Looking at Buying Grade 2 in East Midlands and struggling

[Jailhouse John]

I realise that the likelyhood of enforcement after such a long time is unlikely but I am wary of committing a significant % of our money into this project with this possiilty existing.

I will ask my solicitor to look into the Indemnity route, or if the time lines check out ask the vendor to either re-roof the property or reduce the price accordingly.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Ask the council for their evidence of what the roof covering was when it was listed, over and above what the list description says. The burden of proof is on them to show -
1. that the change has been made since listing
2. that the change affected the building's character and therefore required consent

The list description says "pantiles" without mentioning material, and pantiles can be concrete. (in any case, the descriptions are also quite frequently inaccurate).

I really wouldn't bother shelling out for cover against the council requiring you to "put right" something they won't have any evidence for having been "put wrong" in the first place.

If they were to requireit to be put right, I would suggest you also have a potential claim to the local government obudsman because of their negligence in not pursuing the offence at the time it was committed (assuming that the roof is visible from a reasonably well-used road it would be difficult for them to argue that they'd only just noticed)

 

[Nemesis]

I think that many of these indemnity policies are simply a way of covering the backs of conveyancing solicitors ( I have a friend who is a conveyancing solicitor... and we have had long discussions re listed building alterations...) and lining the pockets of insurers.

I do know of cases where enforcement action has happened, but the cases have been very clear-cut.

Pantiles can be concrete or clay.

My mother has a house which was concrete pantiles which has now been re-roofed in the appropriate Welsh slate - the roof needed re-doing, the green (!) pantiles had faded, and it is a Conservation Area.

Looks lovely now. Hopefully it will last longer than the concrete, although that must have lasted about fifty years.