Questions on selling a self build house

[Jude1234]

Hi All,

 

We had a contractor do the majority of our house build then fell out with them and I got individual trades to finish off.  For cost and because we had no plans to sell we did not get a 10 year guarantee,  only a 7 Yr architect certificate as it was a requirement of the mortgage provider.  We moved in Nov 2018 although building control sign off was slightly later.

 

Now, due to relationship break up, we may need to sell. But will anyone buy it, or be able to get a mortgage on it? Any experience gratefully appreciated. 

[nod]

As your main home

you can sell without any tax implications once that you have registered all your utilities and Counsul tax 

You need to be signed off for  at least three years to avoid paying the Cil 

If you had one 

[Kelvin]

Really sorry to hear. Presumably the certificate is transferable. I didn’t think they were very robust though should you need to make a claim. 
 

 Different lenders have different criteria. You managed to get a mortgage with a certificate. But the mortgage market has tightened up since you built. When we sold our house last year (barn conversion with a warranty) the buyer’s mortgage lender had us jumping through hoops to prove all manner of things and taking out insurance indemnities for a few things none of which we had to do when we bought it 7 years earlier and it was with the same lender. You might get a cash buyer of course and not face any troubles like our neighbour did. While you can get a warranty retrospectively it is very expensive. 
 

Good luck. 

[Temp]

Google says it is possible to buy a retrospective structural warranty or a PCC, but see if you need one first as they are probably expensive.

Having the Architects cert might reduce the bill? Shop around.

 

These mention retrospective policies but I've never used or even heard of some of them. Check they are accepted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders before paying up. They may not all cover self builds.

 

https://ahci.co.uk/retrospective-insurance/

 

https://buildwarranty.co.uk/professional-consultants-certificates

 

https://buildsafe.co.uk/retrospective-building-warranty/

 

https://compariqo.com/retrospective-structural-warranty-what-it-is/

 

https://granitebw.co.uk/knowledge/replacement-building-warranty-cover/

 

Several others found.

 

[kaye]

I tried to get a retro building warranty but found it prohibitively expensive. We were trying to raise some money on our new build to build a barn and same as you, we never intended to sell it so didnt get a warranty at the time. The other thing that was a barrier to getting a retro warranty was that we used local authority for building regs. None of the warranty companies would entertain us because of that. I did find some of the mortgage companies accepted architect certificates but not many. In the end we gave up on the mortgage so i cant provide a solution (sorry). 

[Jude1234]

8 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Really sorry to hear. Presumably the certificate is transferable. I didn’t think they were very robust though should you need to make a claim. 
 

 Different lenders have different criteria. You managed to get a mortgage with a certificate. But the mortgage market has tightened up since you built. When we sold our house last year (barn conversion with a warranty) the buyer’s mortgage lender had us jumping through hoops to prove all manner of things and taking out insurance indemnities for a few things none of which we had to do when we bought it 7 years earlier and it was with the same lender. You might get a cash buyer of course and not face any troubles like our neighbour did. While you can get a warranty retrospectively it is very expensive. 
 

Good luck. 

Thanks for the advice. I wonder if it would put off potential buyers? They probably haven't heard of an architect certificate and would probably be sceptical/wary about purchasing?

[Jude1234]

7 hours ago, Temp said:

Google says it is possible to buy a retrospective structural warranty or a PCC, but see if you need one first as they are probably expensive.

Having the Architects cert might reduce the bill? Shop around.

 

These mention retrospective policies but I've never used or even heard of some of them. Check they are accepted by the Council of Mortgage Lenders before paying up. They may not all cover self builds.

 

https://ahci.co.uk/retrospective-insurance/

 

https://buildwarranty.co.uk/professional-consultants-certificates

 

https://buildsafe.co.uk/retrospective-building-warranty/

 

https://compariqo.com/retrospective-structural-warranty-what-it-is/

 

https://granitebw.co.uk/knowledge/replacement-building-warranty-cover/

 

Several others found.

 

Thanks for the links, good to know  it is possible to buy something if a mortgage provider demands it 

[Ralph]

We need a retrospective warranty to move our mortgage, we've been quoted between £3k and £7k by various companies.

[Kelvin]

8 minutes ago, Jude1234 said:

Thanks for the advice. I wonder if it would put off potential buyers? They probably haven't heard of an architect certificate and would probably be sceptical/wary about purchasing?

There will be buyers out there who will appreciate the house for what it is. You could offer to pay for a full building survey for example. We have friends who bought a brand builder built house that didn’t have warranty for example. They are serial house movers and cash buyers. 

[nod]

Just to add 

Just before we started our first build Our friends finished the “Forever home “

Then decided to sell after 18 months 

Bought a retrospective warranty But the purchasers lenders didn’t asked for it They seemed more concerned about him getting an indemnity for his two flat roofs 

 

As Temp has already stated Better to wait and see 

 

 

 

 

[MJamesW]

Use a broker that does both Warranty and PCC and can offer fully independent advice. Also there are some very cheap Structural Warranty's out there as they are offshore policies that are not regulated by the FCA and totally worthless for lenders or claims, so make sure you dont just go for the cheapest without doing any due diligence. If its too good to be true............................