Pulling out at a very late stage due to no exchange

notanewuser

KatieDee wrote: »

3 bedrooms have been declared, the loft was sold as "storage with a view to extend" or something along those lines. The issue is the enormous wooden ladder they've stuck leading up to it, which cannot be moved (put away).

It was a staircase earlier, now its a ladder. Which is it?

KatieDee

notanewuser wrote: »

It was a staircase earlier, now its a ladder. Which is it?

I don't know how you'd describe it...it's a big wooden thing that is fixed in place, with wooden slats you can stand on which eventually lead you up to the loft. I seem to remember it having a banister if that makes a difference? It doesn't move and there is no door blocking it off.

BitterAndTwisted

If you pull out now I can almost guarantee that you'll still be living with your in-laws by July.

By the way: is this a "big staircase" or a "ladder"? It can't be both. A ladder isn't usually structural so is unlikely to require adherence to buildings regs either.

Worry_Wart

I'm a FTB and was supposed to be in my new house by the end of December at the insistence of the sellers. I moved me, my boyf, and two cats out of our lovely rental at the end of Jan and we've been living in a horrible temporary rental ever since, finally due to complete after Easter. Just be glad you have in-laws to live with, it could be a lot worse!

People don't buy houses very often, so the process is fraught with problems and misunderstandings. My advice is to just drink some wine and chill out. Maybe get your other half to deal with it for a while, and take a step back? I've gained far too many grey hairs in the process of my house purchase, but I made a conscious decision to stop stressing a couple of months ago and it's worked.

Voyager2002

For anyone else reading this and about to buy, there is a clear moral... stay in your rented home until you have exchanged contracts. It doesn't matter what your vendor says, nothing is definite until exchange.

Southernlass

I think it would be madness to pull out of a purchase just because its delayed for a week or two though. If there are other problems then fair enough, but not just because delayed.

KatieDee

Worry_Wart wrote: »

I'm a FTB and was supposed to be in my new house by the end of December at the insistence of the sellers. I moved me, my boyf, and two cats out of our lovely rental at the end of Jan and we've been living in a horrible temporary rental ever since, finally due to complete after Easter. Just be glad you have in-laws to live with, it could be a lot worse!

People don't buy houses very often, so the process is fraught with problems and misunderstandings. My advice is to just drink some wine and chill out. Maybe get your other half to deal with it for a while, and take a step back? I've gained far too many grey hairs in the process of my house purchase, but I made a conscious decision to stop stressing a couple of months ago and it's worked.

You like cats and you advised me to drink wine...:T

We have two cats but they're living with my parents at the moment...moving into the house means we can be reunited and have cat cuddles!

Just got off the phone to my lovely solicitor. Problem is, they referred to it as a "staircase" in their response which means she felt the need to follow it up. She asked me (as many of you have done) whether it was a ladder or a staircase and I said I honestly couldn't say and wouldn't want to.

She said if we were happy to go along with the property as a three bedroom (which is all we want it for) then she could proceed but has advised that we at least wait for the vendors to respond. The cost for the insurance is around £191 which they will knock off the purchase price. She said this at least covers us if the council get a bit nosy and potentially condemn the room.

She explained that because they have separated out the loft into separate rooms and added lighting, this should have been put forward for planning permission, however, as long as they agree then it shouldn't be an issue. If we want to change the rooms to living areas later on, we will have to put a full planning application in.

So...she still thinks we're fine for the 7th and assured me that no alternative offers should be made at this point. She'll contact me by Wednesday if she hasn't heard anything as she'll have to get the mortgage company to cancel the transfer.

Feeling a bit calmer right now...still nervous about buying but at least I know it's a bit straight forward than I anticipated.

Thank you so much for your advice guys.

franklee

KatieDee wrote: »

It was picked up on the survey which was emailed to the solicitors but I am led to believe that during the survey, they stated it was for storage only? The vendors solicitors then mentioned they built a big staircase leading up (God knows why) and this has apparently caused the issue.

Surely you saw the stairs during viewings? As did your surveyor and so that issue should have been looked into when you got the survey back. I suggest you see what your surveyor said about it and then ring him for further advice.

The insurance will have a limited use. It won't address repairs needed to the structure or your safety so you need to look after those for yourself. Frankly I'd say you need to make sure it's not a fire risk to you for how you plan to live there. Also if there's an open door to the loft is that going to cost a lot to keep the property warm? I suppose not if you are going to do a proper loft conversion soon. Also I wonder why the vendor didn't finish the loft. Have you checked you can get all the permissions to do the work you want?

KatieDee

franklee wrote: »

Surely you saw the stairs during viewings? As did your surveyor and so that issue should have been looked into when you got the survey back. I suggest you see what your surveyor said about it and then ring him for further advice.

The insurance will have a limited use. It won't address repairs needed to the structure or your safety so you need to look after those for yourself. Frankly I'd say you need to make sure it's not a fire risk to you for how you plan to live there.

Surveyor said that the loft was only declared as storage space. I seem to remember this was the only comment he made about that space, possibly that future planning permission would be required should we choose to live up there (we won't).

What I think we'll do is probably remove the ladder/staircase once we've settled in as it doesn't look very good. It's not really in the way (really wide landing) but it's incredibly steep and I personally wouldn't feel comfortable if anybody I cared about how to climb it. I honestly can't understand why they thought it was a good idea (maybe convenience at the time?!) but I could definitely see it causing issues if the council did get involved.

So yeah, we might apply for permission to change it if necessary, take it down and put an extending ladder there for the meantime until we can afford to do a bit more. I would like to add on additional bedrooms in the future but appreciate this would be an expensive job given we would need approved fire doors and what not. It's just a shame they didn't just leave the loft at being boarded!

Doozergirl

DRP wrote: »

does a ladder require building regs?

No. To all intents and purposes it's a posh loft ladder for easy access if the house is not being sold with a loft conversion. If it is not a loft conversion, then building regs do not have to be met for one! An alternating tread staircase would meet building regs for one flight of stairs to a loft conversion though.

If I were the vendor I'd argue, but purchase the indemnity insurance if it's necessary just to push the sale forward.