Building Plan Approval Assistance · Question

What are the risks of buying a property with an unapproved building?

Short answer

The main risks are enforcement action by the local authority, difficulty in raising a loan against the property, trouble in reselling, and losing utility connections or business licences. A building without approval, or built beyond it, can be sealed or partly demolished. Buyers should verify approvals and completion papers before paying, not after.

In more detail

An unapproved building is not always an illegal one in practice, since some are regularisable. Yet the buyer inherits the uncertainty, and the price rarely reflects it fully.

The risks, in plain terms:

Enforcement: notices, penalties, sealing or demolition of the unapproved part, which fall on the present owner, not the seller who built it.
Funding: lenders treat such property as weaker security and may decline, reduce the amount or ask for the gap to be fixed first.
Resale: the next buyer and their lender will ask the same questions, which narrows your exit.
Services and licences: utilities and trade or factory licences may be restricted without completion papers.
Insurance and compensation: claims after damage or acquisition can be complicated for unapproved portions.

What a careful buyer checks:

Ask for the sanctioned plan, the commencement and occupancy certificates, tax receipts, and the title chain. Compare the building on site with the drawings, floor by floor, using an architect if needed. Check whether any notice is pending with the authority and whether the area has been marked for road widening or other public use.

Make fixes a condition

If you still wish to proceed, write into the agreement who will obtain regularisation, at whose cost, within what period, and what happens to the payment if the authority refuses.

A shop with an added mezzanine

A buyer inspects a shop whose papers show a ground floor only. On site there is a mezzanine. The buyer asks the seller to obtain approval or remove it before registration, since a lender will later value only the sanctioned area.

Key points

Enforcement risk passes to the new owner along with the building.
Lenders may refuse, reduce or delay funding for unapproved property.
Resale becomes harder because the next buyer faces the same checks.
Compare the physical building with sanctioned drawings before paying.
Put responsibility, cost and consequences of regularisation into the agreement.

Who this applies to

Buyers of old buildings, shops, offices and small factories.
Business owners planning to borrow against a purchased property.
Lenders and advisers examining a property offered as security.

Last reviewed 3 October 2026

This answer is general information, not advice on your particular case. Terms, eligibility, and requirements change, so check the current position with the relevant institution or authority.