Selling after internal alterations without certificates: what should we disclose?

[JessicaRabbit23]

house on the market, we did a lot to it during lock down as husbands a builder. I put on the form that we knocked an internal wall
down which was non load bearing put a stud wall up to separate our lounge for a separate play room. I got that far and the next day they asked for building regs certificate,,, which I don’t have. I dare put down we put a downstairs toilet in! We had a new fuse board fitted because it was old, I don’t have these documents i had plumber and electricians in that worked within husbands company to do these so all in hand. Have had no problems since it was all done. I am relocating to be closer to my mum otherwise I wouldn’t be moving. Is it better to just not disclose anything? Thanks in advance

What has made you think you need a cert then?

What does it show ???

You even need building reg to change your toilet seat these days

The solicitors asking for the building regs for the non load bearing wall taking out

No internal alterations will show up on the land registry. Land registry is just that, land, not internals.
A buyer might be able to find it if they find previous estate agent listings and layouts but it absolutely isn’t on the land registry.

Well then you’re going to have to find out whether you need it. And if you do, you’re going to have to retrospectively get.

There is no way around this. The solicitor won’t accept the vendor just saying… oh no need to

Thank you xx

You should answer any forms and questions honestly but you shouldn’t volunteer any information you are not asked - that’s for the buyer and their surveys / conveyancer.

Should such a questionnaire, survey etc identify work that needed building regs (for example we did have a load bearing wall taken down and we were advised we needed building regs) just say you don’t have it.

Indemnity insurance if you need it will be fairly cheap in the scheme of the other costs in selling a house.

Don’t worry too much - some house sales are stressful, some are straightforward but it’s just as likely to be something you haven’t thought about than this.

I'm not sure exactly what you will need. However I'm in the process of selling my parents' house and have been asked about planning permission and building regs for the changes made in 1995, which they originally picked up had been made without me telling them, so don't rely on nothing being discovered.

I believe you generally don't need building regs for removing a non load bearing wall, so I would just say it wasn't required. However, I think you will need sign off for the electrics. We just got an electrician in who checked everything was compliant and issued us with a certificate for our buyers. It wasn't very expensive.

The wall you knocked down- you’ll need proof it wasn't loadbearing ( check which way the joists run above yourself, if they run at 90degrees to the old wall, then it could have been load bearing and you’ll need further proof)

The new stud wall - Nothing needed, not part of Bregs

You’ll need Bregs approval for the plumbing or proof it was done by a certified plumber.

Electrical certs you said are all in hand so all good

That’s what you need to tell the solicitor then.

’Please supply the building regs certificate for this work’. Is a pretty standard question from conveyancers. It doesn’t necessaily
mean they need it though, They are looking for either a building regs certificate OR a satisfactory explanation why it wasn’t required.

I had the same when selling my house. I responded with ‘This was a non structural internal wall the removal of which did not impact any fire escape routes. Therefore there was no requirement to obtain building control sign off,’

If you can’t stick to OP’s actual questions and stop being hostile about an area of her life she’s clearly finding difficult, maybe you should take a break.

Either you are compliant or you accept that any buyers will negotiate the price down. I would walk away, as I would be concerned that work hasn't been done properly and what else I would find once I live there a while. what's bodged, not working properly, going to be expensive to put right.

Yes exactly this.

🫶🙏

Sorry to thread jump. But we are about to do just this. Take down a non load bearing wall then rebuild a stud wall to change lounge diner into kitchen diner. Can I be cheeky and ask how much this cost please?

We will be getting quotes ourselves but it would be good to get a ballpark figure for this as we have no idea if it is an expensive job or not.

Thanks

" Is it better to just not disclose anything? "
No, you must be transparent, lying on the forms could cost you thousands.