Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what legal requirements are in place to ensure that Building Regulation Completion Certificates have been issued before the release of funds by financial providers in the sale of a new build property.

The Building Regulations 2010 set standards for the design and construction of building work. The building owner will have usually received a completion certificate (from local authority building control) or a final certificate (from an approved inspector) before the building is occupied. These certificates are issued when the work is complete by a local authority for the sale of a new build property. In some circumstances a building may be occupied before the building owner has received the completion certificate or the final certificate. Part 3, Regulation 17(4) of the Building Regulations 2010 states that: ‘A certificate given in accordance with this regulation shall be evidence (but not conclusive evidence) that the requirements specified in the certificate have been complied with’.

There is no statutory link between the Building Regulations and the conveyancing process. The prospective buyer and their professional advisers should satisfy themselves that they have all material facts relating to the property before they commit to buying.