revtothelimit - motorbike forum

As you may have seen, we're buying a new house which is getting somewhere close to being complete.

However a recent stumbling block has come up with a lack of building regulations completion certificate on the property.

The vendor built the house himself (and next doors) in just after 2000 and has just finished building his new property.

But the lack of building completion certificate came up with the land searches via the conveyancing solicitor.

https://mkroofingandhi.co.uk/can-i-stil ... gulations/

Google has lots of info ranging from "don't worry about it" to "run away now" and everything inbetween.

The indemnity insurance is useful if applied for, but only that it covers you from the council knocking it down. If something is 'wrong' with the house, it doesn't cover any of the associated costs for that, that's on you.

Regularisation certificate is a retrospective building regs. That can take a short time or a longer time depending on how in depth they go.

We've had a level 2 survey done which didn't flag up any structural issues, but of course isn't as in depth as a level 3.

Walking away really isn't on our plan list, asking the vendor for £20k off the price because of it really isn't either. We've already knocked £40k off their initial asking price.

So, thoughts, ideas, opinions....

Any chance of speaking to next door to see if they have or have had any issues?

If you can get a retrospective/regularisation certificate I'd say go for it (it'll help if you ever/when you sell it I imagine).

Count Steer wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:01 am Any chance of speaking to next door to see if they have or have had any issues?

If you can get a retrospective/regularisation certificate I'd say go for it (it'll help if you ever/when you sell it I imagine).

Getting one isn't a massive problem.... as long as it all goes well... But they COULD request to dig up foundations etc as part of the process. Depending on the person doing it, it can also take weeks/months rather than days.

As it's 25+ years old, with no structural issues, i'm not actually worried about it collapsing... I'm more worried about house insurance and then affecting the resale of it in the longer term.

weeksy wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:03 am

Count Steer wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:01 am Any chance of speaking to next door to see if they have or have had any issues?

If you can get a retrospective/regularisation certificate I'd say go for it (it'll help if you ever/when you sell it I imagine).

Getting one isn't a massive problem.... as long as it all goes well... But they COULD request to dig up foundations etc as part of the process. Depending on the person doing it, it can also take weeks/months rather than days.

As it's 25+ years old, with no structural issues, i'm not actually worried about it collapsing... I'm more worried about house insurance and then affecting the resale of it in the longer term.

I suppose it boils down to whether it's a house you really, really want that dictates the lengths to go to.

Can you search and check how many times it and the house next door have been bought/sold since they were built? If it's been, say, 2 or 3 it suggests that selling isn't such a big issue. I'd be tempted to get in and sort it after if you're planning to stay for a few years, rather than risk your own sale going pear shaped.

Again, the neighbours might shed some light on things.

Count Steer wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:30 am

weeksy wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:03 am

Count Steer wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:01 am Any chance of speaking to next door to see if they have or have had any issues?

If you can get a retrospective/regularisation certificate I'd say go for it (it'll help if you ever/when you sell it I imagine).

Getting one isn't a massive problem.... as long as it all goes well... But they COULD request to dig up foundations etc as part of the process. Depending on the person doing it, it can also take weeks/months rather than days.

As it's 25+ years old, with no structural issues, i'm not actually worried about it collapsing... I'm more worried about house insurance and then affecting the resale of it in the longer term.

I suppose it boils down to whether it's a house you really, really want that dictates the lengths to go to.

Can you search and check how many times it and the house next door have been bought/sold since they were built? If it's been, say, 2 or 3 it suggests that selling isn't such a big issue. I'd be tempted to get in and sort it after if you're planning to stay for a few years, rather than risk your own sale going pear shaped.

Again, the neighbours might shed some light on things.

Neither house have been sold since being first built.

Ah. That complicates things somewhat.

I never got a completion certificate on my extension. When we went to sell we was told it would be an issue. So I contacted building control who eventually sent out an inspector . I can’t remember the exact details as it was over 20 years ago, but he said as the final inspection wasn’t done all he could was sign off that the council had no further interest or issues with it. That seemed to satisfy the estate agents enough to say a sale could proceed, whereas they thought the property wouldn’t be mortgageable before we got that? Please bear in mind how long ago this was though.

Count Steer wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 10:52 am Ah. That complicates things somewhat.

MAybe sir, i'm currently waiting to see if he miraculously 'finds' the Certificate, we don't know if it was ever requested or not or how much was signed off pre build completion etc....

I'm also waiting for the solicitor to come back to us so we can ask for their thoughts...

As always with house moves, neither is happening quickly

What does your conveyancing solicitor suggest? (edit - sorry, just seen you're waiting for their opinion).

I think my (ex) partner walked away from a place she'd put an offer in on when she found the significant extension didn't have building regs. She's a decent lawyer FWIW.

You say you don't want to walk away or knock more money off. But you could. Offers are subject to survey and the survey process has revealed something significant.

MyLittleStudPony wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 11:03 am What does your conveyancing solicitor suggest?

Fuck all at the moment

MyLittleStudPony wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 11:03 am What does your conveyancing solicitor suggest? (edit - sorry, just seen you're waiting for their opinion).

I think my (ex) partner walked away from a place she'd put an offer in on when she found the significant extension didn't have building regs. She's a decent lawyer FWIW.

You say you don't want to walk away or knock more money off. But you could. Offers are subject to survey and the survey process has revealed something significant.

Of course we could walk away, but honestly that's a last option for us. For better or worse all 3 of us are pretty set on this property.

My house was built in 2001. The first owner (the guy we bought it off) was a builder. He built the garage and the conservatory.

This year the conservatory has started to pull away from the house. You could see daylight between them.

Obviously I'm a bodger so I just wanged some silicone in it, but sometimes it does take a while for faults to show up.

We had an extension built a couple of years ago and Mrs.Skub was keen to have everything above board and documented. The builders were less happy about this because building regulation made them jump through many hoops they would have otherwise avoided. The chap we landed with was a proper stickler for the detail. It was a frustrating time for all.

The folk a couple of houses up where doing a lot of building work too,but didn't bother with building regulation approval,or planning for that matter. They were shitting themselves when I mentioned they were looking over our house in case BR would see their work being done and check on them.

I think you are right in waiting to see what your solicitor says.

Edit..
Speaking to Mrs.Skub,she says since the house has been up for 26 years now and if there's no problems evident,then a retrospective certificate should suffice.

Buying a new house is supposed to be a happy thing.

Are you gonna a spend the next few years worrying about it all?

Oh man, what an absolute ballache, hope it all gets sorted for you quick.

I'd pay for a level 3 survey and give them the information about not having proof of planning regs and so on. It may cost more, but it'll give you peace of mind. Part of the house we bought a year or so ago didn't have paperwork for part of it, and that's what we did in addition to asking the seller to take out indemnity insurance. Anything at this point is a gamble, and the more information you have, the better.

Don't buy without building regs certificate. Fix it or walk away. If they don't want to fix it, they won't be selling the house anytime soon.

No building regs certificate could mean anything from simple and cheap problem to fundamental foundation issues requiring compete rebuild. Would you deposit hundreds of thousands/millions in an unregulated investment scheme?

Get in touch with the local building regulations office about getting a retrospective survey done and certificate issued, some of them are actually really helpful (fingers crossed they're one of them).
Probably worth getting the level three survey done not only for peace of mind but also insurances etc.

The Martian wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 1:22 pm Get in touch with the local building regulations office about getting a retrospective survey done and certificate issued, some of them are actually really helpful (fingers crossed they're one of them).
Probably worth getting the level three survey done not only for peace of mind but also insurances etc.

I'd ask the seller to do that. It's not your house yet, and the seller might object to it. At which point run away, don't walk.

The Martian wrote: Fri May 22, 2026 1:22 pm Get in touch with the local building regulations office about getting a retrospective survey done and certificate issued, some of them are actually really helpful (fingers crossed they're one of them).
Probably worth getting the level three survey done not only for peace of mind but also insurances etc.

The second you do that you cannot apply for Indemnity insurance, that's the rules.

But yeah i think getting them to get a regularisation done is the way forward.