building indemnity insurance

[dales1980]

hi there we are in the process of buying our first home and something has come up with building regs ther is a lovely conservatory in the back garden and after the survey has been carried out we are now being told by the solicitors that we require building indemnity insurance for this as it mite be the case the people that lived ther before we not allowed to build the conservatory as they didnt get planning for it so we are stuck. waht should we do and how much would it cost to get this building indemnity insurance thanks to anyone for your help in this matter. cheers.
P.S sorry for any spelling mistakes was never too good with spelling at school.

[jackthehat]

It is not an unusual situation and cost £ 150 - 200 (ish).
However, usually the vendor purchases this policy to indemnify the situation.

Is that possible in this case ?

[buildersmate]

You mention 2 things here - and there seems to be some confusion whether it is one or the other (or both).
Firstly, Planning Permission may have been required and was not obtained. That would be unusual because conservatories are often built using 'Permitted Development' rights that householders generally have. If it is true that Planning Permission was required, then an Indemnity Policy can be purchased to cover the risk that the local authority demand retrospective action (by applying for the necessary permission). In all circumstances when an unlawful extension is made to a dwelling, once it has been in place for 4 years, the local authority can no longer take action to demand its removal. Lastly, it will be impossible to purchase a policy if the local authority has been contacted in any way regarding the possible infringement of planning law.

[buildersmate]

Secondly, you mention the word 'Building Regulations'. Conservatories are not normally built to a standard that satisfies Building Regulations - they do not have to be because they are not regarded as being habitable space (in other words they are treated as 'luxury sheds'). Building Regulations is concerned with the quality of the construction - the depth of foundations, the level of insulation, the steps taken to avoid the ingress of moisture - that sort of thing. So requiring an insurance policy in case the local authority wishes to take retrospective action for standards that don't even have to be met is simply a non-starter. The exception is if the owner has done something stupid like remove the external doors between the original house and the conservatory. This will automatically mean the conservatory required to meet Building Regulations in all aspects - and probably makes the house unsaleable in that format (the removal of the doors will also make the house very cold in winter).

These policies (if they are required) should be funded by the seller, not you - it's their failure to do the job right in the first place.