Dangle_kt
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 12:21 PM |
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OT - House purchase, no planning or regs
Oh wise oracle of locostness... I am after a bit of advice.
Went to go and see a house on the weekend, and popped back the next day to chat to the neighbour, nice chap...however I discovered a few scary things
and I want to know whether I should run and hide or carry on looking at it.
First of all - the house is a real stretch for us to afford, but is exactly what we are after in terms of location (middle of nowhere), size and the
fact it has a bit of land - plus it has bags of character. In short, I want it.
However the next door neighbour told us the house was originally planned as an extension to next door, and then "turned into a house" - he
claims it has no planning permission and doubts it was put through the building regs. He thinks its about 35 years old, having always lived next door
he knows a lot about it.
The house is very solid, made from stone, and is very nicely finished.
Am i walking into a land mine taking the purchase any further, or is it an opportunity to take a risk and really knock down the price by a hefty
slab?
As it was 35 years ago I think its passed the time the build can be challenged by the council, and I also think the building regs point is moot too as
it was so long ago.
BUT
I dont want to not be able to get building insurance or something stupid, and I also cant afford to get caught in any form of legal rangle with a
jobsworth at the local planning office.
I'd welcome any comments, as this is waaaay off my scale of experience, having only bought 1 semi detached house about 10 years ago!
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theduck
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 12:32 PM |
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Simple answer is check with your mortgage advisor and solicitor.
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Charlie_Zetec
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 12:36 PM |
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As you say, I'm pretty sure that it's past the point of being challenged by the local Council. But if you like it that much, best people
to speak with are your estate agents and solicitors; I'm pretty sure the checks they'd carry out as part of the purchase would throw up
any anomalies. Just depends if you can get this information in advance, or just take the risk with solicitors fees and be prepared to walk away and
take the loss if something ugly rears its head.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity!
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loggyboy
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 12:41 PM |
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4 years is the 'lawful use' timescale.
Providing you/he can provide evidence the house has been in use for last 4 years (bills, council tax etc) then the planning issue is non existent.
As for building control, IIRC it start till ,mid 80s, so chances are it wouldnt have needed it anyway.
[Edited on 18-5-15 by loggyboy]
Mistral Motorsport
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 12:48 PM |
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Thanks guys, interesting that it doesn't seem as big a deal as I thought.
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tegwin
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 01:25 PM |
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Use it as a negotiating lever..... but not really an issue so far as my understanding goes.... Mortgage surveys should come up with any issues if
there are any...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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DW100
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 01:39 PM |
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Most councils allow you to search planning documents online for free by postcode.
They may go back far enough to see any issues that have come up.
[Edited on 18/5/15 by DW100]
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russbost
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 01:45 PM |
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Having bought a couple of properties during the last year solicitors particularly are getting more & more awkward about "has it got the
correct permissions", "has it been built to CURRENT building regs" which to me is a stupid Q - if it was built 35 years ago building
regs have changed many times, at the end of the day they will say the purchase decision is up to you, but will make many negative noises about it.
It's possible you may not be able to mortgage it as readily as other properties & obviously should be aware you may get similar grief when
you come to sell, that said assuming you're there for a while, which sounds like you might well be then everything is that much further in the
past. It's possible the mortgage co./solicitor may advise or insist on an indemnity policy (which would normally be paid for by the vendor) to
protect you from any future backlash
If you're going ahead, I would recommend having a structural survey done (this is not the usual "valuation survey" undertaken by the
mortgage co.), it should cost in the order of £300 - £400 & will put to rest any qualms about whether it's constructed properly or not, it
might be very useful to you when you come to sell so probably money well invested
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NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
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ravingfool
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 01:56 PM |
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From what you've described it's a non-issue.
Yes it needs to be dealt with correctly and your solicitor will need to make sure that they do that both for your protection and for your mortgage
provider; but if what you've said is correct it's not going to cause any problems whatsoever. Building regs is more of a potential
lasting issue but depends on circumstances and many mortgage providers are unconcerned after 6 years have passed. Most important issue which everyone
overlooks is that if it doesn't have building regs, is it safe? But if the place has been up for all those years and your surveyor gives it a
clean bill of health then no problem.
It's also not got any value in terms of negotiations on price (because it's not a problem) but there's nothing stopping you from
just offering less in the first place. I wouldn't be surprised if it had full planning and building regs and the neighbour's just
forgotten.
Don't get hung up on this; if there's a genuine problem from a legal perspective over the title to the property then the general
expectation is that the seller will either rectify or pay for a solution which will rectify. Either way your solicitor will advise you.
In terms of actual value of the property that's for you to negotiate at the start and then if your full survey says there are problems with
whatever in the property then that is a reason to renegotiate.
If you have a decent solicitor instead of just a bucket shop they'll be able to talk you through all of this and even if you do end up with a
bucket shop that is still what you're paying them for so just get them to explain things to you!
(Also if you are totally miss-sold the property and there are problems which come up then there are new regulations affecting estate agents which you
can use to claim compensation from the agents if you waste your time and money on surveys and legals when they should have told you about something
major at the start - not everyone's familiar with that one)
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Dangle_kt
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 02:56 PM |
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Once again thanks - it's great to get advice from locosters, you are rarely left in much doubt!
Cheers 
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 03:08 PM |
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Second the full structural survey. Just do not arrange it via your mortgage, it will cost double+ what a rics surveyor will charge if you do it
direct.
If it hasn't had any real issues in its lifetime, no reason it will now.
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jps
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 06:00 PM |
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I'd be fairly cynical about anything coming from the neighbour of a house for sale, if it were 'planned as an extension for next
door' how do you know he isn't planning on putting off every prospective buyer then snapping it up himself to do just that to it...?
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Wadders
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| posted on 18/5/15 at 07:28 PM |
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That was my first thought when i read the OP's post, sounds like the "Friendly neighbour" might have an agenda.......
Originally posted by jps
I'd be fairly cynical about anything coming from the neighbour of a house for sale, if it were 'planned as an extension for next
door' how do you know he isn't planning on putting off every prospective buyer then snapping it up himself to do just that to it...?
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