Any conveyancing solicitors or even experienced buyers around please?

[roarrfeckingroar]

I'm buying a house and it turns out there's no building regulation permission for an extension that was built 8 years ago. The seller is taking out indemnity insurance.

Is this common?
Would I be an idiot to proceed?
Will I be able to sell the property on in the future?

Thank you - I just want additional opinions from my solicitor.

Is this common? - Reasonably so, certainly not something particularly unusual.

Would I be an idiot to proceed? - Not necessarily, as above, it's far from uncommon. Just be aware the only thing that indemnity insurance covers you for is the costs associated with fighting enforcement action taken by the local authority for lack of building regs, the chances of that happening are approximately zero. It doesn't provide you with any protection for substandard work, so make sure your surveyor takes a good look to see if there's anything obvious which might be a cause for concern.

Will I be able to sell the property on in the future? - Yes, almost certainly. In fact the longer ag the work was done the less of a problem it becomes. Work done 18 months ago with no building regs may well raise some concerns, but work done 20 years ago, few people would be worried.

Personally I wouldn't unless it was a really unique house. Presumably you've done a full structural survey? what does it say about the extension.?

No building regs?
Or no planning permission?