I have no building regs for my extension. Can I sell?

This is one of the most common wobbles in a sale, and almost all of them get resolved. The buyer's solicitor asks for the completion certificate, you go through the file, and it is not there. Perhaps the previous owner built it, or the builder disappeared before the final inspection.

Building regulations are the standards a building has to meet for structure, insulation, fire safety, drainage and ventilation. They are separate from planning permission, which is about whether the work was allowed at all. A completion certificate is the document building control issues when the work has been inspected and signed off.

Can I sell a house with work that was never signed off?

You can. The sale does not become unlawful and the property does not become unsellable. What happens is that the buyer's solicitor and the buyer's lender want protection before money changes hands, and they will ask for one of two things.

The first is an indemnity insurance policy. The second is a regularisation certificate. Neither is difficult to arrange, and which one suits you depends mostly on how old the work is.

Could the council still take action after all this time?

Under section 36 of the Building Act 1984 a council can require non-compliant work to be altered or removed. For work completed on or before 30 September 2023 that power runs for 12 months from completion, so for older work the practical risk is small.

The Building Safety Act 2022 extended that window from 12 months to 10 years for work completed on or after 1 October 2023, and the change does not apply retrospectively. So the date the work finished decides which rule applies to your home, and it is the first thing to establish.

Should I get an indemnity policy or apply for regularisation?

An indemnity policy pays legal costs and loss if the council ever does enforce. It does not make the work compliant and it does not cover defects in the building work itself. A regularisation certificate is retrospective approval: building control inspects what was built and certifies it, which usually means opening up part of the work so it can be seen.

One phone call to the council can close off the cheaper of your two routes for good. Decide which one you want first, then make the call.

What should I do first?

1. 1. Pin down what was built and when

   Write down the work, the year it was finished and who did it. The completion date decides whether the 12 month or the 10 year enforcement window applies, so an approximate year is not good enough if the work is recent.

2. 2. Search for paperwork you may already have

   Look for a completion certificate, a FENSA or CERTASS certificate for replacement windows, an electrician's Part P certificate, or a gas engineer's Building Regulations Compliance Certificate. Many sellers find the sale is not missing paperwork at all, only the right piece of it.

3. 3. Ask your own solicitor before you ask anyone else

   Tell your solicitor what is missing and ask which route the buyer's lender is likely to accept. This conversation costs nothing and it is the one that sets your strategy.

4. 4. Do not contact the council if indemnity is still an option

   An approach to the local authority about the work will usually make an indemnity policy unavailable, and once that door closes it does not reopen. If a policy is your likely route, keep the council out of it.

5. 5. If you choose regularisation, apply to building control

   Apply to your council's building control team for a regularisation certificate, which covers work carried out on or after 11 November 1985. Expect an inspection, expect some opening up, and allow weeks rather than days.

6. 6. Answer the property information form accurately

   The property information form asks about alterations and building work, and your answers become part of what the buyer relies on. Saying that paperwork is missing is a routine disclosure. Saying it exists when it does not is a misrepresentation.

7. 7. Agree who pays, and when

   In most sales the seller pays for the indemnity policy because the missing paperwork sits on their side. Agree the figure in writing at the point it is raised, so it does not reappear as a price reduction later in the sale.

How do I keep control while this gets sorted?

A missing certificate is the kind of issue a nervous buyer can use to reopen a price they already agreed. The way to stop that is to deal with it early, in writing, and to keep your own spending in step with theirs.

• Raise it yourself at the point the offer is agreed rather than waiting for their solicitor to find it. A problem you disclosed is far harder to reprice than one they discovered.
• Judge the buyer's commitment by what they have paid for. A solicitor instructed, searches ordered and a mortgage application submitted are commitment. Enthusiasm on a viewing is not.
• Hold the larger spend until the buyer is financially committed. A £175 policy is worth arranging early. A regularisation application with possible remedial work is worth gating on their progress.
• Keep a note of every figure quoted, so if the buyer asks for money off at the end you have the actual cost of fixing it rather than their estimate.
• If the sale falls away, the paperwork question follows the house, so anything you do resolve now is not wasted on the next buyer.

ValuQ gives UK homeowners free, side-by-side property valuations from competing local estate agents. An agent who has handled this exact problem on your street will tell you how the local buyers and lenders tend to treat it, and comparing that thinking side by side is how you pick one.