60 year old house - council investigation based on an enquiry

I am buying a house(probably 50-60 year old) that's got 2 units on one title. Currently I am in cooling off period.

Two units (2 bedder each) are under same roof.

I made a call to council to enquire whether these dwellings are legal structures and have valid permits. Council tried to look up but couldn't tell immediately because the house is very old and the lady said they have to dig into council archives to check on permits.

However, now that I have highlighted this house they will investigate this house in future for potential building code violations.

I am in dilemma whether to proceed with purchase. I really liked this house and it's within my budget and ticks all my boxes. If I buy this house and in future investigation it turns out building is not compliant or illegal, I can be in a big trouble.

When I asked council lady if I have made a mistake enquiring council about this property, she said "probably yes". When I asked can she ignore my enquiry? she said "No".

What are the chances council initiate investigation based on an enquiry (it wasn't a complaint).

Someone told me council won't investigate based on enquiry if permit was issued more than 10 years ago from the date of enquiry. Not sure if that is true.

House is in Victoria.

 

Would title insurance cover this?

In Victoria if it’s Metro, then it shouldn’t take longer than a day or two to retrieve the records from archives. When does your cooling off period end?

if the works have the permits required at the time, there will be no reason for further investigation. And there’s a chance they can’t find any records at all.

Urban councils (not sure about rural) have been taking aerial photos long before Google maps and there may well be a photographic record that the place has been unchanged for decades.

Better to find out now, anyway.

 

befoe cool off expire, i would talk to the vendor to add a term subjecting to due diligence in 7 days or longer

 

You definitely want to have it clarified with Council. Think of how fast an insurance company could back out of coverage if something went wrong.

Two separate units with a house sounds unusual in a normal resi situation.

See if there is Council approval. If not is there a sort of "existing use rights" that can be attributed to the property, and get it in writing from Council. Just guessing though the two units will need to have been there a lot longer than 10 years.

 

Thanks everyone for valuable responses.
Would buying a title insurance be useful in this circumstance?
Cooling off is expired and now I am in settlement period. I have taken the gamble already.

 

I doubt there will be records.

Zoning areas and rulings will almost certainly have changed over 60 years.

Your only issue may arise if you wish to do extensive renovations or extensions.

 

Title insurance for approx $1k may alleviate your concerns. However it may not cover cases where you know there is a issue of concern prior to taking out the cover. And arguably your defence to that view is council didnt know so neither do you. It may be you have fear of a concern that isnt actually a concern. Back in the old days it was all paper and only records after 2000 and later tend to be electronic.

Its possible too that someone has converted a single dwelling illegally. The title insurance option may give peace of mind.

 

[QUOTE="....Just guessing though the two units will need to have been there a lot longer than 10 years.[/QUOTE]

15 years in Victoria