No Completion Certificate on 4 yr old house
Discussion
Just after a quick bit of advice from you knowledgeable lot please!
Basically, we were about to exchange contracts on a 4 year old house yesterday when it came to light that it had never been issued with a completion certificate. The reason apparently is that it has never been air pressure tested, therefore couldn't be signed off as complete by the local council. We were left wondering whether we should continue with the purchase, having spent a year trying to organise a move.
The house is on a new development which is still not completed. Apparently the building company (a well known national company beginning with the letter 'P') only ever asks for randomly selected houses to be tested & this wasn't one of them.
We don't need a mortgage & intend staying way beyond the expiry of the 10 year NHBC warranty. We're still keen to exchange & complete this week, but is this wise? We're considering negotiating a £500 reduction in the offer price to cover the application to the council & the air pressire test, which we'll have done once we've moved in. The house appears well made & likely to pass without issue. What do you think? Any opinions much appreciated.
Basically, we were about to exchange contracts on a 4 year old house yesterday when it came to light that it had never been issued with a completion certificate. The reason apparently is that it has never been air pressure tested, therefore couldn't be signed off as complete by the local council. We were left wondering whether we should continue with the purchase, having spent a year trying to organise a move.
The house is on a new development which is still not completed. Apparently the building company (a well known national company beginning with the letter 'P') only ever asks for randomly selected houses to be tested & this wasn't one of them.
We don't need a mortgage & intend staying way beyond the expiry of the 10 year NHBC warranty. We're still keen to exchange & complete this week, but is this wise? We're considering negotiating a £500 reduction in the offer price to cover the application to the council & the air pressire test, which we'll have done once we've moved in. The house appears well made & likely to pass without issue. What do you think? Any opinions much appreciated.
Thanks for all your replies chaps.
The developer has confirmed that NOT all properties are tested and states it would NOT be able to release a property for sale without some form of completion certificate being in place. It seems likely that a certificate IS in existence for the property somewhere, and the developer is looking into this as a matter of urgency. Those we have spoken to so far from the company claim they have not come up against this problem before. There is definitely a 10 year NHBC warranty in place for the house.
The current owner WAS able to secure a mortgage on the property, which is surprising, although the LTV is obviously not known. He is unable to produce a completion certificate. I agree it's his responsibility to sort it out, but he's out of the country, speaks poor English, couldn't be relied upon to sit the correct way on a toilet seat & time is running out.
The Council does not have a certificate listed against the property, therefore is not in a position to issue a copy.
All 3 solicitors in the chain (including ours) are suggesting we "take a view on it". Ours is quietly urging caution, possibly to cover her back. She mentioned indemnity insurance, but didn't go into any detail. Having read up on it, I'm unclear whether we can go down that route now that we've approached the council. She advised that within 6 years (ie 10 years after the build date) the lack of a certificate would likely cease to be an issue, but says it's ultimately a decision for us.
From our point of view, it's a house for life & we're fed up with the whole process, having been let down by countless numpties for an entire year. We're at risk of losing our buyers for the second time in 5 months, facing the prospect of remarketing our place for a third time & we're minded to go ahead. The house is in good condition with no obvious defects 4 years after construction.
Tomorrow will be spent frantically trying to resolve this issue & I'll update with the result...
The developer has confirmed that NOT all properties are tested and states it would NOT be able to release a property for sale without some form of completion certificate being in place. It seems likely that a certificate IS in existence for the property somewhere, and the developer is looking into this as a matter of urgency. Those we have spoken to so far from the company claim they have not come up against this problem before. There is definitely a 10 year NHBC warranty in place for the house.
The current owner WAS able to secure a mortgage on the property, which is surprising, although the LTV is obviously not known. He is unable to produce a completion certificate. I agree it's his responsibility to sort it out, but he's out of the country, speaks poor English, couldn't be relied upon to sit the correct way on a toilet seat & time is running out.
The Council does not have a certificate listed against the property, therefore is not in a position to issue a copy.
All 3 solicitors in the chain (including ours) are suggesting we "take a view on it". Ours is quietly urging caution, possibly to cover her back. She mentioned indemnity insurance, but didn't go into any detail. Having read up on it, I'm unclear whether we can go down that route now that we've approached the council. She advised that within 6 years (ie 10 years after the build date) the lack of a certificate would likely cease to be an issue, but says it's ultimately a decision for us.
From our point of view, it's a house for life & we're fed up with the whole process, having been let down by countless numpties for an entire year. We're at risk of losing our buyers for the second time in 5 months, facing the prospect of remarketing our place for a third time & we're minded to go ahead. The house is in good condition with no obvious defects 4 years after construction.
Tomorrow will be spent frantically trying to resolve this issue & I'll update with the result...
Well, it turns out the house has never been issued with a completion certificate because 7 council inspections are required on the development & so far only 2 have been done.
Those which are inspected have to be newly finished & our intended purchase will therefore escape the air pressure test due to its age. A certificate will be issued once the 7 inspections have been done, but in the meantime the developer is trying to wangle one early for our intended purchase on the grounds that it should really be available 4 yrs after construction & it's jeopardising a sale.
In the meantime, with just over one day to go to the planned moving date we still haven't exchanged because, apart from the Completion Certificate shenanigans above (1) Our vendor's been out of the country & likes to take at least 3 days to respond to any form of communication (2) His solicitor's decided to take some holiday at the eleventh hour (3) Our buyers kindly lodged their deposit late.
If we instruct a removal company & it all goes tits up we lose a large percentage of the removal fee.
All in all it's been a thoroughly miserable experience, but we're almost there...
Those which are inspected have to be newly finished & our intended purchase will therefore escape the air pressure test due to its age. A certificate will be issued once the 7 inspections have been done, but in the meantime the developer is trying to wangle one early for our intended purchase on the grounds that it should really be available 4 yrs after construction & it's jeopardising a sale.
In the meantime, with just over one day to go to the planned moving date we still haven't exchanged because, apart from the Completion Certificate shenanigans above (1) Our vendor's been out of the country & likes to take at least 3 days to respond to any form of communication (2) His solicitor's decided to take some holiday at the eleventh hour (3) Our buyers kindly lodged their deposit late.
If we instruct a removal company & it all goes tits up we lose a large percentage of the removal fee.
All in all it's been a thoroughly miserable experience, but we're almost there...
Well, the move went ahead & we're in! Council issued a last minute Completion Certificate & we exchanged 18hrs before the removal men arrived.
Now it's just the usual stuff to deal with : broken dishwasher, no tv connection, 2 blocked showers, loads of junk left, several missing keys, numerous blown bulbs, no alarm code, no instruction manuals... you get the picture. Oh and we can't have a landline or broadband for 2 weeks so this comes to you via the magical powers of 3G!
Thanks to all who offered assistance. Hopefully this experience will help others in the future.
Now it's just the usual stuff to deal with : broken dishwasher, no tv connection, 2 blocked showers, loads of junk left, several missing keys, numerous blown bulbs, no alarm code, no instruction manuals... you get the picture. Oh and we can't have a landline or broadband for 2 weeks so this comes to you via the magical powers of 3G!
Thanks to all who offered assistance. Hopefully this experience will help others in the future.
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