u/yehnahwot

Good morning,

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I'm likely to get grilled for this, but I have a question about the first home my partner and I have bought.

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The home we have purchased was built in 1890s so she's seen a few rotations around the sun. And we are wanting to do some renovations as you can imagine, in particular remove a few internal walls which are likely load bearing to make a bedroom larger. And potentially a few other smaller jobs.

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Now what I'm wondering is as the house is sooo old and 'building consents' only came into effect in the 90s? Whats stopping me from just doing the work and claiming it was done back in the 40s or something?! And therefore bypassing having to pay the ridiculous fees to council.

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All work would still be done correctly and to code etc. The lim and building files are vague so it wouldnt really be traceable, apart from the recent real estate photos which have now been taken down.

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I realise some will see this as immoral and the rules are in place for a reason etc etc but in my opinion council fees for this sort of thing are far too high and pretty much make doing any changes like this unfeasable.

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This isnt a 'house flipping' situation it's our home which we want to make more comfortable for ourselves.

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Looking for thoughts and opinions / insults on how stupid this idea is - cheers