indemnity policy , and future problems when selling the porperty

[tictac]

I am buying a house and now discovered that the conservatroy and the new roof may not have planning permission. My solicitor has requested for an indemnity policy from the seller. My question/s;

How does this affect me in the futrue when I want to sell the property. My solicitor stated that I may have to top up the policy in the futrue when I want to sell the house.

My plan is to obtain planning permission and replace the conservatory with a new one. Is this viable and would slove the problem? However, the roof is my main concern. If the seller can not produce planning permission for the new roof I would be pulling out and count my losses

[buildersmate]

How long has the conservatory been there? - if greater than 4 years, no Planning Dept can demand its removal anyway - and one can apply for a Certificate of Lawful Usage which 'regularises' it being there in the first place without PP.
Needing Planning Permission for a new roof is news to me - unless the shape of the roof was changed in some way (dormers inserted, say) or unless this house is in a Conservation Area or a National park or an AONB.
Are you sure this issue isn't about lack of Building Regs Approval for the structures? - which is a different thing from PP. This is the more typical situation in which indemnity insurance policies may be used. And if it is, many conservatories do not require Building Regs approval in the first place (because they are regarded as non-habitable structures).

[tictac]

closer look at my solicitor's letter states " there was also re-roofing works done to the property and we must ensure that these comply with building regulations approval." It seems that I can get arround the problem with the conservatroy but the re-roofing remains a problem. the property is just out side a conservation area and it states that the property is in a "adopted road ". I don't know what this mean. For me the re-roofing is the main concern. Thanks for you advise so far

[mrs_overall]

An adopted road is one for which the local council/highways dept have a responsibility to maintain.
Have you seen the words "restricted covenant" in any of the documents? If there is one on the house, this could be a reason for the solicitor saying the seller should provide indemnity insurance.
How old is the house and how long is it since the roof & conservatory were done?
The cost of indemnity insurance is usually around �150-�200 and is valid for the life of the property.
I can't really comment further as the info you have given so far is a bit vague.

[themas]

Buildersmate may correct me, but I don't see why building regs. approval would be needed for a re-roofing job unless it was something more major than just refelting & replacing the tiles or slates. Ring up your council building control dept. and ask them.

[buildersmate]

Correct, Themas - I was fishing to establish that is WAS Building Regs we were talking about - since it seemed more likely than that it was associated with PP.
The only reason why Building Control approval might be needed on the roof is if it was loaded with much heavier roof tiles than the originals. In which case BC might have wanted to see revised calculations for roof truss loading.
I think that it is your solicitor being super cautious. Its only a few years ago that buyers' solicitors simply knew nothing about Building Control and didn't ask questions about building mods that were not authorised. Now they are all over such things like a bad rash. If the re-roofing has been there more than say 3 years and the vendors object to an extent that you might lose your dream house, then you might consider backing down, but your solicitor is seeking to act in your best interests. HTH and you now appreciate the difference between PP and BC (one controls blots on the landscape - the other minimises the blots falling down).

[tictac]

I now discovered that the conservatry do not need planning permission, However it does not meet build regulation standards due to the thiness of the walls and roof. I have another problem with the property. they chimneybreast was removed and the Home buyers report state that there might be or might not be a steel plate to support the remainder of the chimney. My solicitor is asking an indemnity policy. the chimney breast was removed in the 70s. What the hell is going on? its now three months and the sale of my properyy went through with no problem the whole process is being held up request of indemnity policies.