Dream home has no building regs for loft conversion - please help!

shays_mum

Pull out completely and lose my 'dream house'.

I am in the process of doing a loft conversion, the clearance of the fire door missed by a few inches, no builder i asked to quote would touch the job without an additional dormer/gable end factored in the price, mentioning building regs would not pass their job.

OP its certainly a beautiful house. My 2p worth, the open plan looks super, but how is it being supported?. I am doing the same at the moment, the number of lintels, beams being used are unbelievable considering it seems smaller than yours.

The loft is an issue for me, i would not be able so sleep at night if i thought i had bought from a builder who had no thought to his family's safety let alone mine!.

Also for that amount of money the garden seems abit small for a family house?.

I spent almost a decade looking for "my dream house", in the end, i bought one that i am doing up to suit me & had to compromise on other things, but hey! once we finish it will be to a standard that i could live in & more importantly sell on.

You could get a valuation done, but down the expensive road of buying, either your solicitor or the mortgage company will be asking you the same questions as highlighted by our fellow MSE's.

Good luck, whatever you do. Don't forget the builder will say whatever he has too to sell it, your going to be the one who is left at the end of it, in essentially what seems to be unsaleable house.

hazyjo

Pull out completely and lose my 'dream house'.

My friend had a house a while back which didn't meet with regs - they'd done a loft conversion and taken a wall out downstairs. When they sold, they reinstated the wall (even though they hated it).

Surely any builder would have done the same? Or at least put he wall in (albeit temporarily) to get the works signed off, then taken it out later if that's all that stopped them getting the approval?

As for the other buyer... did they even exist?

The reason you can't find anything in your price bracket is because four bed houses are worth more. I think we get that - the market around there is pricey, and generally desirable.

Ask yourself why this is 'so affordable' compared to other properties (and why it's not been snapped up, and even had its asking price reduced).

Have you checked it out on property bee to see exactly what other marketing changes were made by the EA? How long it's been on market, etc? (You need firefox, or maybe someone here will do it for you.)

Does he have other certificates (FENSA for windows, etc)? Electrical works' certificate?

As I've tried to say before, these things make it more SELLABLE - they don't necessarily add value. I see not much has sold in the road so it's hard to compare, but do yourself a favour and check out sold prices of nearby similar 3 bed houses on zoopla and compare.

Jx

Errata

As for the other buyer... did they even exist?

That's a difficult one, the EA's website says it's SSTC so who knows.

shays_mum

Pull out completely and lose my 'dream house'.

Whenever i have bought a house noone has bought up needing certificates for windows,boilers etc :eek:.

Just as well the boilers/electrics being ripped out!. Windows clearly have Anglian Windows printed on the inside seal of doors & windows, so i suppose that's ok.

Did do full surveys though, at the end of the day they are my houses & my investments/pensions so think worth paying the extra.

shortchanged_2

Pull out completely and lose my 'dream house'.

lessonlearned wrote: »

Unfortunately - despite all the gee-gaws, I don't think the surveyor is going to give it a high enough valuation, firstly because of the loft room issue but also because Agas and TV's do not add value to the structure.

I think the OP has fallen in love with the house and has been somewhat seduced by it's gloss and glamour. What's needed is for the Op to step back a little and mentally strip it out of it's furniture, toys and gizmos. Then they need to work out how much it will cost to comply with current regs because without that resale may prove extremely difficult.

I think this is a very important point lessonlearned.

Why would a surveyor add value to a property for things that can be easily removed and sold off.

To be honest stuff like that would put me off because I see it as a total waste of money. You can get a perfectly good cooker or tv for a fraction of that price. So using them as a bargaining tool to obtain a higher price is pointless in my eyes because simple fact is I wouldn't want them anyway.

PasturesNew

I am staggered that you're asking.... you've a stamp duty bill of £21,400 on its way to you and you're wondering whether to have it valued at a cost of £800?

The valuation would, at least, give you a real value and a potential way of reducing the costs through being misled.

Dan-Dan

A fool and their money..

PasturesNew

Dan-Dan wrote: »

A fool and their money..

I want to know how fools GET so much money!!

Dan-Dan

bloody good question!

housebuyer77_2

hazyjo wrote: »

My friend had a house a while back which didn't meet with regs - they'd done a loft conversion and taken a wall out downstairs. When they sold, they reinstated the wall (even though they hated it).

Surely any builder would have done the same? Or at least put he wall in (albeit temporarily) to get the works signed off, then taken it out later if that's all that stopped them getting the approval?

As for the other buyer... did they even exist?

The reason you can't find anything in your price bracket is because four bed houses are worth more. I think we get that - the market around there is pricey, and generally desirable.

Ask yourself why this is 'so affordable' compared to other properties (and why it's not been snapped up, and even had its asking price reduced).

Have you checked it out on property bee to see exactly what other marketing changes were made by the EA? How long it's been on market, etc? (You need firefox, or maybe someone here will do it for you.)

Does he have other certificates (FENSA for windows, etc)? Electrical works' certificate?

As I've tried to say before, these things make it more SELLABLE - they don't necessarily add value. I see not much has sold in the road so it's hard to compare, but do yourself a favour and check out sold prices of nearby similar 3 bed houses on zoopla and compare.

Jx

Evening all

So I have an update on the situation....

The vendor has since responded to a load of questions, and included some photos that show the works as they were done. They clearly show the roof coming off and being replaced, steels going into the loft, everything stripped back to basically 4 walls and concrete floors. The house looked like a very ordinary 50s detached house with a separate garage before the works started. So I'm satisfied that a huge program of works has been done on top of the 'superficial' finish.

The vendor explained deviations to the approved plans by saying that planning law allows you to make small changes to agreed plans without having to go back and resubmit planning permission. He says the inspectors on their visits discussed and agreed those changes.

The building inspector went round for many visits in total during the works, but did not go back for the final visit for completion, as that was the point where he deviated from the works by not constructing the hallway and not putting on fire doors etc. It seems crazy when you put it like that, but I genuinely wonder if this could just be genuine in that he never expected to move and wanted it how he wanted it.

He is willing to obtain a gas certificate for the new boiler and an electrical safety certificate. He says the sash windows were bespoke and not from a FENSA supplier; his carpenter installed them as part of the works; he has the invoice for the windows but no regulations certificate. I am quite reassured by these aspects.

The one major point of contention is that he maintains that the building was built to regulations and that the regulations were passed (he is referring to the plans being passed of course not the completion cert). That is of course not correct as per the many posts on here, without regs it is not a bedroom full stop. On that point I agree.

As for the info requested above, it was on the market 3.5 weeks at £610 then reduced to £595 and got the offers from the other party and ourselves that same week. Someone mentioned I can't get another 4 bed at that price because they are more expensive in this area. That is my whole point - I could not afford a house like this in the more affluent areas, where for the money there you may have a compliant loft but a much smaller house with 70s decor, nasty bathrooms and kitchens.

We have been looking for 6 months but nothing we have seen in that time comes anywhere close to this place. If I can satisfy myself the rest of the work is good e.g. through a structural survey, and obtained a reduction on the price sufficient to pay for the reg work then what is so bad about that? I know many on here think that's crazy but I'm sure if you took a close look at this place in person then many would change their opinions?