Home buyers survey mentions single skin wall.... problem?

[ittim]

Just in the process of buying a new house and the HBS has mentioned the damp and poor insulating properties of a single skin wall that forms 75% of the front of the house (Dining room and entrance hall)

The extension was done late eighties early nineties. Is this all likely to be legal? Is it an expensive job to rectify it?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[tony1851]

If it's a single-skin extension done in the '80s/90's, it is unlikely to have been built under the eye of Building Control.
However, after all this time, there's virtually nothing the council could
do about it. But, if it's so poor with regards to the walls, what other problems are lurking??

 

[ittim]

Thanks Tony,

The home buyers report listed a few things, I have a couple of builders in the family so I can recitify the problems. I'm just curious as to what happnens if the vendor can't show that permission etc was obtained.

 

[tony1851]

Nothing actually 'happens' if the vendor hasn't got any paperwork. Certainly the Council can't do anything under planning or building regs as it's well out of time (unless it's a listed building etc).
Your solicitor might advise you that it is not lawful, but that doesn't add up to much. Might be a slight problem with the insurance if it comes to light?

 

[diyAlex]

I agree with Tony.

I bought 2 years ago, and an extension had been built at some point prior to that by the owners. When the solicitor asked about this, they only said "it was built more than 10 years ago". Sounded a bit fishy to me, so I asked our surveyor about it. He said he'd spoken to the vendors whilst doing his survey and that the current owner's now-ex husband had built it, so it was at least plausible that the wife didn't know a great deal about it.

Anyways, I phoned up the local authority planning department who were very helpful. They could not find any record of planning permission. We both viewed google earth online and could see evidence of some sort of construction 10 years ago (images were a bit fuzzy back then!). So the planning's position was that they have no right whatsoever to get involved in something that is so old.

They said the only possible issue that could arise if if the build is of such a poor quality that it was reasonably dangerous to the occupants or the neighbours. Since this was not the case, then actually nobody could "make you do something" about it, as it were.

I'm pretty sure the planning department said even if a neighbour decided to complain, actually it was too old for them to do anything with such a complaint.