• Lack Of Planning Permission In Relation To The Extension.

    By Guest on 22nd Jan 2019

    Hello,

    would you be able to advise please, I was planning to purchase a house, unfortunately, I have recently received an email from our solicitor that "We have ascertained from our enquiries that the title to the property is defective due to lack of Planning Permission in relation to the extension."

    and I was offered insurance to cover potential losses.

    my worry is that it is an extensive double story nearly extension nearly half of the original house size, build on the old detached garage, the extension was build approx in 2011.
    should I back from the transaction, it took us nearly 6 months to get to this stage and I am worried I am taking too greater risk, please advise.

    kind regards,

    Pawel


  • 1 Answers

    By Guest on 23/01/2019

    Planning permission and building regulations are a common area of contention when it comes to buying and selling, as many people carry out home improvements without considering the regulatory requirements.

    I would advise speaking to your solicitor in detail about this issue; this is after all what you are paying them for. However, where a property is missing planning permissions most seller's offer "lack of Planning Permission indemnity" insurance to address the issue. However, it is important to check what this policy covers as they often only cover enforcement proceedings for non-compliance with planning, brought by local authorities. If your concern is the structural integrity check the extent of the policy's cover.

    You can ask the seller's to apply for retrospective planning permission. However, if you go down this route you cannot later decide "this is taking too long let's just get the indemnity policy", because once you tell the council you are missing planning permission you have notified them of the defect and the indemnity policy quote would then be invalidated.

    If your concern is the structural integrity of the works you could ask the sellers to both pay for the indemnity policy to protect against council enforcement action but also ask them to pay for a structural engineer to inspect the extension and draft a report confirming whether or not they are sound.

    Your solicitor will be able to advise you of your options in more detail but should you need future representation please contact Notary Express: www.notaryexpress.co.uk

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