Please, please, please can someone help us. We are FTBs and are in the process of buying a house, everything seems to be in order except our solicitor is requesting the Building Completion Certificate. Now the vendor does not have this and is wondering why he is requesting this. The house was completed in 1990, an extension was applied for but was never built.
What we would like to know is how important is this document? Is our solicitor requesting it because he property is less than 20years old? Or is he requesting it because as far as he's concerned an extension was built (even though we know there isn't one)?
Alot of the information we are reading regarding this certificate relates to improvements made to a house eg extension, new windows. But we have read nothing relating to needing this certificate for new builds or house built in the last 20 years
Can someone please put us straight as this is holding up the purchase of the property
He just said he needed it for assurance otherwise we would have to get some other insurance for £100 if they can't get hold of it. He kept mentioning this Cottingham & Cottingham case where a conveyancer got sued for not getting it
like you say the whole thing seems to be in relation to extentions and not the original building of the house...i have to be honest, we've bought three houses in the last 12 years and never heard of this document. Incidently, none had been extended.
Its fair enough really. If you move in and find a structural problem you will eventually blame the solicitor for not having collected all the documentation, which will result in you suing the solicitor.
From my own experience if the certificate has never been given, then the work has not been checked, it could be a fairly miner alteration like removing a wall. In that circumstance an inspector can still came out have a look and give you the certificate which normally cost a couple of hundred pounds. If you can’t/don’t want to ask for an inspection you have to take out insurance against a problem in the future.
Thing is though, so far we don't know what work (if any) which requires this certificate has been done...to the original poster, what work does your solicitor THINK has been done in order to require this certificate?
I think it all stems round the fact that planning permission was given for an extension/conservatory back in 1990, but one was never built. I don't think this certificate is for the house being built and think he wants it for the extension that never was built. The vendors solicitors for some reason don't seem to be able to clarify this with our solicitor
I think you are right, it pertains to the non-existent extension. My neighbour had the same thing when selling - he was badgered for a completion certificate for a loft extension he had never done! It took weeks to get this into the heads of the solicitors concerned. I think you just need to thump the table a bit and get it clarified. Ask your solicitor exactly what this certificate is FOR. If the extension - tell him to stop faffing about!
It is for the extension that planning permission was applied for but never built. We have told him that there is no extension when we went to look at the house. He has taken note of this but requires the vendor to put this in writing.
He now seems to be fixated on the planning permission of 119 dwellings in this area yet only 68 were completed. He wants an explanation as to what has happened to the remainder
He also wants a copy of the valuation. We never got one as we got the basic one. Didn't think we actually got one as we didn't on the previous property we went for that fell through
He now seems to be fixated on the planning permission of 119 dwellings in this area yet only 68 were completed. He wants an explanation as to what has happened to the remainder
Why? If the houses are 18 years old it is too late for any Planning Enforcement Action to be taken so investigating this point seems purely academic.
As a conveyancing solicitor I believe the information given in the post to be useful but I accept no liability except to fee-paying clients.
Are you happy to buy a house without even seeing a basic valuation?I certainly wouldn't be,your NHBC cover (if it had one) will have run out and now could be the time when problems appear.Ask your lender for a copy and if they won't provide you with one, then think long and hard about having one done for yourself.You are spending a lot of money to find problems later on.
My father an engineer looked over the house and saw no defects that would cause any problems. Yes we would love to see the valuation but having spoken to our mortgage broker, he said that all this valuation report will say what the building is, the address and how much it will cost to rebuild as well as if it is worth the amount we have offered.
Our solicitor has spoken to the lender & they are faxing him a copy.
The mortgage advisor is correct re: the valuation. I worked for a year in the mortgage valuation administration center for a well-known building society and I can categorically state that the valuation is nothing more than a basic sheet of paper which tells the MORTGAGE COMPANY what the house is like, whether it’s falling down or not, what appears to be basically wrong on a first glance (this ‘comments’ in this area are rather general and sweeping; they certainly ere on the side of caution i.e. notes to the effect that cavity walls are present and no guarantee is given that the wall ties had not or would not fail @ any time, or a quick look @ the fuse box and a note made to suggest the buyer gets an independent wiring report, etc). The purpose of the valuation (even though it is the buyer who pays for it) is so that the mortgage company can satisfy themselves that they are not lending on something which would not pay them back if the buyer defaulted or similar.
Although the buyer should be able to see a copy, it serves little purpose. Unfortunately the ‘home buyers’ reports offer little more info (despite the cost) because these are simply a more though ‘look’ and a bit of a prod round a house…it says little more and in the job I did the surveyors made no bones about the fact that on homebuyers reports the carpets are rarely lifted, or curtains and blinds moved, to make observations.
The only thing you can do to be sure is to get the basic valuation and then instruct private surveys on any aspect of the house that is worrying you.
For some reason the lender was having problems faxing the valaution over to our solicitor. We seem to have got it now and are faxing to him now. As everything seems to be in now it looks like we are ready to progress. Sending out a letter to us with some paperwork to look over for some reason other than arranging an appointment to see him. Wasn't to clear why, just said read the letter
Went to see the solicitor today. We've signed everything we need to sign except can't Exchange Contracts as he wants an Indemity Insurance in place as no Completion Certificate was produced even the Council have stated that it is unlikely that the Council would take any enforcement action with regards to the property. He got a quote from Countrywide Insurances of about £150 and he has spoken to her solicitor to asked the vendor to foot the bill as she should have had it in place. They are currently looking into a cheaper quote
billy, has the solicitor STILL not said what exactly work he wants the certificate for? And if he hasnt said so then what exactly is the insurance against...?
He said that on completion of the building of the house there should have been a certificate issued by the building company. We have been on to the Council and they do not have one in their records but like I said it's highly unlikely they will want it. In the slight small event they do want to see it and as there isn't one, they could have the house knocked down hence the indeminity insurance to cover this. the irony is that this is an ex-council house and they were the ones that commissioned the build of all the houses in this estate
Hi Billy....ah i c, so its against the original build and not the extention that never took place. Why is the seller trying to get a better price? £150 seems a small amount to keep the sale moving...
