Retrospective Building Regs on windows

[JanP 10]

Hi

 

I am selling my house and have been asked by the buyers' solicitor to get retrospective Building Regs on replacement windows put in a couple of years ago. The Council say it might take a month to inspect and issue a certificate but the buyers are really keen to move - their solicitor has already threatened to advise them to pull out because of delay.

 

Has anyone else had their sale held up by this issue and were you able to find a way around it?

[devlin 10]

Yes but several years ago - we were selling our house but the buyers solicitor noticed that a rear bay converted in to french doors (by the previous owners which our solicitor never picked up when we bought)had not had b Regs. Our solicitor talked to the council and found out what the crack was following which we gave our buyers solictor a cheque for all the costs involved and the new owners applied for the certificate.

 

Think the litigation world has changed somewhet now though !! hope you get it sorted

[JanP 10]

Many thanks for this. Good that you had people you were selling to who were being reasonable.

 

I have also been advised that I can offer to buy indemnity insurance (for less than the cost of getting the Council to come out, inspect then issue a certificate of compliance) and most buyers' solicitors will accept this. Hopefully one of these will do the trick.

thanks

[Albert T Smith 10]

Many thanks for this. Good that you had people you were selling to who were being reasonable.

 

I have also been advised that I can offer to buy indemnity insurance (for less than the cost of getting the Council to come out, inspect then issue a certificate of compliance) and most buyers' solicitors will accept this. Hopefully one of these will do the trick.

thanks

 

These regulations are new to me and I've sold and bought my home six times, the last time being 1986. It looks very much to me, that the Legal, finance and insurance professions are making a few more fees.

[torin8 10]

This happened with our house, however our solicitor just got the vendor of the house to take out indemnity insurance to cover any financial cost should it ever be raised as a problem by the council. That way we weren't delayed much at all.

[Albert T Smith 10]

This happened with our house, however our solicitor just got the vendor of the house to take out indemnity insurance to cover any financial cost should it ever be raised as a problem by the council. That way we weren't delayed much at all.

 

Will the indemnity insurance cover the property until its re-sold or until retrospective building regulations are applied for?

[alibabes 10]

Hi indemnity insurance can last as long as you want to and can transfer over to new owners. I've got a 10 year one on my house. However, I could do with some advice - I now want to build an extension which will bring the building inspectors to the house and I'm worred that they will pick up on the other issues which are covered by the indemnity but not got building regs approval (attic and staircase!). One of the conditions of the indemnity is that I can't have rung the council myself. I don't want to get caught out so if anyone else has experience of this, any advice would be very welcome!

[cbr900 10]

I have fitted windows for people 12 months ago that still havn't been checked by the council. At the end of the day all you have to do is put the buyer on the spot and ask them if they want the house or not .

[babychickens 10]

if you speak nicely to the planning dept at the council you might find they'll do it faster than 4 weeks, particularly if it's not a major job (which yours almost certainly isn't). we had a regularisation issue earlier this year, and the planning dept were very helpful. get drawing up your plans...

 

besides, if your buyer can't wait for a few weeks on a technicality that bothers them (and that you can easily get an indemnity for), then they're either very desperate to move, or very naive for thinking they'll get it sorted faster by threatening to pull out. do you have alternative buyers/lots of interest in your property?