Thinking of pulling out of property purchase?

[Lauren95xx]

We’d been renting a property for two years when the landlord decided to sell. Being happy with our current home we put in an offer and it was accepted. The house has had a conservatory added and a garage conversion. There were some delays and the sellers made us aware of some problems with building regs but said they were sorting it. Now we’ve had all the paperwork through, it seems they have not sorted the issues with the building regs. Currently the conservatory and garage conversion have no building regs but they have offered to pay for indemnity insurance which we’re not particularly keen on. We asked the sellers if they’d be willing to get the building regs or renegotiate on price and they said no to both (for reference we asked for a £10k reduction, a 2.7% reduction in purchase price). The property is the top end of our budget, needs some work (new front door, bathroom, flooring) and not really in the location we want to be in forever but we were happy to buy the house because it’s been our home for the last 2 years and we like it here. We’re now at the point where the sellers are ignoring us and the estate agent. I’m thinking of pulling out but I being first time buyers I just wanted to get others opinions on what they would do in this situation?

How long ago were the conversions done? Are you concerned about the work itself or enforcement action?

So talking you out of accepting indemnity insurance is something conveyancers do with first time buyers, I have had it in the past.

What indemnity insurance gives you is protection if the council sue you. What it doesn't do is protect you from shoddy workmanship.

If you have lived in the house for several years and not seen issues with those two areas, and especially if they were done a long time ago, chances are, they won't cause you an issue.

That leaves you with the council finding out and suing, which is what the indemnity is for (you can't then ever apply for sign off, it invalidates the indemnity). Chances of that happening? Slim to none. Don't ever tell anyone they don't have sign off.

What conveyancers don't actually relay to FTBs is that most older, experienced buyers won't really care. They will have seen many houses without sign offs, and an experienced eye will tell them whether the changes are likely to cause structural or financial problems.

So, it's entirely your call now stern you want to be. It might make the house a little bit harder to sell in the future, but there are also many people out there who just won't care if they like the house enough.

Your sellers won't budge because they know many other buyers simply won't care, and they can't be bothered arguing with you anymore.

You are saving the landlord money and hassle by buying your rental property. If he puts it back on the market he has to go through the eviction process and potentially have a void period after you’ve moved out until completion.

What is the property market like in your area, is it fast moving or in the doldrums? Were there other offers besides yours?

The conversions were done 15 years ago so I’m not worried about enforcement action however I am worried about poor workmanship and issues selling in the future. We had a leak in the conservatory roof which has now been fixed and at the time I accepted it as one of those things but now I’m considering whether this is just an indication of more problems to come. We were unaware when we put in the offer that the landlord had actually done most of the work himself (he’s not a tradesman or anything) and which makes me question the work even more.

Here here! 👏🏼

The property market in the area is generally quite slow. There are currently 3 other houses on the same road of similar size/layouts that have been on the market months and have been reduced several times. I very much doubt that if the house was put back on the market it would sell for the price we agreed at as house prices in our area have dropped in the months since.

There were no offers other than ours but there had only been two viewings when we offered.

I agree with @KievLoverTwo the indemnity only protects you if the council asks you to revert the modifications which is very unlikely to happen. So it’s basically a formality to get the sale over the line.

You should actually be thinking about whether you’re happy with the conversions or not, you said you didn’t realise they hadn’t been done to building regs which suggests you haven’t had many issues. Most conservatories will have a leaking roof at some point. Then make your decision based on that. We knew our house didn’t have regs for the garage conversion but we didn’t really care as we like the house.

Buy one of those other houses then?

We bought a house with a strange history, no building regs, and unregistered so no real proof of boundaries as only one neighbour. Haven't regretted it for a second! You have the added advantage of already knowing every nook and cranny of the house.

I thought indemnity insurance was quite a regular thing..? We’ve had to pay it as our conservatory also didn’t have regs (built before we’d even moved in)

I would pay for a level 3 survey if the owner has been doing the work himself and was not a tradesmen. Also particularly as you are first time buyers you dont have the experience to recognise future potential issues.
It will put you in a much stronger position to negotiate. Or on the other hand it will give you peace of mind if nothing comes up. It will also get you out of this situation where your no longer ignored by the agent and the vendor. At the moment they are just crossing their fingers hoping that your inexperience leads you to just cough up the agreed price.
Put yourself back in the driving seat, this is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make.
Make sure you ask for the survey to include a current market valuation. It's more hard evidence to negotiate with.
The agent will squeel a bit when you tell him what you are doing. Don't be hoodwinked by this. Since you now realise that some of the work was done by the vendor it's perfectly reasonable.

It sounds a bit like you are looking for an excuse to pull out as you no longer have faith that the house is the best purchase you could make?

If that’s the case, don’t bother spending more money on a survey etc, just pull out. You’re not obliged to buy this house just because you once wanted to.

A conservatory may well leak, but it isn't going to cause a major structural issue for the house (I would think). The same may apply to the garage conversion, depending on its relationship to the house and how it is used. Also, the fact that the work was done 15 years ago, and apparently there have been no issues, and you have not noticed anything while you have lived there, should offer some reassurance. I assume you have already had a survey done, but if not, you should do so in any case.

I'm wondering how much of this is due to you worrying about shoddy workmanship and how much is really just natural anxiety about a major purchase, or the amount you are paying? Unfortunately, unless there are actual problems identified as a result of the works, I don't think there's sufficient grounds to renegotiate the price.

It really comes down to how much you want to buy this particular house, with the advantages that you don't have to move, and you know and like the area. How would you feel if the seller pulled out?

I would revise my offer to an amount you would pay for a similar house without a garage and conservatory.