Purchasing house with no certs for renovations

rosmoke

Trying to get a sense of what am I getting into with this property.

Currently we are in the final stages of getting sale agreed (basically if I am happy we can go sale agreed) and have been advised by the EA to have a builder check the house as seller does not have any certificates for the renovation works as they went through direct labour.

It's a lovely (location, plot size, potential) detached house built in 70s that has just went recently through serious renovation works (plumbing, wiring and also adding a beam in the kitchen), it does not need any other structural work, just finishes like flooring and kitchen, bathrooms are done (as per EA and myself).

I am just wondering if the lack of certificates will be troublesome with the solicitor/bank or if I choose to sell it in the future?

Many thanks for your replies. I need to decide I guess if I should go ahead and get a surveyor/builder to check the house or leave it.

Kurooi

It's a common issue, it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me. Find out when the works were done and whether anything there needed a planning permission (extensions, attic conversions?) If there are comparable houses around that will give you an idea what parts of yours were original and what was added on. Lawyers or banks don't really kick a fuss about how the labour was done.They do about whether it was legal!

frank730

I was in same situation, vendor's solicitor asked the seller to get an architect to review the planning position of the property and he produced a report to my solicitor and we are happy about it.

o1s1n

I had a lot of difficulties with this. The house I was buying had an extension built on the back, but it made the garden less than X size which meant it technically needed planning permission.

An architect deemed it exempt from planning permission about 20 years ago and provided a cert saying such, but there was a subsequent cert saying it did need permission and upon visiting the site my own architect said it was all a bit grey.

Long story stort, my solicitor really dug in his heels on this one saying how much of an issue it could cause me down the line if I wanted to sell again. I think he was being overly pedantic as absolutely every house on the street has more or less the same extension and upon checking the planning website, none of them have received permission at all.

Bank didn't have any issues whatsoever.