No building regs for loft extension

[Delatron]

So we are trying to sell our Victorian house and an interested buyer has asked for the building regs for the loft conversion. We didn’t do the conversion an we moved in in 2011.

Going through all our documents it looks like it was done in 2002! I can see our solicitor asked for building regs and they ticked a box saying they had lost them….nobody appears to have picked up on this and our mortgage went through fine.

What can we do to alleviate the worries of our potential buyer? The conversion is 24 years old.

We spoke to the council and they say they have a record of the work as being ‘completed’.

What does your solicitor advise?

by speaking to the council you can’t now get indemnity insurance.

Building regs certificates weren't issued as standard in 2002, that requirement came in in about 2012. If the council has it marked as completed that's probably all they would do. Perhaps try and explain that?

Can you get a building professional ( structural surveyor or architect) to look at the conversion and give you some idea of any problems that might arise in the purchaser’s survey.

My loft conversion was done around the same time, with no building regs, by a previous owner. I just said that. If there were any issues, they would have shown by now. Buyers can take it or leave it. My buyers don't care!

Thanks all

I now realise we can’t get indemnity but it seemed like the best thing to do was to check with the council. Had no idea this would cause issues but it’s done now.

We are only at first viewing stage so no solicitors but have one we can ask. They want to see documents though and we don’t have anything other than a questionnaire with the planning code filled in the box ticked to show they have lost building regulations. And all the letters from our solicitors
asking for these documents (different solicitors).

@aquitodavia that’s interesting and I was hoping this would be the case.

And yes @Beebumble2 we are thinking that would be a good idea. Just hoping they did the work properly- but it has been there for 24 years!!

Thanks for this. This is the only time it has been flagged up. The potential buyers lost their last property due to this issue (mortgage wasn’t approved) but I feel this is a different scenario!

We have been through the sales process twice (we pulled out of the last one at the last minute as our onward purchase fell apart) and there were no issues with either mortgage. I live in terraced mill cottage world and most of the houses have unregulated loft conversions and they all sell without issue. Good luck.

Thanks so much. I understand these buyers are nervous but I can’t really see an issue with something from 24 years ago. It’s actually really well done - full ceiling height, loads of windows. Proper staircase.

I'm sure it will be fine. If the mortgage company kick up a fuss, it's usually due to a low deposit. In which case, you need a buyer with more money.

My annoying estate agent is saying we either have to get a certificate from the council which could take months. Or the mortgage company will say we are not allowed to count it as a bedroom. Which takes us from a 4 bedroom to a 3. This seems ridiculous as something that we’ve not had an issue with for 24 years or when we bought the property.

It’s huge up there. There’s a full
double bedroom, a bathroom , a lobby and a small side room!! It covers the entire top floor.

I would think that a confirmation from Building Control that it had been completed means they applied for Building Regs and is an indicator that it had been inspected and 'signed off' as being in accordance with the regulations. Can yo get a written confirmation of the information the council have on file and supply that to your solicitor? I would think should satisfy them.

Thank you - I think we’ll go down this avenue. I’m just getting stressed out by my estate agent saying we can’t say it’s a bedroom without the certificate!

We have the same. We bought it like this and it wasn’t classed as a bedroom. It is used as a bedroom, it has an en-suite. When we sell we won’t sell it as a bedroom. It’s still exactly the same space whatever you want to call it.

We are in the process of buying a bungalow that was built in 2004 with no completion certificate sought after the time of the build. There was planning permission in place but no sign off, so it wasn't checked to make sure that it complied with the plans submitted and to regulations.

For us, as it was the whole bungalow, it felt too risky to proceed with the purchase when, for all we know, it could have been built by cowboys who cut corners at every opportunity.

Our Solicitor asked our buyers to get the building signed off retrospectively by the council. So this is what they did.

The process was fairly quick to be honest. They came and did a proper check. There were things that were not to regulation that needed to be put right, which our buyers did. The council then came back to re-check and then issued a certificate of completion and signed it off. The whole process only took about 4 weeks from first check so it shouldn't set you back too long, unless the council find lots of things that need to be rectified in order for you to be issued the certificate.

You may find this is the most sensible thing for you to do. Yes, it may cost a little to bring certain things up to standard but you may well find you will need to do this for anybody wanting to purchase, not just these buyers.

Honestly, our Solicitor said we could walk away but we wanted the bungalow and were prepared to wait. Our sellers solicitor advised our sellers to get the build signed off retrospectively also. They said that any good Solicitor will want this doing before they would advise their client to purchase. So if you don't do it for these potential buyers, you may well just end up having to do it anyway.

Just for comparison, selling our own house we have had to jump through hoops with boundaries, easements and all sorts of nonsense that no-one gave a toss about when we bought our house 15 years ago. Things we have never had a moments issue with. Its VERY annoying that suddenly these things are now issues but its just the way things are now. Everyone seems to want everything to be perfect.

Gosh I so agree @ErlingHaalandsManBun it was much more straightforward 15 years ago. The problem is we are being asked for documents that just aren’t there. It’s a Victorian house. I fear this process is going to be very, very painful. Never again.

Maybe we’ll just sell it at auction. Can it be sold as seen then?

Some local authorities have building regulation info available online. I know my local Council does as I managed to find info regarding work dating back to 1989.

If you have a Local Authority Search from when you purchased it, there is a section on that which deals with Planning and building regs - and will likely be flagged up on there with reference numbers etc…

Thanks there is a reference number on some of the documents. Council have said the work is marked as completed but seeing what else they have!

I think it’s true that everyone is so cautious and twitchy now that they want everything to be perfect.

The buyer might not care, but if they are getting a mortgage, the lender almost certainly will.

My daughter bought a flat last year which hadn’t had building Regs approval for the loft conversion.
Her solicitor was very clear that she should not proceed without getting a report from a structural surveyor confirming that it was done properly, because without one the mortgage company would not agree to lend. They also insisted that the report was in her name.

I guess mortgage companies are becoming more strict on this? As it wasn’t an issue for us 15 years ago. It’s really hard as we didn’t do the loft conversion. First step is to see what the council have. Then we may need to get it checked retrospectively.

In my view there’s an over reaction over all these issues. We were asked for BR for the Victorian attic and a lean to porch that had probably been there for 50 years. I just pushed back.

Completely agree. These structures have been here for so long. There has to be a bit of acceptance of that when buying an old house.

This is partly what is stalling the housing market I think and causing a third of sales to collapse.

There was no requirement for a buildings regulation certificate at that point in time. I’m absolutely certain about that as we’ve had recent problems relating to losing one for work done after 2012.

Planning and building control records were starting to be digitised in 2002, so there's a chance you might be able to find something on your local authority's website. Otherwise, you can apply for a regularisation certificate from building control, which is probably your best bet for maintaining the value of your property.

You are right.

I do think these things are the kind of things that are making conveyancing that used to last weeks, now stretch into Months!!! Its nonsense.

Everything has to be signed off, be checked, have a certificate for, and everything has to be perfect. Its been such a painful process for us selling an OLD listed Georgian Miners Cottage with outbuildings.

What happened to common sense, and sold as seen. Now its checks, and surveys and all sorts of stuff and buyers demanding things being practically perfect or they want money knocking off the price (which MAY sometimes be well justified) but most of the time its people just chancing their arm.

You wouldn't believe the nonsense we have had to do for our buyers because their Solicitor has demanded it be done. And lenders are definitely more picky now and seem to care more about stuff than they used to.

Its made buying and selling an even more stressful process than it was 15 years ago. Its hideous.

If our sale ever gets to a point where we can actually sodding move I am staying firmly put 🙄