Can we sell a house that doesn't meet building regs?

[HelloVeritas]

Our kitchen was extended 12 years ago and for reasons we can't fathom, a new extractor fan wasn't fitted.

We genuinely had no clue and I guess because we have always kept everywhere well ventilated, we'd not run into any issues with condensation or staining etc

House now on market and estate agent spotted it, so of course we plan to get a fan fitted before we sell.

We'll be going for as basic an arrangement as possible to vent externally through a wall, just so that we meet the regs.

One potential buyer however wants to completely reconfigure the kitchen if they buy it and vent a new fan through the roof. This will be much more expensive and disruptive, which is fine once they've bought it.

They're upset at our proposal to fit one to the wall as it just means they'll have an unwanted hole there.

So one option is to reduce asking price a little as a contribution to the work they will do) but not fit our own fan.

Can we legally do this? Sell the house knowing it doesn't meet building regs? It will be picked up by a surveyor but if us and the purchaser are in agreement- will this be ok?

something to ask your conveyancing solicitor

or at least just the estate agent

It used to be that if you had an opening window you didn't need an extractor fan.
You could check whether that is still the case.

I would say yes as Victorian terraces definitely don't meet todays regs! Aren't they just supposed to be for at the time of building?

No obligation to meet building regs on a sale. I wouldn't have raised this with the buyer or done the work.

Yes you can sell it. Lack of building regs doesn't automatically halt sales, it just puts some people off.

Genuinely would not care about this as a buyer and would not do anything as a seller either. I’ve just had a new kitchen with no extractor. It’s not like a loft conversion not meeting regulations. Probably half the houses in the country probably don’t meet building regulations in one way or another.

Do you have a cooker hood? When did you get this fitted in?

In 2022/23 the buildings regs changed again so that for any NEW ventilation extractor fans must be 60L if you don't have a cooker hood. This is only if you are adding it NOW one in now.

In the meantime, just gets some quotes on how much it would cost to add it with a hole in the wall, and a quote for the way your buyers wants it, so you know how much you might be expected to deduct from the price. It's between you and the buyers. One thing though, make sure you absolutely get a "compentent persons" to do it - it's usually a qualified electrician. If you don't, you'll have to get building control in to check it and pay for thir time and the certification, whereas the competent person will be government/building regs approved to do the paperwork for you in their cost.

Short answer is you can still sell it still without ventilation, but make sure your buyer knows about it. They can decide what they want to do . But in all honesty, ventilation is important as it affects the structural integrity of the house. You should expect to make a deduction because if you've not ventilated the house well you will have caused other more costly problems. I would be super nice to your buyers so they don't get annoyed if the surveyor comes back saying there are problems secondary to lack of ventilation. But do expect it.

I wouldn't bother putting one in, especially if you have no issues such as damp. If brought up on a survey - then you can offer to put a normally located one in. I don't think it would stop a sale - mortgage companies just want to see a basic kitchen in not a shell of a property. Lots of older properties don't meet building regs for various reasons - I think they are more concerned about things such as bedrooms not being in line with regs as can cause a major safety concern - fire escape routes, etc. The other route is if the mortgage company is happy to lend but buyer is still worried, you can offer indemnity insurance to the buyer, usually a low cost and offsets risks.

Thanks everyone-the potential purchaser and estate agent spotted it and raised it with us. We were clueless otherwise.

I think we'll get a quote for basic work and knock it off then if they're in agreement

i think that's fair and it'll make them happy and that you're being reasonable early on. personally, i'd just make them a bit happy now, it'll save you hassle down the line. it shouldn't be too expensive but it's a buyers market and i'd rather keep a good buyer than get upset about an extractor fan as the seller. good luck!

Depends if it was necessary for building regs at the time, but also 12 years ago means council can no longer enforce so I personally wouldn’t be knocking huge chunks of money off for something that’s a non issue. Could always offer an indemnity policy (fairly useless given it’s no longer enforceable but a surprising number of conveyancers will stand their ground until they get one)

I see your point, but it is an issue because ventilation isn't just about the kitchen, it's for structural integrity of the property. cndensation is a serious factor on walls, the loft, timber, etc.

it's not a non-issue to buyers tbf. if you're trying to sell your property in this market, you need to understnd that buyers who are mainly millenials and genz internet information getters will check everything.

Absolutely but after 12 years you’d expect any problems to have arisen I.e if there haven’t been any structural problems yet, there won’t be. I’m a millennial/gen z (early to mid 1990s) and bought a Victorian terrace as my first house (also a property lawyer) - we had a similar issue and I took a view that it was highly unlikely to be a problem. Think my seller appreciated it tbh

If there wasn’t a fan in the room before & it was a change to an existing space there’s no need for external ventilation anyway. You just can’t make things worse than what was there before.

clues in the name - they are building regs, not selling regs. Your buyer is free to buy anything they like off you in any condition.

If the buyer wants to completely reconfigure the kitchen then I wouldn’t offer anything off the price.

that's fair enough. but if a buyer wants to do up their kitchen, they probably have the money to buy another house, so it's no loss for them, and they're better off dealing with a seller who isn't so tight about extractor fans when they should been put in in the first place for ventilation.

We are now selling and it turns out the fitted back door (like for like replacement) didn't get building regulations and my solicitor got a quote for indemnity insurance to cover this (they made me aware of this and this as a remedy for it) so not sure if you are able to do something similar if you don't meet regs?