Buying a property with a 1960s extension and no planning permission

[DeftWriter]

I am considering buying a property with a small extension that the seller says was built in the 1960s but there is no planning permission. I'm looking into this and not sure whether to request the seller obtains a certificate of lawful development. It would appear to me to fall under permitted development anyway as its single story the property is detached and it falls under 4m in projection and height. They have offered an idemnity policy but its not clear if this would cover the cost of taking it down, then re-building with planning permission. Is it unreasonable to ask they apply for a certificate of lawful development? The solicitor isn't very helpful they just want to push through the transaction.

Yes that is what I thought thank you

The fact your solicitor is unsure means they do not know and are giving you incorrect information.

There is nothing wrong with being thorough especially if you have had issues before, but put aside everything else an indemnity will NOT pay for the extension to be demolished.

The planning authority is required by law to keep a planning register back to 1948 so it would have records of 1960s extensions. They’d likely be on microfiche though or in deep storage and not quickly accessible.

If looking at a new application the planner would probably only check history to 1974 at most. Wouldn’t give a shit about a 60s extension, authorised or not. It’s long authorised by time anyway.

The one exception is listed buildings. Works to listed buildings never gain immunity from enforcement action by time. It would be unlikely to be expedient to take action against a 60s extension but there is still a risk so an indemnity policy would be a good idea.

Yes I understand its only for forced demolition. Thank you very much for your understanding. I'm not happy with the solicitor and have asked her to phone me urgently this week to sort things out.

Yes I might as well accept the indemnity as it would pay for forced demolition though its very unlikely the council would require that I can't see any way they could really. It looks sound to me so I was hoping just to renew the flat roof (although its not leaking) and check the electrics rather than pull it down and start again.

Yes this

Although as others have said, its pointless to be concerened about it from that perspective

Curious if anyone has experience of asking for certifcate of lawfulness on this? I would think the council will happily take the money as long as the extension can be dated back for at least 10 years.

The council would take your money even if you couldn't prove 10 years you'd just get a refusal.
Still I think it would be a waste of money in this case. Council's mainly investigate enforcement complaints they don'thave the staff numbers to go out looking for such work. And who is going to complain about this extension after 60 years??

Yes I can't ask anyone official as it invalidates the policy but it's so helpful to get advice I've been overwhelmed by the responses and really grateful I love the house and guess I just need to accept it's likely fine worst case I'm looking at a new small single storey extension about 20m2 with kitchen but best case a certificate from the council to confirm officially they will never take any enforcement action which they should provide within 8 weeks

I think the policy would only cover forced demolition and reinstating the property in its original condition but if anyone has contacted the council already it will be invalid so it's not going to do anything much really

I usually wait at least 65 years before complaining about my neighbours extension 🤣

You are correctly having a good survey, EICR and paying attention to the extension. I would ask a structural engineer to look at the extension, and maybe a flat roof specialist to have a look. A 1960's build will not meet current building regs, but that does not mean it is unsafe or badly built. If the structural engineer says it is fine, or it needs x and y done to ensure it is safe then you will know what you are dealing with. Put out of your mind certificate of lawfulness - a report from a structural engineer saying the extension is safe is very worthwhile the other certificate is just a piece of paper.

Hahahaha this made me laugh out loud!!! It's just that I'll be inviting the council in as I might want to do alterations in the bungalow and on the planning portal it looks like you need to apply for a certificate of lawfulness before you can do anything but yeah it's unlikely that's going to cause any problems I think 🤔 It's not easy when you're selling and buying property my own buyer pulled out over something really minor but sake is back on now

Structural engineer is a great idea thank you. As there's a kitchen in the extension I was hoping to leave the walls and basic structure. I was prepared to re roof it although it looks ok no leaks at the moment. I just need to assess whether to keep the extension and renovate it or take it down and start again I was hoping to keep it but also wanted to avoid any issues with the council regarding planning as I might well want them to come and inspect and they will definitely be involved if I need to demolish and rebuild obviously as I'd need to submit pp. Hope my concerns make sense in terms of context but I do think it's probably best just to move forward with confidence and not worry about lack of planning consent I think the council will be ok with it they have been good in the past

Kindly, you're blowing this out of all proportion. You don't need to sort this out when you move in. It is extremely common for old extensions not to have planning permission available. Get the policy and forget about it. If you take steps to try to regularise it like contacting the council you'll invalidate the policy, so don't try to get it signed off. And there's absolutely no need to knock down and rebuild a perfectly good extension that's no one has complained about in sixty years and is well beyond enforcement.

My house has an extension built in 1980s with no planning permission. I didn't know when I bought it and searches etc never flagged it. I have never given it a second thought, just went with the 4/10 year rule. Building regs and planning have been involved with other work at the property and it's never been an issue.

This is the only complete, accurate and sensible advice regarding the planning matters.

Pop quiz, as a fully qualified, insured and time served electrician, why would I NOT undertake your EICR for you?

Thank you for your kind offer but I have renovated property before and already have an electrician that I know and trust I do appreciate your offer though

It is unusual for council to visit, most domestic planning is a paper exercise. It probably falls under Permitted Development now anyway. Building control may decide to visit if you renovate and do structural work but unlikely they would pick up a historic planning anomaly.

I wasn't offering!! I was pointing out that it is usually inappropriate for a decent contractor to carry out an EICR under these circumstances and to be wary of anyone willing to do so.

Sorry I see what you mean. I'm planning an electrical condition report to assess the state of the electrics so I can identify any immediate safety issues and rectify. I have already planned a complete re wire as I have said elsewhere but the EICR should throw anything urgent so I can sort immediately while deciding the final wiring layout

You do not need a Certificate of Lawfulness to carry out work.
It can be useful if you're not sure if something needs planning permission. It can also be useful to show PP wasn't needed when you sell a property. But you don't have to have one. You do have to have planning permission if the works don't meet the permitted development requirements.

After that amount of time the local authority is not going to ask you to pull you down and if the extension has stayed standing for that long it is unlikely to collapse tomorrow either...

You might just need to do some updating/maintenance work like for any other part of the house.

@DeftWriter I echo others posts you do not need a certificate of lawfulness to carry out work - I am not too sure where you are getting all this information from, as once again, it seems to be incorrect.

What is it that happened before, as it seems it may be heading you in a direction which you do not need to go? There is being thorough, which is fine, but you seem to be under the impression you need permissions and certificates when you do not, especially when you say you have renovated property previously.