purchase of house with loft conversion

shem56

we have offered the asking price on the purchase of a 4 bedroomed semi-detached house and it has come to light that the 4th bedroom (loft conversion) has only a certificate of completion of work for the new staircase and dormer window. There is no other documentation for joist reinforcement and roof insulation. What should we do - ask for a reduction in price to cover the required work and/or apply for retrospective documentation to cover the conversion and any work that may entail. We believe the work was carried out in 2001.

myhooose

renegotiate the price of the house as if it were a 3 bed house?

lincroft1710

As it's been in existence for 8 yrs joists may be OK, insulation you can't tell easily if it has actually been done. If I were buying I'd want to know why these certs haven't been issued. As it stands you have a 3 bed house with a loft conversion that may have very limited use and were I in your position I would value it as such and so reduce offer. If you don't want any hassle, walk away.

It is of course your decision, but if the joists and insulation weren't done I would imagine it would mean a lot of mess and upheaval, not to mention cost just to get these done.

soozy

shem56 wrote: »

we have offered the asking price on the purchase of a 4 bedroomed semi-detached house and it has come to light that the 4th bedroom (loft conversion) has only a certificate of completion of work for the new staircase and dormer window. There is no other documentation for joist reinforcement and roof insulation. What should we do - ask for a reduction in price to cover the required work and/or apply for retrospective documentation to cover the conversion and any work that may entail. We believe the work was carried out in 2001.

Hi

Have a word with your solicitor - I think it is possible to take out indemnity insurance in this situation.
This can be negotiated with the vendor and they should pay for it. Basically this will cover you if there are any problems with the conversion and you have to pay to have them corrected.
You'll still have to put up with the nusiance & mess though!!

Doozergirl

soozy wrote: »

Hi

Have a word with your solicitor - I think it is possible to take out indemnity insurance in this situation.
This can be negotiated with the vendor and they should pay for it. Basically this will cover you if there are any problems with the conversion and you have to pay to have them corrected.
You'll still have to put up with the nusiance & mess though!!

The indemnity protects the buyer against enforcement action from the relevant authorities. It does not cover rebuild if there is something wrong with the build.

I would want a surveyor to check the quality of the loft conversion. If it passes a proper inspection then I would proceed with the purchase. Not having building regs approval and not being built properly are two separate issues not to be confused. Not having regs invariably means they haven't bothered to pay to have something inspected - if the staircase and window are approved post the rest of the loft conversion then building control have already been in, are aware of what its there, and don't really care.

What you want to know is that it is safe. The person best qualified to tell you that is a structural engineer. A building control officer is not qualified to state that something is safe, only that it complies to regs. There's a broad area between satisfying regs and being unsafe - The house it's sitting on top of probably has no regs to speak of.

Cozworth806

The other problem is that the BS may not consider the loft conversion to be a habitable room without it and therefore value it as a 3 bedroom house.
With regards as to what is safe then it depends on how old the house is, the older the better really.

Frankly I would be very wary, and I would speak the EA as it may be that they misrepresented it as a 4 bedroom unless the seller misled them as well

Taffyscot

Be very very careful. We nearly bought a house with a loft conversion and a stationary staircase. Our solicitor was wonderful and caught it in the advert. if it does not have the proper planning permission and permits then the council can come and assess it and make you take down the staircase and also all your door have to be fire doors as it changes the status of the house from a 2 storey to a 3 storey. The council also told us that they could charge US if they came and did an inspection for not having all the neccessary safety implementations in place ie fire doors. We ended up withdrawing our offer it was way too complicated. The council told us that if the loft conversion just had a folding ladder then it would be ok and would not need all the permissions but if it had a real staircase then it would cause all kinds of safety issues with the joists, beams, space under the eaves and fire regulations. They also said that if there was a fire or an accident that the insurance company could nulify your claim. Hope that helps.

Debt_Free_Chick

shem56 wrote: »

What should we do - ask for a reduction in price to cover the required work

What work?

What does your surveyor say? Indeed, what kind of survey have you had/intend to have?

poppysarah

So can you ring the building control at the local authority of the place you're buying at - and ask them what they think of it - whether they have records of it being done and what requirements they have on it.

shem56

Thank you for that. It sounds like very good advice.

shem56

. Did not realise what a minefield loft conversions were! looks like 3/4 of work has been carried out but problem still is regarding whether floor has been strengthened or not.

Seems as if advertising it as a 4 bedroomed house was an error on the part of the Estate Agent. Surely Estate Agents have to check whether building regs exist when advertising these properties with loft conversions or am I just being too trusting!