Buying PPOR - building permits/council plans and barebones vendor statement

Hi guys,

My wife and i are looking to purchase our first ppor together.

We have found a place we like. It has had an extension done, id say at least 5 - 10 years ago.

Now - the section 32 (we are in VIC) is not really that detailed, at least not compared to the others weve seen over the last year or so. It has a basic vendor statement (that is not dated, just signed) plus a basic (free) property report from land.vic.gov.au, and an easement plan. Thats it - no sewer maps, no flood cert, no vicroads info, no planning certificate..

Further, no evidence that the extension and alterations were legal.

Ive requested (Under advice of my solicitor) that the additional certificates are provided, and also that we are provided access to council plans. My solicitor stated the section 32 is one of the worst he has seen - and he cannot advise on whether i should buy the place or not as there is no detail.

Im not impressed by the response ive had from the agent. Apparently the vendors conveyancer has stated she cannot get any additional info and thats all she has access to (absurd??). Ive also had no real answer on the council plans.

My request has been with the agent for over a week and a half. All ive had is non commital - even had a suggestion ishould put an offer in without seeing the info. I understand its a bad time of year, however id have thought they would want to sell their house..

Advice? Run for the hills? What would you guys do..?
 
Most important thing would be the building records from council. Usually the building records only go back 10 years anyway so it may/may not be legal. Caveat emptor.
 
Hmm.. so what happens IF the building works were done legally but the plans are no longer with the council?

How would one prove either way i wonder?
 
One part - not really. Looks good (except for cladding on the outside, but thats personal taste I guess).

Some other alterations involve converting what was under house space to usable storage.

My offer will include a condition for a building inspection to our satisfaction - so I can always ping these questions to an inspector and get his opinion on legality/quality of workmanship.

My main concerns are really to do with a) selling the house and b) getting my own work done (for instance, getting plans on permits for a decking, and then getting trouble from council around existing illegal works)
 
Most councils the owner can apply for the approved plans and get them for a small fee quite quickly. Depends of course on how old the alterations are and how good the council records are.

It cost me $50 for a local council and I received the original plans that were 19 years old, plus all the shed and patio approvals. The form allowed for others to get the plans as well assuming the owner signed it.
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys.

So we've had another look at the place today. On the plus side, my wife and I really like it.

The agent has told us that the conveyancer has found a file with information in it pertaining to building approvals granted for the property in 2000 for the extension. That sounds about right based on how it looks. Apparently they can have these for us on Monday.

The downside is that there was heaps of interest at the inspection today and the agent has been telling people that an offer has gone in this morning.

We would like to throw an offer over the fence at them this weekend, subject to finance/inspections and also with a clause around permits plus the other stuff from the 32 that we were after.

I'm wondering if there is any standard wording for this last one available that I could use ? My solicitor is on holidays at the moment. I know that we could always cool off if the paperwork for the permits isn't there/doesn't come through on Monday.. but I also want to give them reasonable time to collect the rest of the stuff too.
 
BTW - It'll cost me about $92 for a priority lookup of approvals on the place based on landata/the council's online service..

I'm happy to pay for that plus any other info that is required I guess as long as it comes back quickly enough....

i'll just take it off the offer $$ ;)
 
I would say 'Subject to building approvals and <insert xxxxxx documents> being received within 7 working days of acceptance of this offer'
 
I would say 'Subject to building approvals and <insert xxxxxx documents> being received within 7 working days of acceptance of this offer'

Good wording from Westminister, however I would also add the comment something along these lines: the offer is subject to your (purchaser's) satisfaction of the content of building approvals and xxxx documents.
 
Ok - so my solicitor has advised that I shouldn't be offering anything until i have at least seen:

  • Council info certificate
  • Water authority cert showing permission to build over easement
  • Detail of building approvals/occupancy permits

I spoke with him last night, he seems to think the vendors have something to hide as it is unusual they are not responding to requests for info. Don't they want to sell their house?
 
Hmm.. so what happens IF the building works were done legally but the plans are no longer with the council?

How would one prove either way i wonder?

there should be with the council if there was a permit. Council would normally do a search to get the plans.

you could always get a buliding check done - to ensure there are no structural problems.
 
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