Advice on Building Regs/Indemnity

TightGit

Please bear with me on this one guys, some sound advice is well appreciated.

Basically we live in a one bed flat which has a massive loft room , converted years ago ( circa 5 ).

Building regs werent applied for as it wasnt going to be habitable, just for storage. No window up there.

What i want to do is sell the flat soon, but it would benefit massively if the upstairs had a window in it and i could market it as a 2 bed.

How would i go about this the painless way ?

Get an indemnity policy and then put a window in that meets building regs and get the window checked off ?

Im not sure whats there meets current building regs, but after 12 months they cant enforce ?

Any help appreciated.

Cheers

lincroft1710

TightGit wrote: »

2 bed.

How would i go about this the painless way ?

Get an indemnity policy and then put a window in that meets building regs and get the window checked off ?

NO!!!!!

Loft conversions should be carried out according to building regs as the beams which would support the floor will probably need strengthening, RSJs may even be needed. You are compromising on safety by trying to cut corners.

TightGit

Why would you assume the floor hasnt been strenghtened ?

The safety aspect is covered, it probably exceeds building regs in terms of support. RSJ is fitted and the floor is 15 inches thick.

The building regs wouldnt get met on the anal things like smoke alarms wired to the mains , double or fireproof plasterboard etc. etc..

Its quite common place to have indemnity insurance on loft conversions ?

Cheers

lincroft1710

TightGit wrote: »

Why would you assume the floor hasnt been strenghtened ?

Because you didn't mention it, it's very important as far as building regs go.

Personally I would either walk away from a property which did not have building regs for a loft converted into a habitable room or value the loft conversion as storage for lightweight items.

TightGit

Fair cop with the not mentioning it thing

There must be a way to get this sorted fairly painlessly. I understand what your saying as a potential buyer, but from a person who is living there currently whats the best way to make it in to a habitable room and fitting a window. Is the indemity policy and fitting the window according to regs and getting it checked off possible ?

Richard_Webster

[/Basically we live in a one bed flat which has a massive loft room , converted years ago ( circa 5 ).
QUOTE]

So what does the lease say? Is the loft even included in the area within the lease? Quite apart from Planning/Building Regulation issues if the loft is not within the leased area then you will have to ask the freeholder/landlord to agree to add this area to your lease and he will no doubt charge significantly to do so.

Even if the loft is within your lease, it is very likely that the lease will require you to obtain the landlord's consent for any alterations and depending on the wording he may be able to charge you significantly for that too!

TightGit

Thanks Richard. It is within the realms of the lease, i made sure from the off. The previous owner had consent from the landlord so no problems on both counts. Its pretty much all down to indemnity policy or retrospective building regs etc..

Cheers

lincroft1710

If you apply for building regs for just the window, you can run the risk of them realising the existing works haven't been approved and possibly refusing to sign off the window. And if they become aware of unapproved work you cannot get an indemnity policy.

Having had dealings with building inspectors my feelings are that they might be a bit lenient on insulation not being up to standard, but will fail anything not up to health and safety.

If you go ahead we could well get a post on here from a potential purchaser saying "I'm considering buying a flat with loft conversion without building regs but with indemnity policy. Would you advise I buy this flat?" And you could lose the sale or have it delayed.

THI

Agree with above post - AND Be prudent to check with your planning office before even thinking windows! You may be in a conservation area? Any others in the street got them/loft conversions? You may want to speak to B Regs office at your local council - they may be willing to come and look at it and see if it will comply, or can be made to comply and they can issue a certificate retrospectively. Building regulations are there for safety - strength of construction, fire and escape, whether its fit for purpose etc etc. You can look them up - will give you some quidance.

Won't let me post a link but go to communities dot gov dot uk planning and building regs publications

If it doesn't comply as a bedroom you cannot offer.market it as a second bedroom. Agents get into big trouble with things like this - you can market as loft storage room tho!

TightGit

I would get the indemnity policy before i got the building regulators out to check the window, even im not that stupid

I understand the complications, but 99% of it is already there. Am i not better to try my luck and at the worst make it more saleable but without asking for more cash on top ?

THI

Just a further thought but if it has no window it is not a habitable room and therefore you will not get indemnity insurance.