House advertised with no building control sign off.

[98elise]

Do you know how long it's been built and if there was any involvement from Building Control?

[dmsims]

Run ......

[silversurfer1]

I’d walk away. If you want to sell a house then you should get it in order if they are not prepared to get it signed off either they are fools or there is something wrong.

Move on find another

Ss

[Mr Pointy]

At the end of the day it's been standing for 15 years so if it were going to fall down it probably would have by now. It's likely to be impossible to get BC sign off without opening up cavities, exposing foundations & the like so in practical terms it's not going to happen. Just about the best you can do is get a builderand/or a structural surveyor to give it a good look over & give an opinion on how well it's built. Or you can walk away. It just depends on how much you like the house.

[scgwhite]

It might be worth negotiating a lower offer on the house, to cover any costs you may incur and to reflect the lack of an 'official' bedroom. Have a proper survey, ask to see all receipts from the build and see if you can view the BC documentation to see how far the build got. If it's just lacking sign-off but everything else was fine, then it's not an huge problem IMHO. BC may need to open up walls to inspect lintels, or you may need to get the electrics tested. Still, if you are saving £10k then it may work in your favour. BC should be sympathetic to your cause - just make sure there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the construction!

[Dogwatch]

Buggles said:

I think sadly, this is the way it's going if they're adamant they're not going to get the BC sign off.

Should this have not been checked by the estate agent when they put the place on the market? I feel a bit pissed off that I'm about £1600 out of pocket because the estate agent didn't pay due diligence to the house.

Advertising the room as an office/bedroom when it hasn't been signed off is surely misrepresenting the property?

I think you are expecting rather a lot from the estate agent (who is representing the vendor at the end of the day). He even has to take it on faith that the person selling the property is actually the owner!

[blueg33]

The house probably isn't mortgageable

[Countdown]

Buggles said:

Afternoon chaps, just after a bit of advice, I'll try to keep it brief.

I'm in the final stages of buying a house, but it has just come to light that the vendors don't have building control sign off for an extension which includes the fourth bedroom.

I'm a little pissed off, as we're quite far into the process and have so far spent money on searches, mortgage broker fee etc (Sarnie is excellent BTW) and now we are faced with something which may put a stop to the whole thing, as the vendor is currently refusing to get retrospective building control sign off.

Is it legal for the estate agents to have advertised this house as a 4 bedroom when there is no sign off by building control? I remember reading something years ago about loft conversions only counting as habitable space once they've been signed off by BC. Is this the same thing and at what stage should this be declared?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

My first house had a loft conversion done (which made it into a 4 bedroom). I never got around to BC sign-off. IIRC I paid for the insurance policy for the buyers.

What's the worst that can happen, exactly?

[NightDriver]

Reduce offer to match that of a 3 bed comparable property. Or, they get BC sign off/regularisation sorted then you pay what has already been agreed. Leave it in there court to decide. If they don’t accept either, then walk away.

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

Just to add that it’s entiely possiable to fail a BC sign off on virtually pointless reasons. Just for example I have known of a new build fail because the access ramp at the front was 1 in 11 rather than the required 1 in 12. It also failed because the front door was about 1 inch too narrow.

I’m not a property expert but I believe that more houses than you might think haven’t got BC sign off. People just get around it with an insurance policy for a few hundred pounds, rather than spend a lot more fixing things that are basically a non issue.

I’m really just saying that sometimes no BC sign off just means a minor technicality hasn’t been met. Of course this isn’t always the case.

[Andeh1]

NightDriver said:

Reduce offer to match that of a 3 bed comparable property. Or, they get BC sign off/regularisation sorted then you pay what has already been agreed. Leave it in there court to decide. If they don’t accept either, then walk away.

I would be looking at something like this. As has been said, it's been stood for 15 years and if you aren't looking for a quick flip offer 5-10% less. I would also play silly buggers & drag your feet for a few weeks whilst looking for any other last minute options.... Then go in with the lower offer with explanation at the last minute. Make them (all) sweat it for being such bellends over hiding such a thing!

[Countdown]

My guess is that they weren’t deliberately hiding it, it’s more likely that they had forgotten all about it. That was certainly the case when I came to sell my house,

Incidentally when I purchased the property the vendors couldn’t provide proof of planning permission for the kitchen. However, because it had been built over 10 years ago I was told that there wouldn’t be any issues. Wouldn’t the same apply to BC?

[Fast and Spurious]

Andeh1 said:

I would be looking at something like this. As has been said, it's been stood for 15 years and if you aren't looking for a quick flip offer 5-10% less. I would also play silly buggers & drag your feet for a few weeks whilst looking for any other last minute options.... Then go in with the lower offer with explanation at the last minute. Make them (all) sweat it for being such bellends over hiding such a thing!

[55palfers]

My house was built in 1927, I believe some dwellings may be even older.
There was no building control sign off.
I'd just get it properly surveyed and if all is well, buy it.

[twokcc]

Hi Buggles Is this the property on Gillamor Rd which you has a recent thread about purchasing and building a garage in front garde?

Would be useful just to put in context of which part hasn't got building control

First thoughts are- sellers solicitors is obviously aware of lack of building control; sign off so seller is now going to find it almost impossible to sell house without disclosing this. Its not an unusual occurrence and could work in your favour.

Mortgage companies are must stricter about giving loans and as a result surveyors are doing a more thorough job in highligtening problems that before financial crash would have gone unreported. If mortgage lender has to repossess house they will look to recover any loss in value from surveyors if they have missed something that they should have reported on which could reduce house value that mortgage co. could recover from sale.
Could you advise
1)Has you had a survey done on house for mortgage application
2)Have you had your own survey done on property?

Some more detail would enable best way to proceed. Will take longer to complete purchase and cost money BUT if the seller is relistic he will realise that selling the house itsn't going to be straight forward and there is going to be ahit to his pocket if he is going to achieve a sale.
.

[m3jappa]

Could be nothing major at all.

We did a load of work, bc came round checking, all good. The bc officer said to me 'well, next time you'll be calling for me to come round and sign it off'

which i did, i thought everything was done and in order, except someone else came round and noticed that our balcony (the most pointless one in the world) which is over the new 'extension' (its not an extension but they are calling it that, its basically a porch which has been made into a room) is not finished and as such needs to be done and is included in the bc sign off works. i never realised it would be but it is.

Now, i have been too busy/havent got round to doing it, i got a couple of prices but with materials being 1.8k and people wanting 3k to supply and fit i decided i would need to do it (its a days work!).

I am now getting worried I've left it too long ( a year) and must must must get the glass and fittings ordered! I could see it never getting done though, so many people would leave it as you will never use it. And have issues when selling.

[Tlandcruiser]

My current home had planing permission for a small single story side extension, but was not signed off by building control in the 1970s or the records lost,. I was not bothered one bit and it is structurally fine, I imagine if there was an issue, it would have been apparent within the last 44 years.

[springfan62]

Not having building control sign off is a non issue, and an indemnity policy is perfectly adequate to protect your interests and those of the mortgage company.

The only thing you need to concern yourself with is the quality of the building if its well built and structurally sound I wouldn't worry about it at all.

Definitely wouldn't stop me buying the place.

[essayer]

Is there something fundamental about the room that stops it getting building approval? Or more of a paperwork/disorganisation issue?

[anonymous-user]

Building control are aholes.

Had a loft conversion done and they came three times to confirm it was ok. Final visit, a different guy turned up and made up rip the roof off and add additional ventilation. When queried he just said "I don't care what my colleague said, I'm the one here". What a .

When I had a second loft conversion I pad for an independent controller.actually cost less than the council and he worked with and not against my builder. Painless.