Buying house with new extension that has no building regs and damp

[ImpressiveBar2624]

Hi,

We are currently purchasing a house where there was a ground level extension in the last 5 years. No building regulations have been provided. Survey says there is a part of the extension that sits below ground level that is damp and has mould. Bit worried this could be a money pit but also we like the house and maybe just a bit of tanking would fix the issue. We are planning on doing some work in that part of the house any way.

Would you be particularly worried?

Most houses have damp on some level but the fact that this part of the house is so new its a bit troubling.

Stop!
You could have to take down the whole extension. If there are no sign offs from council then you have no way if knowing that any element has been done correctly - electrics, plumbing, wall ties into the older part of the house, for example.
If there was no planning application then interested parties i.e. neighbours, have also not been consulted and could object to your unapproved building.
Don't do it. Or if you insist, make getting sign off a condition of the sale (which they won't be able to get, so don't waste everyone's time, find another house).

What is the owners explanation? In any event I would prob give this a miss unless the current owners get retrospective sign off

Hell no. I can sort of understand there being no building regs from many years ago, but from the past five years I would assume the extension isn't legal and that's why they don't have them.

At the very least get it checked very thoroughly by a professional, but I would steer well clear.

I absolutely would not be touching that house with a barge pole unless I got it so cheap I could redo the whole extension properly from the ground up.

Do not fall for this nightmare. Your solicitor should be advising you. You maybe able to get some insurance or indemnity from the current owners but tread very very carefully.

I doubt an indemnity will help with an illegal extension.

Even if they got permission, you will need to put a french drain in or reduce the ground level or you will always have damp. It's bad for your health as well as the building.

I wouldn’t touch this property with a barge pole. Run…..

I’ve been stuck in a diy nightmare for nine years! Walk away now! Enjoy your life and get something without the horrendous amounts of work. Good trades hard to come across!

Don’t buy it. No excuses for no building regs in the past five years.

This!

Run.

I'd also be concerned about the quality of the work - we spent the last two years doing a big renovation and the builders were on it constantly with regulation checks, council inspections, etc.

Get a builder to have a look at it firstly before making any hasty decisions. It may be the extension was inspected but no final sign off obtained for the building regs.

Rather than tanking, an external french drain may be used, but the point with any damp is to find out what is causing it and fixing that before doing any remedial work.

Personally, if you like the house, find solutions rather than just walking away. The length of time has passed for any enforcement of the building regs. If you buy and fix the issued, you can purchase an indemnity policy for when you sell to cover yourselves or even, obtain building regs sign off once the work is complete.

Agree with @schloss. I wouldn't write this off immediately. Figure out exactly what "below ground level" means. Even just having flowerbeds piled against a wall can bridge the DPC and give you trouble - the damp could be an incredibly basic cause and easy fix.

You need to get your solicitor to do a lot more digging about Building Regs though. "none provided" might not mean none obtained - they might be useless people who don't keep paperwork. Even if the extension was built as part of permitted development, you need to get regs sign-off and any builder would know this. Although, I feel that's so fundamental that if there absolutely isn't anything, I'd be asking the vendor to get retrospective before I bought rather than an indemnity. My worry be that there's no real reason to avoid getting regs sign off, unless you intentionally want to cut corners.