As it stands the house is non-compliant and most solicitors would advice their clients not to touch it until such time as the issues are resolved.How are we fixed now should we sell?
We bought a house 5 years ago. The guy who sold it to us got planning retention for a couple of things one of which was the lowering of 3 skylights in 2 rooms upstairs in order to comply with fire safety regulations.
He was supposed to carry out the work but we found out on closing day he didn't,
That's what I'm trying to find out.Would there be a time stipulation on the retention works, like planning where it lapses after x years?
Nothing wrong with that in my view.Would I be right in saying we can list the house as a 4 bed with "attic space".
Then advise any potential purchasers that planning has been granted For the conversion of upstairs to 2 further bedrooms if they wish to carry out the work?
I know almost nothing about planning law but I have relatives who have still not sold a holiday house despite closing eight months ago as the purchaser's lender is concerned about a septic tank from the mid-1980s which was placed closer to the house than the planning permission allowed.You could try and sell but you are reducing your potential market with lenders are getting more and more particular about compliance issues.
No, there is no time after which required works lapse.Would there be a time stipulation on the retention works, like planning where it lapses after x years?
That's been my experience and what I've been hearing from others too. My first purchase was one with a half built extension, lender didn't care. Last year they went through the planning in detail and the vendor had to get an engineer to certify compliance.My relatives' own lender made no such enquiries in the late 90s when they bought the place.
So it's true that lenders are more concerned about such matters.
There's a few issues here. Firstly, I'm assuming you are talking about some kind of attic conversion.We bought a house 5 years ago. The guy who sold it to us got planning retention for a couple of things one of which was the lowering of 3 skylights in 2 rooms upstairs in order to comply with fire safety regulations.
He was supposed to carry out the work but we found out on closing day he didn't, we needed to push ahead with the purchase so just bought the house anyway.
How are we fixed now should we sell?
Are we obliged to carry out the work specified in the retention?
Can we sell the upstairs rooms as "storage"?
Can we sell at all, can the house go on the market without the works being done?
As it stands the house is non-compliant and most solicitors would advice their clients not to touch it until such time as the issues are resolved.
You could try and sell but you are reducing your potential market with lenders are getting more and more particular about compliance issues.
Correct! Solicitors won't sign off on it either. So banks cannot lend. You'd be in cash buyer territory. Or else apply for retention for what is there - but you can still have that rejected. And I'm told there are usage stipulations that apply even after the 7 year and 12 year time gap lapses.No, there is no time after which required works lapse.
There is a time limit within which the local authority can initiate enforcement proceedings in the event of conditions not being met or unauthorised development. For unauthorised development, that period is 7 years, but where something wasn't built in accordance with the planning or attached conditions weren't met, that period extends to 12 years.
Note that even after the 7 or 12 years, that does not make the development compliant. Any subsequent application for planning on that site will have to address the issue and lenders are likely to insist the issue be resolved before closing the sale.
Planning laws change, and safety requirements with them, so would make sense to treat it as a fresh piece of work and seek professional advice on how to regularise it with the planning requirements of today. Especially if fire safety gets a mention.Nothing wrong with that in my view.
As far as I know, planning permission has a certain lifespan (7 years?) and if the work isn’t completed in that period, it may require a fresh application.
There may have been conditions attached to the retention that requested additional changes to the works. It would mean that the retention isn't valid in and of itself.What do you mean when you say he got ‘planning retention’?
If the building didn’t comply with planning permission, this would only come to the attention of the planning authority if they carried out a subsequent inspection.
If any such inspection did occur, and if a breach was identified, the person could either correct matters or apply for a retention order which would allow them to legally retain the structure as it was.
If your seller received a retention order, there was no obligation to make any structural adjustments. It would have been sold “as is”.
In this instance, how you use the rooms is your own business but, as you’ve alluded to, you may have difficulty describing the rooms as, say, bedrooms if they don’t have certain characteristics. You may get a lesser price as a consequence.
The alternative of course is to carry out the work yourself if you’re unhappy with the current situation.
Would I be right in saying we can list the house as a 4 bed with "attic space".
How about putting in a few Euro to go from marketing it as vanilla "Attic space" to Marketing it as utilitarian "Home office with potential for other use"?
The rooms are being used as an office and a play room, we could do that
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