buying and selling with no building permits

hi
I am looking at selling my house in Melbourne soon. I have had a section 32 done and was asked about structural renos etc.

These were done and by a builder who said he put in permits etc , I never checked cause I didn't really care at the time and I was never thinking about moving, I watched what he did and it seemed well and truely over the top etc etc he was an older guy in his 60's and just did everything bigger and better then I would have thought.

Anyway turns out none have been submitted to council ( I assume this happens a fair bit and silly me for not checking)

Now, I am not concerned about them falling down or being faulty because they were all carried out 4 years ago and there is no problem at all with them to date, the only questionable one is the pergola/patio is only 500mm off the fence line but I asked the builder to do that and checked with my neighbor etc and no one cared ( a bit dodgy I know).



My question is has anyone bought or sold a house without permits for stuff that should have permits ??? I would have thought it happens all the time.

My dodgy old man suggests I just withhold info on the section 32 until asked about it ?? As he said it is all about the purchaser reading it carefully and is up to them to check if plans / permits are attached etc etc and that it happens all the time ?

Cheers

 

Sounds like fraud if you knowingly falsify legal documents.
Marg

 

tha

that is what I thought originally. Then I thought about it and checked all the section 32's on other houses I have bought in the past, and under ''building approvals" it is just worded as one line

"The vendors Statement indicates that No permits have been issued"

which is true, no building permits have been issued , even though they are required. So that is what got me thinking.

Also would it actually stop anyone from buying a place if no permits were issued ?
I know it hasn't stopped me before, but that was a while ago, also wondering about peoples thoughts on it these days. My thinking is that most of the country is probably full of unapproved patios / pergolas and decks

 

A couple of months ago I fell in love with a house, the building inspection showed the back brick piers were too high and needed steel reinforcing, one corner of the 3 car carport was not supported [more steel reinforcements], the verandah flooring [around 3 sides of house] would need replacing ASAP and he advised to check with council if the ensuite to main bedroom had been passed by council.

Needless to say I didn't go ahead with the purchase despite the agent telling me they were just minor problems

I always keep in mind having to sell the property again and would-be purchasers baulking at buying just as I did with this property. Buyer beware!