melaniee

We are selling our house in the UK. About 24 years ago before we bought the house our lounge and dining room was knocked into one big room.

We have now found out that there was no building regulations consent (was it needed then?) and the buyers want US to take out some kind of indemnity policy.

Should it be us or them that pays for the policy?

We lived in the house for 4 years and it was never an issue-we had a full structural survey done when we bought the place and it never even came up!!

Advice would be appreciated as this sale has dragged on for long enough!!

downunderpom

Tell 'em to get stuffed! If it's held up for 24 years it's not going anywhere. The building regs 24 years ago were nowhere near as stringent as they are now. If they want an indemnity on that part of the house they may as well get an indemnity on the whole thing! They sound anal, Mel - tell 'em to take a flying leap at a rolling doughnut!

Muzza04

Are these buyers taking the mickey.

You stated that it is offically structurally sound.

ABCDiamond

How much is the indemnity policy ?

I had something similar, and didn't want to do anything, but the whole thing was being held up. So I ended up paying a £200 one off premium, and getting the sale finalised.

I still think it was ridiculous, but at least it didn't drag on.

melaniee

yeah it is only £200 or so but that is irrelevant!!!!!-they are being a pain in the arse and we feel it is unncecessary! How come we pay it and not them?

I read also that you can get retrospective planning permission? Anyone?

ABCDiamond

I totally agree with you, and I argued the same point with my solicitors. But all the time the funds were not in my bank account I was losing £105 pw in potential interest.

When I asked my solicitor the question "How come we pay it and not them?" his reply was: "Do we want to sell ?"
unfortunately the sensible answer was: .. Yes.

melaniee

wow-where do I have to go to get £105 interest pw (obviously depending on how much you have to invest but where do you recommend?!)

ABCDiamond

It was 4.5% at the time in HSBC Australia .

And yes it does depend on the amount invested

tmichael

You can get retroactive planning permission but not building regs. Who said there was any logic to selling house in uk. The market is already shaky, pay the 200 pounds and come and get a suntan whilst you can.

melaniee

we're going back to the UK but decided to continue with the house sale and move to a new area-you can never go back and expect it to be the same!

S Oldfield

We knocked all the way through........have 2 RSJ`s holding walls up.


Also have `loft room`. Eldest son sleeps there.
No building regs for any.
we are just about to complete on our sale. have had to pay a policy of £45.00

melaniee

Hi There,

Can you name/recommend the policy?-bit different from £210!!

Ozzy4life

you will have to get either an imdemnity or retrospective planning permission, the insurance would probably be cheaper but the planning permission would be more robust in the long run and would have no come backs.

I went through this BS myself and know it is a pain in the arse but there we have it.

rab

I sold my house in the UK last month and it cost me an extra 186 pounds for an indemnity policy to cover a question about access to the rear of the house which incientally was built in 1800.

It is a piss-take I'm afraid but your best option is to pay it and don't risk losing a sale.

Believe me living in Aus for over 5 months while your house stands empty in the UK is stressful to say the least.

Get it sold!

The Thorpes

Hi Sandra

Did you get any kind of form to fill in querying the alterations? We've just been told today that we have an 'Enquiry' form to fill in before we can exchange, re our conservatory and we think some questions about the inside where we knocked our dining room and kitchen into one. A builder friend of ours put in an RSJ so it is all secure but NO building regs! Really don't want this to hold up the sale.

Melanie - you can apply for a 'Regularisation certificate' (which is like retrospective building regs) if the work was done after 11 November 1985 so I'm not sure what happens if it was done before then. Just looked that up in the last hour.

Who does the indemnity insurance, I didn't know that was possible and it might be an option for us?

Good luck

Sam