Ex-Council, non-load bearing wall removed 10 years ago!

[diceboy]

Hi,

I'm struggling to find some advice so thought I'd try you guys!
My girlfriend has sold her ex-Local-Authority property and the buyers solicitors have raised a question about her verbally-agreed (but not in writing) removal of a non-load-bearing downstairs stud wall which was carried out 10 years ago and knocked through the kitchen/lounge into 1 space. Hackney Homes have been totally unhelpful, their current response being 'put the wall back, end of...' which hasn't been well received!!
We have thought of geting an independant surveyor to take a look at where the wall was, rubber stamp it and hand something into Hackney Homes to sway their mind, but we can't seem to find any that will just do this (quotes of £500+ to just come in and look at a slight scar on the ceiling from 10 years back) and not a full structural survey and we don't know if this is whats required to sort this out anyway.
Would Hackney Councils 'Building Controls' officer be the best place to turn? Can we get someone from there to take a look? There is no doubt the wall is non-load bearing and we have a floor plan from 10+ years back indicating this is the case.
This blocker has been with us for 5 months now and has already lost us the original buyers and we're still not sure what we need to do to move on. Are there fire regulation implications in all this? In an ideal world we'd pay a local surveyor a couple of hundred quid to approve the work in terms of whether it's load-bearing or not and hand it in to Hackney Homes...assuming thats what's required!
Thanks...confused

 

[DevilDamo]

So what are you (Hackney Homes) wanting to know? It appears HH aren't concerned as to whether it's load bearing or not... they just want the property put back to its original state, with a partition.

If it was non-load bearing, it wouldn't have required Building Regulation approval, so the LABC wouldn't have had to get involved. If something is exempt from Building Reg's, the LABC wouldn't normally confirm this in writing.

With the costs in employing an independant person/company to produce a report, wouldn't it be easier (and cheaper) to put back a stud wall?

 

[joinerjohn]

As it's an ex-local authority property, and she is wanting to sell it, why are Hackney Homes wanting the non load bearing wall reinstated? Surely it's got sweet FA to do with them now? Had Hackney Homes still owned the property, I could see them insisting that a dividing wall would be reinstated, but as they sold the property 10+ yrs ago, they now have absolutely no interest in it.

 

[^woody^]

What has Hackney Homes got to do with this?

If the property was owned by your GF then it is hers to do as she likes with and Hackney Homes have no say in the matter

Or is this a flat with some other clause on the lease?

In any case if the wall is not structural why would building control be involved too?

 

[garyo]

My Ex LA house has a covenant stipulating that I must ask the LA permission for any alterations or extensions. Perhaps there's something similar with the OP's house.

In fact, when I bought my house my solicitor picked up on the fact that the old wooden conservatory out back didn't have LA approval, despite the fact that the chap that sold the house to me had gone through right-to-buy 30 years earlier. So we got a £130 insurance policy, and everyone was happy.

How did this get noticed in the first place? Buyers surveyor spotted it and notified buyers solicitor?

Gary