Quizzes & Puzzles22 mins ago
Building regs
We are in the process of buying a 19th century 4 bed detached property with 3 extensions. The first was built in 1977 and extends the kitchen, while adding a bedroom and bathroom upstairs; the second is a side extension built in 1994 and the final one is a utility room built in 99.
None of them have building regs. The vendor applied for regularisation - The 94 extension failed - the council dug a foundation hole which filled with water. It's built on a foundation of concrete and there is peat underneath, but the land search indicated the area was clay. The utility room also failed - foundations are 800mm instead of the 1000mm. The large extension was not inspected.
The council do not intend to enforce any action - all have been in place too long, and do not pose any immediate risk. The full buildings survey flagged up some damp (�5k to repair) and other minor repairs, but no major structural problems. I then told the surveyor the 2 extensions failed, and mentioned the peat - he became alarmed, but did admit the main building had been there for 100 years with no major probs. Conveyancer is equivocal. Building society will lend if the solicitor is satisfied!
We are considering a structural engineer to check the soil then if ok, knocking down the side extension. Or cutting our losses.
We love this house, but concerned we'll struggle to re-sell in years to come. Anything else we can do to minimise our risk and ensure we are not buying a turkey?
Answers
No best answer has yet been selected by Craig S. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Thanks for taking the time to write - your reply is encouraging. You sound as though you speak with some authority on this issue? My main concern is that most future buyers, who, like myself, have little understanding of building regs, will run a mile if they hear the property has failed on 2 counts. Finally, we know very little about the implications of peat, but the surveyor and damp specialist have expressed concern about this.
I have many decades of experience of designing and building structures on dodgy ground throughout the UK and around the world. Regarding the Building Regs 1 metre rule, this is really a rather crummy "one size fits all" thing which it doesn't and in many cases is nonsense. 30 or 40 years ago Southern England baked for several months in a heat wave. The clay dried out and there were a large number of foundation failures. The insurance industry kicked up and to keep the peace the government of the day brought in the 1 metre rule. That is how it came about. Certainly it helps in clay but other than that there is no wonderful science to it and I would quite happily bet �10000 to a penny that substantially more than half the houses in the UK do not conform. In your case on peat it has no real meaning. As the house has stood all these years through drought, storm and tempest without trouble the important thing to you is water table, which you say is around ground level. So long as nothing happens to significantly reduce the water table you have nothing whatsoever to worry about. Even if it is reduced so long as you consult people like myself quickly enough the structure can easily be saved. You do not mention services, but in areas of high water table things unexpectedly pop out of the ground (manholes, drains,
septic tanks etc). Has this happened to you?