Propoerty marketed as a 3-bed but in fact a 2-bed with loft room

burnoutbabe

kakasha wrote: »

Of course I didn't know that - we thought we were buying a 3-bed house as this is how the property was being advertised and talked about by the agent. Otherwise I wouldn't have started this threat.

We're no building experts and didn't realise that what the agency was calling the 3rd bedroom is in fact just a loft storage room. You would have thought they know what they're talking about right?

but didn't you see the property and therefore know bedroom 3 was in the loft, off bedroom 2? so therefore not really a proper bedroom at all.

kakasha

burnoutbabe wrote: »

but didn't you see the property and therefore know bedroom 3 was in the loft, off bedroom 2? so therefore not really a proper bedroom at all.

No I was not aware of that, besides as mentioned about 4 times earlier - the property was advertised as a 3-bed house. Sorry it's the first house I'm buying in my life, and I'm neither a builder nor an architect or any sort of a property expert. I'm also not English and the rules and regulations of buying properties in the country I'm from are much more clearer than in the UK. I've been mislead by the agency, I think that's pretty clear.

DRP

burnoutbabe wrote: »

but didn't you see the property and therefore know bedroom 3 was in the loft, off bedroom 2? so therefore not really a proper bedroom at all.

how could OP know it wasn't a 'proper' bedroom? It wouldn't be obvious to your average joe what technically constitutes a bedroom...

burnoutbabe

well would you want to sleep in a bedroom that you had to pass through another bedroom to get to/from?

I'd see the rooms as linked and useful for storage/a playroom, but they couldn't be used by 2 different people comfortably with any degree of privacy (maybe 2 kids would be okay).

zzzLazyDaisy

kakasha wrote: »

I've been mislead by the agency, I think that's pretty clear.

No, you haven't. The agency is instructed by the seller to market the property on behalf of the seller. It is up to the seller to ensure that the agent is given adequate and truthful information. It turns out that the seller did not inform the estate agent that the loft room does not have building regs approval. This is the sort of information that often only comes to light when the solicitors get involved although estate agents are becoming much more savvy about these issues - mainly due to the risk of losing the sale when the messy stuff hits the fan. It may well be that the seller also didn't realise the significance as, in the past, loft rooms were not so strictly regulated, so if they bought a long time ago with the loft room already there the issue may not have arisen.

However, moving forward, please do be aware that turning the loft room into a habitable bedroom could well mean major work as one of the most important differences between a loft bedroom and a loft storage room is that the joists must be strengthened, often with steel girders, to take the weight of furniture etc. If you intend to continue with the purchase with a view to bringing the room up to the correct standard, I suggest that you get the Local Authority building inspector out to give a view on what it will take to get retrospective building approval. This will need the co-operation of the current owner as it will involve checking things like insulation and joist support, and you will need to get a builder to carry out the checks required by the LA. It costs about £450 for a site visit from the Building Inspector, and then you have to pay the builder (ask for a list of builders who are known to the building inspector as they will know exactly what the inspector is looking for).

It is an expense, but better to know now rather than later what the cost of taking this work on is likely to be.

Daisy

wishus

DRP wrote: »

how could OP know it wasn't a 'proper' bedroom? It wouldn't be obvious to your average joe what technically constitutes a bedroom...

I think maybe burnoutbabe meant couldn't kakasha see that it was in the loft...? i.e. when she visited the property. But it's not unusual these days not to - even if it does mean you are taking more of a risk.

My friend is house-hunting in Bucks - popular for commuters down to London - and told me recently that before she'd managed to look at a property new to the market by a day, someone had put in an offer over the asking price just based on where it was.

From what my friend was told, the buyers would have had an awful lot of work to. Similar houses in the area are lovely, but this one had maintenance issues that needed addressing urgently, and had been inhabited by hoarders of an extreme sort, so needed a good clean and clear out too.

kakasha

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

No, you haven't. The agency is instructed by the seller to market the property on behalf of the seller. It is up to the seller to ensure that the agent is given adequate and truthful information.

Daisy

I have been mislead. I'm going to quote the conversation my partner had with the agent over the phone:

- Hi, we've just received the valuation and it came almost £30k below what we've offered... do you know why that might have been?
Agent - Hmmm... that's probably because the 3rd bedroom is not really a bedroom but just a loft room.
- OK...

kakasha

burnoutbabe wrote: »

well would you want to sleep in a bedroom that you had to pass through another bedroom to get to/from?

As I've already explained - the walk-through bedroom would be my son's (not even born yet so I don't think he'll mind someone walking through his room when he's only a few years old), plus the loft was supposed to be an additional bedroom - i.e. a guest room. I don't have guests staying over every weekend, probably once in a month or maybe even less so I don't really see that as an issue.

The issue is THE PRICE of the house. We offered a price for a 3-bed but are now getting a 2-bed and that's a substantial difference.

zzzLazyDaisy

kakasha wrote: »

The issue is THE PRICE of the house. We offered a price for a 3-bed but are now getting a 2-bed and that's a substantial difference.

Well reduce your offer then. Or look for another more suitable house. The house is worth what you are willing to pay for it - no more, no less. If this sale falls through the seller will have the same problem with the next buyer.

DRP

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

Well reduce your offer then. Or look for another more suitable house. The house is worth what you are willing to pay for it - no more, no less. If this sale falls through the seller will have the same problem with the next buyer.

harumph...it 's worth what the buyer and seller agree to!

the next buyer *may* decide to pay more...