No viewings in a month - "illegal" loft conversion

welshgirl78

Good Morning

I am throwing myself to the mercy of MSE! We put our house on the market a month ago and have had zero interest, but not sure why.

If you have a minute, here's the link:
(link removed)

We bought it 5 years ago and paid £116K, it was advertised as a 2 bedroom house with the loft room as the 2nd bedroom. When we came to sell the estate agent said it was not a room due to fire regs so we have fudged it somewhat...

Can anyone suggest how to proceed and if we can make the loft a "room"? Or how else to attract buyers / viewers? We were on the market last June and sold for £117K in 9 days but we had to pull out due to mortgage issues.

So frustrating!

TIA :money:

kkgree1

First of all it's a lovely cottage!

I think the main issue is the 2nd loft room and whether or not it has the appropriate permissions. Personally, I wouldn't trust what the agent has said and would get in touch with the buildings regulations department at your local council who will have the definitive answer.

A few other suggestions - what is photo 2? It's described as Bedroom 2 but looks like an office. Also in the lounge there appears to be carpet missing at the bottom of the stairs - otherwise this room looks nice. Apart from that, your kitchen and bedrooms are all fine and I'm envious of the huge bathroom!

The only other suggestions I would make is to the garden. To the front you notice the compost bin straight away so hide it. At the back, the deck is nice but you could make more of it and centralise the table (& have more than 1 chair!) and maybe a few more pots and planters to brighten it up.

Good luck with your sale!

hazyjo

Okay, the picky bits: what's happened to the carpet at the bottom of the stairs? Either picture taken at a bad angle, or it looks like you have to negotiate your way round the telly to get off the stairs, doesn't look like there's a window in the lounge.

Nice kitchen, but the orange won't be for everyone.

Flooring in bathroom looks a bit gappy in places. Bathroom looks big, but no storage and the boiler would have been better in a cupboard. Shame there's no separate shower in a room that size.

That front garden wall looks a tad dodgy! Is there any cement in it or is it just stacked bricks?

The rear decked garden will put a lot off.

The description says: "Briefly it comprises of a lounge, kitchen/diner, landing, bathroom, loft room and 2 bedrooms". That's wrong - it should say "Briefly it comprises a lounge, kitchen/diner, landing I]not sure I'd include this! Really no need[/I, bathroom, two bedrooms and useful boarded loft space.

(Actually, I'm not even sure that's right as one bedroom is off the lounge. I would call it a second reception room, but then it would make it a one bed cottage. I'd consider selling it as a one bed, but push the flexibility and say "currently used as Bedroom 2".)

It's just a tad confusing, and the bathroom is using valuable space. When it was converted, should have had a smaller bathroom and a single second bedroom, or they should have converted the loft properly (why on earth didn't your solicitor pick up on that?!).

Difficult one... depends greatly as to what the competition's like, how desirable the area is, and how things are selling.

TBH, I would prefer the lounge where the ground floor bedroom is, and would make the current lounge into a dining space. But then the kitchen will be a bit big without a table in it, and I doubt you'd want two tables in a 1/2 bed house. Hmmm.

Jx

Kastanie

The layout and description are confusing. Bedroom 2 has the front door and two double glass doors in it, but no bed? But the attic, which is not officially a bedroom, has a bed? Is there any way to enter the house rather than by the front door through the "bedroom", such as kitchen door access? As a buyer I'd see this as a one bedroom house with loft room, not a 2 bed, in which case the price for the location would seem optimistic.

Yorkie1

Just a quick cautionary note against going straight to the council; if you do so, you will not be able to offer an indemnity policy if requested.

Excited13

I think it looks lovely however a couple of issues that would put me off. I personally don't like the idea of a downstairs bedroom but that's a personal thing. As others have suggested contact the council to see what you would need to do to bring the loft up to building regs for a bedroom. If it's cheap it may be worth doing.

welshgirl78

Thank you everyone, much appreciated. I will look again at the photos and bits you have highlighted however it is clearly the loft / bedroom issue which is the main problem.

Yorkie, would you mind elaborating a bit - this is exactly the sort of thing I was worried about! I have just phoned the council and left a message so it might be too late anyway.

I just don't know how else to go about having this listed as a bedroom, it was a bedroom in the particulars and in the valuation when we bought it (although I do realise this may have been wrong and we are literally paying the price) As far as I know the only people who can confirm it is a bedroom (or not) are the council and due to the lack of interest I think I have to do something about it.

As well, yes to those who commented on the slightly confusing particulars, the downstairs room should definitely be a 2nd reception room but otherwise it would be classified as a 1 bed which would obviously massively reduce our target market.

Massive massive thank you's for the time people have taken so far

DRP

Yorkie1 wrote: »

Just a quick cautionary note against going straight to the council; if you do so, you will not be able to offer an indemnity policy if requested.

^^ yes exactly

Tread carefully...

welshgirl78

Aargh DRP as well, please elaborate!!

(thank you for the warning, this is what I don't understand!)

propertyman

Well the plans look wrong as the GF bedroom doesnt tie up with the picture of the front door to the left of the stairs....

AFAICS the issue with the loft room is that it has no door to separate it from the stair wells and the rest of the property, While it might be perfectly acceptable to live in it does not meet building regs and in planning terms is not really a room , so you are always going to have an issue selling.

The carpet missing does need addressing, even if you put some painted or varnished skirting in place. While most of the rooms look great I think the biggest killer is the lounge, which looks more like a corridor with a huge sofa and stereo dumped in it.

it doesnt give me the feel of a place I would like to come in and relax, in a corridor between the kitchen and front door and stairs.

If you can store the big sofa and get some furniture that makes it look more cosy and welcoming and light it better so it feels like a nice space.

I am not being gratuitous, it is my honest reaction.:):A

DRP

welshgirl78 wrote: »

Aargh DRP as well, please elaborate!!

(thank you for the warning, this is what I don't understand!)

The policy will cover you against the risk of the local council taking enforcement action for breaching building regulations.

If they already know about the 'breach' then obviously it isn't something you can insure against...