Sign off

[Pocster]

Hey all 

 

We are living in temp accommodation whilst I do the build ; the boss is finding this difficult!! 

 

If later we moved into the build and it wasn’t complete but had a usable bathroom would the bco sign it off as complete because we are living in it ?

 

My concern is once that happens we only have 3 months to submit all the vat returns and yet the truly completed project ( and therefore valid receipts ) could be another year away .

 

So can I live in it but not have bco sign it off ???? ?

Edited March 18, 2018 by pocster

[ProDave]

Up here, BC will issue a "certificate of temporary habitation" to allow you to move in and complete the work, then issue a completion certificate later.

 

I don't know if this is possible in England. Ask them.

[Pocster]

19 minutes ago, ProDave said:

Up here, BC will issue a "certificate of temporary habitation" to allow you to move in and complete the work, then issue a completion certificate later.

 

I don't know if this is possible in England. Ask them.

Don’t like giving them the ‘heads up’ on an issue - to desperate to slap a council tax bill on me . Out of interest how long is ‘temporary ‘ in their definition???

 

cheers 

[newhome]

50 minutes ago, pocster said:

Hey all 

 

We are living in temp accommodation whilst I do the build ; the boss is finding this difficult!! 

 

If later we moved into the build and it wasn’t complete but had a usable bathroom would the bco sign it off as complete because we are living in it ?

 

Nope, they will only sign it off when the building work meets the standards laid down. I lived in mine for  over 7 years before I got the completion certificate. There was a reason for that, but building control never knew that until much later and no one seemed to care. They only cared that we were paying council tax. We moved in when the kitchen / family room was complete and the downstairs shower room and did everything else a bit at a time until work came to a halt. 

 

Maybe some councils are more worried about such things than others but mine certainly didn’t care. In fact my neighbours’ house is still not signed off after 10 years! They bought it from the builder who sold me this plot and it only came to light that it wasn’t signed off when mine was finally signed off (it was on the same building warrant). The council  didn’t seem to care in the slightest but my neighbours are starting legal action against their solicitor as it was something that was supposed to have been sorted and they are now having to pay for the remedial work that the council wants completed before they will sign it off. 

 

One thing to watch for is insurance. A normal policy won’t cover you. I got mine as a ‘self build work in progress’ policy from QuoteRack who specialise in non standard insurance. It wasn’t particularly expensive either; maybe a bit more than a normal policy and I couldn’t have accidental damage cover. 

 

Edited March 18, 2018 by newhome
Can’t add up lol

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, newhome said:

 

Nope, they will only sign it off when the building work meets the standards laid down. I lived in mine for 9 years before I got the completion certificate. There was a reason for that, but building control never knew that until much later and no one seemed to care. They only cared that we were paying council tax. We moved in when the kitchen / family room was complete and the downstairs shower room and did everything else a bit at a time until work came to a halt. 

 

Maybe some councils are more worried about such things than others but mine certainly didn’t care. In fact my neighbours’ house is still not signed off after 10 years! They bought it from the builder who sold me this plot and it only came to light that it wasn’t signed off when mine was finally signed off (it was on the same building warrant). The council  didn’t seem to care in the slightest but my neighbours are starting legal action against their solicitor as it was something that was supposed to have been sorted and they are now having to pay for the remedial work that the council wants completed before they will sign it off. 

 

One thing to watch for is insurance. A normal policy won’t cover you. I got mine as a ‘self build work in progress’ policy from QuoteRack who specialise in non standard insurance. It wasn’t particularly expensive either; maybe a bit more than a normal policy and I couldn’t have accidental damage cover. 

 

Thanks that’s re assuring !

i guess if the worse comes to the worse just pay council tax on the unfinished build just to keep that party of the council happy - I’m sure equally that bco won’t care !

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, pocster said:

Don’t like giving them the ‘heads up’ on an issue - to desperate to slap a council tax bill on me . Out of interest how long is ‘temporary ‘ in their definition???

 

Just move in. They will soon decide when you need to pay council tax and will want to snoop around. I think you’d be on a sticky wicket to avoid it if you were clearly living there. Think we were here for a year before they caught up with us and we had to pay it though. We could hardly argue. We had all of our furniture here by then  . I live in Scotland though and YMMV. 

 

 

[joe90]

Well we also can’t wait to move out of our temp accommodation ( parkhome next to a neighbour) and pay council tax band a, we have our own caravan next to our build that I lived in during the initial build and plan to tell the council that we are living In that ( even though we will be kipping in the house and cooking in the caravan). It means we still pay council tax band a but save monthly rental on the parkhome plus the enormous amount of gas it uses to heat what my wife calls a colander , if the council spot us living in it I will ask for a temp completion cert until all the work is complete ( drive, fences, conservatory etc etc.) then claim back the VAT.

[James H]

We live in ours. When the local BC came around last I told him that were moving in he was not concern only  asked if we would have internal doors fitted. 

Since then I have talked to him several times since for other jobs for my work (joiner) he has only ask how we are getting on. 

We won't be finished for several months mostly out side work. 

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Well we also can’t wait to move out of our temp accommodation ( parkhome next to a neighbour) and pay council tax band a, we have our own caravan next to our build that I lived in during the initial build and plan to tell the council that we are living In that ( even though we will be kipping in the house and cooking in the caravan). It means we still pay council tax band a but save monthly rental on the parkhome plus the enormous amount of gas it uses to heat what my wife calls a colander , if the council spot us living in it I will ask for a temp completion cert until all the work is complete ( drive, fences, conservatory etc etc.) then claim back the VAT.

 

IME the council tax officers are much more astute than building control. We had a large twin axle touring caravan here which my hubby lived in for a year before we moved in and we kept it here for a couple of years after we moved in, in the hope that we could say that we were still living in it. By the time they caught up with us though a year later it was obvious that we were living here full time so we started paying (band G ugh). 

 

What does a temp completion certificate provide you with that’s different from not having one. I get it if you are desperate to do the vat reclaim but if you’re not what’s the point of one? 

 

 

 

[James H]

We moved in and our council tax moved with us from our rented house, band A now.

All had to have all out in the open as my workshop next to the house had to be on business rates luckily not to much and we get 100% relief on it. We had to, as all of this was in the planning permission which was hard enough to get. 

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, James H said:

We moved in and our council tax moved with us from our rented house, band A now.

 

 

How does that work then? I thought council tax was only relevant to a property? How can it move with you once you've moved out? I moved out of a rented flat in Edinburgh which was band F but didn't take the band with me anywhere but I was still paying council tax on the house in Kent at that point which was on the market. When that property sold I wasn't paying council tax anywhere for 6 months until the council tax people swooped in and sent us a bill. 

 

[James H]

What I  mean is that when we moved out I had to tell the local council and they  ask where I was moving to. As it was only 1/2 a mile away it is in the same area and village etc. So there was no need to change many details. Only wait for the valuation. 

The old houses was band D.

Edited March 18, 2018 by James H

[newhome]

2 minutes ago, James H said:

What I  mean is that when we moved out I had to tell the local council and they  ask where I was moving to. As it was only 1/2 a mile away it is in the same area and village etc. So there was no need to change many details. Only wait for the valuation. 

The old houses was band D.

 

Ah OK. I reckon that I got lost in space as far as council tax was concerned somewhere between Kent, Edinburgh and the Borders . 

 

 

[James H]

When you are moving out of area they are no longer concerned as it is no longer there problem.

(Hope you get your heating sorted.)

[James H]

10 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

Ah OK. I reckon that I got lost in space as far as council tax was concerned somewhere between Kent, Edinburgh and the Borders . 

 

 

When you are moving out of area they are no longer concerned as it is no longer there problem.

(Hope you get your heating sorted.)

[epsilonGreedy]

14 minutes ago, James H said:

What I  mean is that when we moved out I had to tell the local council and they  ask where I was moving to.

 

 

Do they have legal powers to demand an answer? Had you said "hoping to secure employment abroad" what would they have done.

[James H]

The council want an address so that they can close the account on that house and refund you if necessary. You could give any address you want, I wanted to be legal and we were just moving down the hil so it made sense to me. 

[Declan52]

Under no circumstances are you allowed to move into a house if it has not been passed as habitable. 

[joe90]

38 minutes ago, Declan52 said:

Under no circumstances are you allowed to move into a house if it has not been passed as habitable. 

 

This is the reason for a temporary completion, fit for habitation but not complete.

[newhome]

1 hour ago, Declan52 said:

Under no circumstances are you allowed to move into a house if it has not been passed as habitable. 

 

Ha ha, my poor neighbours have been 'illegal' for 10 years then and they had no idea until January! If you buy a new house are you supposed to check with the council whether it's got a completion certificate as it's clearly not a pre requisite for a sale?

 

 

[newhome]

2 hours ago, James H said:

(Hope you get your heating sorted.)

 

Thanks. I hope to get it fixed in April fingers crossed! 

[Mr Punter]

1 hour ago, Declan52 said:

Under no circumstances are you allowed to move into a house if it has not been passed as habitable. 

 

This is not the case in England.

[nod]

7 hours ago, pocster said:

Hey all 

 

We are living in temp accommodation whilst I do the build ; the boss is finding this difficult!! 

 

If later we moved into the build and it wasn’t complete but had a usable bathroom would the bco sign it off as complete because we are living in it ?

 

My concern is once that happens we only have 3 months to submit all the vat returns and yet the truly completed project ( and therefore valid receipts ) could be another year away .

 

So can I live in it but not have bco sign it off ???? ?

According to this weeks brish with our local Counsul 

You can move in without a certificate Once they have deemed it habitable 

Yep sounds crazy 

But that’s what they recon 

[lizzie]

Do you have to have all your garden landscaping done to get a completion certificate?  I am in England, the house is pretty much finished just need MVHR commission etc which is being done immediately after Easter, all kitchens bathroom etc in and working.  I will have a base surface drive awaiting final resin when I get the loot later in the year but  until then it will be a binder course, some new estates live with that for months before final blacktop goes on. I was hoping to get signed off mid April with things done to this stage.  It this doable or have I got to have everything outside finished too?

 

Think I will shoot myself if that is the case!

 

I dont plan to put the garage door on for a month or so as I want the walls next to it rendered and will wait for particular renderer to be available.  I will have concrete slabs ready for patio tiles and tiles there waiting to go down but tiler can't do until about July, garden will be topsoil and grass seed. Areas that need timber fencing will be done when I have decided on style and height when I finalise garden design plan meantime I will keep heras there for about a month.

 

Help anyone?

 

 

[TerryE]

1 hour ago, lizzie said:

Do you have to have all your garden landscaping done to get a completion certificate?

 

Lizzie, there are two separate facets here:

• Between you and your BCO, and specifically when you've got the point were the BCO is willing to issue the completion certificate
• Between you and your HMRC inspector.

AFAIK, you can't reclaim VAT on work executed after you have received the completion certificate.   In our case the LPA insisted that we include planting plans, restoring road frontage, etc. in our conditions.  At the time, I thought that this was a bureaucratic PITA, but I later realised that by bringing all of this stuff within the scope of the application, they were actually doing us a favour: this work comes within the scope of the development and is therefore reclaimable. 

 

Driveways, electric gates, landscaping ... can easily end up costing more than £20K, so delaying sign-off might well be worth while if you can avoid VAT on this.

Edited March 24, 2018 by TerryE
typos