Would you buy a house if its exension did not have building regs?

[artichokes]

We are about to buy a house but have discovered that the kitchen and first floor bedroom extension did not have building regs. The extension is over 4 years old so apparantly we could not be made to tear it down. However, no building regs means no guarantee that the work was done properly.

My biggest fear is that we will have trouble selling the house on because prospective buyers will be put off by the lack of building regs. Would you be put off?

No, would tjink it may end up to be more trouble.

Can you get an indepth survey?How long has it been up?Do the vendors have any info plans etc?Interms of planning you can keep it but sometimes dodgy regs impact on insurance.An indemnity policy is worthless really as it says nothing about the work.For what its worth I have had 2 houses like taht and they were fine x

have you had a survey done?

It is possible to take out an indemnity policy to ensure that if anything happened you would be covered, it will cost you about £300. Also worth looking into whether building regs can now be applied retrospectively? perhaps even before you exchange?

When we bought our house the sellers didn't have building regs for work (not an extension just a kitchen wall knocked through into the dining room and the kitchen made wider) and that work had already been done before they moved in.
We got the sellers to buy Buildings Indemnity Insurance which was only about £100 I think and now means that if anything does happen because of the building work, we are covered. They were happy to pay for this (lawyers negotiated it) as otherwise the sale could have fallen through but tbh we would have bought it ourselves otherwise.
I'm not sure if it would be different with an extension (probably will cost more) but as long as you can get the Building Indemnity Insurance I wouldn't be put of buying. Good luck!

it's also worth bearing in mind that building regs only came into force some time in the 90's, so any house bought before that wouldn't have been subject to building regs neither would any work done on it.

If you get an indemnity it only covers the structure being allowed to remain as is.If it falls down or is substandard construction you aren't covered.You need a good surveyor and knock the price down if he discovers anything that needs fixing.

The work is six years old. We have asked the original builder and the owners for details of the work but they claim they have not got the details we are asking for.

Could a surveyor tell you that the ditches had been built deep enough and that type of detail? How could they tell?

Noddy - what sort of insurance would we have trouble getting?

Hmm - I was in a similar situation a few years ago, and we bought the house anyway (and have since resold it without it being an issue). But, we do think the reason that the 1970s extension didn't have building regs sign off was that it just wasn't built to the required standards. The extension was damp, and we discovered there was no damp course. It ended up with the whole wooden floor being taken up, treated , damp treatment everywhere and new plaster. To say we were irked doesn't quite cover it, but to be fair there were obvious signs of damp when we bought the house.

How old is your extension? Agree with Noddyholder and Wannabe that a proper extension with as much attention paid to the extension as possible is probably the best way forward

Actually, if the original builder and owners are playing dumb here, I'd walk away from it. It is only 6 years old, no excuse for lack of building regs sign off IMO

If the structure doesn't meet certain regs it can be a fire issue or ventilation etc.6 yrs isn't long its a shame the builders don't have a record.But as I said a good surveyor will spot anything untoward and give you an idea of costs to put right if required.If you are planning on living there for years I would go for it as long as the foundations are good and there is no obvious cracking or movement between the extension and the main house.then you can rectify any small thing wrt windows doors etc if there are any problems there.

Dont local councils Building regs depts have a record of work done?
Can you check with them?

Several things would worry me. For starters, what about the risk of the extension falling down, or causing structural problems with the rest of the house? And how on earth could you trust that the owners had looked after the house - if they are this thick/careless about building an extension, what other horrors lie in wait?

If I was still interested in buying the house, I'd get onto the council and check they had planning permission/were covered by permitted development. AND I'd pay for a full structural survey and tell the surveyor about my concerns (rather than just instruct the lender's surveyor with no contact).

yes but I would get a full structural survey don;t on it to make sure it was consturcted properly and tehn I would make vendors pay for insurance to cover anything going wrong with the exension. Its a one off payment policy which lasts for life and costs IIRC around £300. Your solicitor should know all about it - its not uncommon.

Do not involve the council as this will make it impossible to get indemnity insurance.Contrary to belief this insurance does not indemnify against the structure failing it only means you can keep it.It does not cover you for it falling down etc.You need a good surveyor and then take his advice.If you contact the council its not poss to indemnify

That's a bugger, noddy.

We had that situation with the extension at the back of our house, but a full structural survey reassured us. Actually the survey said "is of substandard single-skin construction" "is not interlaced with the main structure" and slagged off the roof, but as it's only a one-floor thing (conservatory pretending to be a kitchen), we weren't worried, compared to the rest of the house...

For a two-storey extension that presumably is supposed to be a permanent integral part of the house, I'd be more concerned, but if a surveyor said it's OK I'd go with that.

I would if I were satisfied the work complied with the regulations as they stood at the time. A surveyor can assess this fairly quickly. Meanwhile ask for Indemnity Insurance to cover it for future resale - do this before approaching any council official as you won't be able to once the query is noted.