Property has no NHBC insurance?

[Arctic Jack]

We’re in the final stages of buying a 5 year old house but have hit a bump. The solicitors have just told us the house isn’t covered by NHBC. It was apparently built by an architect but the sellers can’t find his insurance either at the minute.

Is not being covered by an NHBC a big concern? The solicitors told us that we might have problems getting a mortgage now, but we’ve got about a 45% deposit so we might be ok. Whilst we might be ok, if we were to resell in the future would this cause trouble again if a future buyer only had say a 10% deposit?

The NHBC is a warranty for 10 years right? If say in 5 years time when the property we’re buying is 10 years old would it still make a difference? If the property had of had a NHBC it would have ran out anyway right? Or is it still a cause for concern?

Thank you,

Jack.

[Arctic Jack]

I’ve just found out it does have an architect certificate. I’m still worried though.

[JustinN]

A professional consultant's certificate (including that of an architect registered with the Artitects' Registration Board) is usually fine if all the relevant conditions are satisfied - see Professional Consultant Certificate and open the England & Wales version for further details

Once the house is more than 10 years old, no new home warranty or certificate would apply, so you will be "out of the woods" then

I hope this helps

[brian]

Only major builders tend to offer NHBC certificates - smaller developers tend to have other insurance arrangements.

It's worth remembering that after the first two years, the NHBC simply guarantees the property should be free of structural defects within the first 10 years - ie, it's not in danger of falling down during that period.