was accepted, I found a solicitor and instructed them on the sale and purchase of my house by paying the initial fee. Plus, also paid for the structural survey as the house is from the 1950s.

Just today the estate agent has told me the following:

"I just want to make you aware that for the property there is no under floor heating building regulation certificate, and there was planning permission for the property but the Building control for the extension was not completed and has not been signed off. However, this is not a problem as the vendors solicitors can buy an indemnity insurance in order to protect you."

I'm relatively new to the UK housing market and the laws here. The seller lives outside of the UK and in Europe somewhere. So, it seems like he will not get the outstanding completion work done based on what I have heard from his estate agent.

What will be the impact of buying this house? Can the council/government put a penalty or ask me to demolish the construction of the extended property, etc.? Or will there be an issue later if I'll have to sell the house due to any reason?

The extension could be unsound, it will make it more difficult to sell and the council could tell you to rip it down.

I am not a solicitor. We didnt have final building regs on our house but did have works-in-progress approval. The vendor agreed to pay for final regs and any outstanding work. They did this, paying for a fan to be installed in a bathroom + the fees. It was fine, but we did know it was just the final signoff that hadn't been completed. You would need to be sure it was just a final signoff that was needed, which your solicitor could do by contacting building control locally I think. It's all very well the vendors buying an indemnity policy but you'd need to be confident the policy would cover you fully if the absolute worst case scenario happened.

Indemnity would be void if the council is contacted about it.

The council won't ask you to tear it down, but you will have the same problem selling it. I'd tell the sellers to get a regularisation certificate. This means an inspector from the council comes out and decides whether it was done in accordance with building control then. They obviously can't see through walls but if there are no cracks etc then may say it's OK.
Indemnity ticks a box but is pretty worthless in reality.

The council probably won't ask for it to be torn down but they do have the power to order it and they have used it. They can also order expensive remedial work.

So there's the paperwork side that has been covered by others but the point of building regs is that work has been completed to a particular standard. Are you happy that the extension is structurally sound, the foundations were deep enough, there's enough insulation etc? It's hard to ascertain this after the fact without invasive surveys.

However, this is not a problem as the vendors solicitors can buy an indemnity insurance in order to protect you."

Indemnity only covers for legal fees to fight the council, not for uninsurability (or insurance not paying out later), or the whole bloody lot coming down on your heads.

Then there's the difficulty of onselling later. As such, this property isn't worth what you're being asked to pay, not even close.

I don't know why solicitors keep saying "it's cool man" when it often really isn't. Indemnity is the modern "Indulgence", short term comfort of absolution, long term utter waste of cash because you're still absoutely fucked.

Don't pay good money to buy someone else's problem.

Hi again,

Upon my request to the agent & seller to complete the building control sign off process or regularisation certificate process, the agent has got back to me today with the following:

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"Further to your email I have now spoken with the vendor and he has confirmed that he won’t be finalising the certificates therefore the house will be sold as it is. There is still a possibility for you to purchase without the permit is in place as the vendor solicitors can purchase an indemnity insurance. This is totally up to you, please let me know if you’re still interested.

The property has been built to a high standard and the price the vendor has agreed to sell to you is a really good price especially since it is a detached house with a lot of potential to extend and make it your own.

From speaking to the vendor he has told me that It was just for the extension for the kitchen that didn’t get the last signature.

All the inspections were done just missing one last signature from building control."
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I'm not sure why can't the seller apply for the checks even when he is not in the UK, he lives somewhere else in Europe. He just wants to sell the house as it is. It is quite confusing whether to go for the indemnity insurance to go ahead or just walk away. The house is very good, I quite liked it and was also thinking to do certain things when I move in!!

Say suppose if I get the required surveys done and show it to the council, can they accept the result to grant a certificate? Or structural surveys, etc. are not enough to give the low-level details to the council inspector?

Also, with the insurance in place, can I apply for future extensions to the council without affecting the insurance? Can they reject the future applications as the last one was never signed off?

Building regs are only enforceable against the owner for 12 months after the completion of the work, I believe. Having said that I wouldn't buy it, you'll get grief again in the future when you want to sell it and it may cause issues with your home insurance.

I’d walk away from this one.

The council can only enforce contraventions of the regs for up to 2 years.

Indemnity insurance is meaningless.

Ask the vendor to get it regularised. It will only cost them about £600.

If the seller didnt get the certificate at the end of the build or sort it out prior to selling, it would suggest to me that the work is not up to standard.

The estate agent will say anything to ensure they get their commission, so I would be cautious about anything they say.

Did the structural survey highlight anything?

@PantsandBoots Yes, you are right that the agent will say anything to get their commission. I have asked the survey people to hold on to the process as I was waiting to hear back from the agent/seller.

Is there any value to get the structural survey done? If we already know that these are things that are outstanding.

I have asked them again that if they can't go for the proper sign off process, can they apply for the regularisation certificate? As that is the next best thing to the actual certificate.

Agent has said that she will get back to me tomorrow.

I'd be very suspicious that 'it's only the last signature' yet the vendor isn't prepared to sort it out. I know its hard when you have already got solicitors fees etc but I'd be walking away.

I just wondered if the structural survey showed anything like poor drainage or damp that would show the work was not up to scratch.

I would either ask for a significant price reduction which would take into account the value of the house minus the extension or walk away.

@PantsandBoots Should I still I go-ahead with the structural survey knowing that the seller will never go for the completion process? In order to know what the seller claims is actually true or not about the quality.

Phone the planning dept in the relevant location and ask them for details on why the BC certificate wasn't signed off. Is the reason major or minor?

The BC certifies that the building matches the planning permission, in line with legal building standards and regulations. How much work needs to be done to get it certified?

If i the extension was a complete fuck-up, walk away.
If it was something pretty minor superficial and fixable, ( a missing handrail )your solicitor can negotiate the proposed insurance. Or, insists the loss is rectified and the owner pays for/obtains a building control certificate.

ALL that should have been agreed before you paid for a survey. If the completion certificate issue is bad enough to walk away, you've wasted a lot of money for nothing. In any case, the surveyor may decline to report any useful info on the extension because it;s not passed regulations.

. You should have lined up a solicitor and agreed their fees before making any offer "subject to satisfactory searches and survey". I negotiate a fixed fee deal (plus taxes/registrations) payable on completion of the sale, not up front. My lawyer then does all the work on my behalf. (offer, searches, negotiations with seller.)

The Estate Agent is working for and representing the seller. Not you.
You are not their client so don't expect them to be at your beck and call and don't rely on anything they tell you. Their first duty is to the seller. who pays them.

If the seller is refusing to get the building work completed and certified, that could be because he knows for sure it doesn't match the [pland, or the work is so shoddy it will never pass.

Both Planning Permission, and Building Control completion certification, are functions of the local Council; they employ their own specialist staff to regulate building construction at various stages throughout the work. . So , no, you can't present them with some independent survey of the extension ; they won't accept it.

 You should  address all these questions to your solicitor,  their local knowledge and legal skills are what you pay them for. .

[quote yodasw101]@PantsandBoots Should I still I go-ahead with the structural survey knowing that the seller will never go for the completion process? In order to know what the seller claims is actually true or not about the quality.[/quote]
No. The "good price" is low only so they can find a desperate person to offload their problem onto. If regularisation was simple, they'd do it, and then charge full price for the house.

Don't throw good money after bad. The information you've discovered already has been a gift you would be wise not to squander.

@2bazookas

Phone the planning dept in the relevant location and ask them for details on why the BC certificate wasn't signed off. Is the reason major or minor?

The BC certifies that the building matches the planning permission, in line with legal building standards and regulations. How much work needs to be done to get it certified?

If i the extension was a complete fuck-up, walk away.
If it was something pretty minor superficial and fixable, ( a missing handrail )your solicitor can negotiate the proposed insurance. Or, insists the loss is rectified and the owner pays for/obtains a building control certificate.

ALL that should have been agreed before you paid for a survey. If the completion certificate issue is bad enough to walk away, you've wasted a lot of money for nothing. In any case, the surveyor may decline to report any useful info on the extension because it;s not passed regulations.

. You should have lined up a solicitor and agreed their fees before making any offer "subject to satisfactory searches and survey". I negotiate a fixed fee deal (plus taxes/registrations) payable on completion of the sale, not up front. My lawyer then does all the work on my behalf. (offer, searches, negotiations with seller.)

The Estate Agent is working for and representing the seller. Not you.
You are not their client so don't expect them to be at your beck and call and don't rely on anything they tell you. Their first duty is to the seller. who pays them.

@2bazookas

I called the local council building control department today about this and they told me that I should ask my solicitor for more information and guidance on the next steps to obtain the required certificates from the seller via the solicitor.

However, I just checked the local council's planning and building control website to search for the planning application.

The proposal of a Single-storey rear extension was received on 16/09/2014 and the status is still Undecided, with more details such as Validated on 16/09/2014, Decision Due on 21/09/2014.

Is it possible that the records are not updated? I checked other proposals on the same street and even they are undecided but all are very old proposals.

Otherwise, the plan of this rear extension was never decided and approved for construction work to initiate!!

After your last update - walk away. IME planning depts are very good about updating planning decisions - it's not impossible for things not to be done, but unlikely. Walk away before you spend any more money after bad

@TooWicked

I’d walk away from this one.

Me too.

Sounds very dodgy and I think there will be a better house available soon.

Phone the planning department tomorrow and ask them for the latest status on the planning application. I did this once and they updated it on the website the next day.

And if you do find out it never got planning sign off then you have had a lucky escape (or by your own tenacity I should say).