Hello everyone! 
We're in the process of trying to buy a 2 bed, grade c maisonette just outside of Edinburgh.
We have agreed a price, got a mortgage in place, etc.
Now, here is the catch. The Flat was originally a one bed and somewhere along the line, as far as we know, at least before 2001, the attic was converted to a bed room and study area, without a building warrant and no completion of works certificate was obtained. In 2010, a staircase was put in by the current owner with out listed building consent(now being applied for).
The council is supposed to be issuing a letter of comfort to acknowledge they are not interested in taking any action against the home owner but they have stated they will not comment on the safety of the works. They will just advise we seek professional advice concerning it. In fact, we spoke to the local planning permission duty officer and he said the council no longer enforce infringements of listed building consent in regards to grade c listed buildings, unless it is exterior and front facing.
I'm concerned the works may have never been done correctly, as on the Home buyers report, the floors are given a grade 2, due to "loose, uneven and springy floorboards. Runs to the floor were noted".
The seller tried to put pressure on us to go to settlement on Friday, we decided to ignore her as we thought she was being unreasonable, considering she originally told us she had all the relevant paperwork and we have already gone past the agreed move in date because of all this.
I'm going to request a building survey be done to ensure the attic conversion is up to scratch, we won't be buying otherwise as the lack of transparency and sellers attitude is concerning me.
If the building survey came back fine, would you still consider a lack of building certificate to have an impact on the properties value and would it be likely to complicate a future sale?
Thanks for your time, any advice is appreciated as this is causing a lot of stress.
We're in the process of trying to buy a 2 bed, grade c maisonette just outside of Edinburgh.
We have agreed a price, got a mortgage in place, etc.
Now, here is the catch. The Flat was originally a one bed and somewhere along the line, as far as we know, at least before 2001, the attic was converted to a bed room and study area, without a building warrant and no completion of works certificate was obtained. In 2010, a staircase was put in by the current owner with out listed building consent(now being applied for).
The council is supposed to be issuing a letter of comfort to acknowledge they are not interested in taking any action against the home owner but they have stated they will not comment on the safety of the works. They will just advise we seek professional advice concerning it. In fact, we spoke to the local planning permission duty officer and he said the council no longer enforce infringements of listed building consent in regards to grade c listed buildings, unless it is exterior and front facing.
I'm concerned the works may have never been done correctly, as on the Home buyers report, the floors are given a grade 2, due to "loose, uneven and springy floorboards. Runs to the floor were noted".
The seller tried to put pressure on us to go to settlement on Friday, we decided to ignore her as we thought she was being unreasonable, considering she originally told us she had all the relevant paperwork and we have already gone past the agreed move in date because of all this.
I'm going to request a building survey be done to ensure the attic conversion is up to scratch, we won't be buying otherwise as the lack of transparency and sellers attitude is concerning me.
If the building survey came back fine, would you still consider a lack of building certificate to have an impact on the properties value and would it be likely to complicate a future sale?
Thanks for your time, any advice is appreciated as this is causing a lot of stress.