Loft conversion..no planning or building regs!

Sabbathbabe

Back in 2003 we did a stupid thing...i employed a long standing 'friend' to do our loft conversion! He WAS a qualified builder but for some reason he decided to let us down. He ensured me he was going to sort the planning and building regs but he left the job 3/4 the way through :-/ The structural work had been done leaving some wiring/ plastering and general tidying up before disappearing! so i am assuming the loft has no certificate for the building regs. 12 years on and we have had no problems with the loft room, it has served us well as a playroom and at times a bedroom. It has a dormer at the back, wired smoke alarms and a fire door/frames, and a velux with a chain ladder. We are hoping to move soon and i'm worried about the problems this might cause with buyers! Any advice...Thank you in advance!

suisidevw

Sell it as a loft play room. It's not going to be ash getting it signed off, electrical cents etc retrospectively!

What a bad friend!

Sabbathbabe

This is what i was thinking...Thank you!

macman

Without proof of planning permission or building regs approval, you may need to provide an indemnity policy for the potential buyers. And of course some will just walk away.
You can't legally market it as a loft conversion, only as storage room. And marketing it as such won't stop the LA potentially wanting the dormers etc being removed if they breach planning guidelines.
But you 'assume' the paperwork was not done-why not check first with the LA?

leveller2911

suisidevw wrote: »

Sell it as a loft play room. It's not going to be ash getting it signed off, electrical cents etc retrospectively!

I may be wrong but I don't think the OP can market it as a "room" but can market it as a "useable space. It can only be classed as a habitable "room" if it was converted with BR approval.

Yorkie1

macman wrote: »

Without proof of planning permission or building regs approval, you may need to provide an indemnity policy for the potential buyers. And of course some will just walk away.
You can't legally market it as a loft conversion, only as storage room. And marketing it as such won't stop the LA potentially wanting the dormers etc being removed if they breach planning guidelines.
But you 'assume' the paperwork was not done-why not check first with the LA?

Just be aware that if you actually check with the LA, you remove the possibility of indemnity insurance.

Spicy_McHaggis

macman wrote: »

Without proof of planning permission or building regs approval, you may need to provide an indemnity policy for the potential buyers. And of course some will just walk away.
You can't legally market it as a loft conversion, only as storage room. And marketing it as such won't stop the LA potentially wanting the dormers etc being removed if they breach planning guidelines.
But you 'assume' the paperwork was not done-why not check first with the LA?

They haven't been a problem for the past 12 years.

Sabbathbabe

Thank you for all your replies! very helpful Thank you
If it means i would loose the option of indemnity insurance i will hang fire before contacting the LA. Does it make any difference that it was done so long ago? and that we have had no problems and the dorma is at the back ect?

Yorkie1

There are limitation periods beyond which the council can't enforce B Regs or PP, I think.

Others will confirm them hopefully - I can't remember with enough certainty to have a go at stating them here.

That being said, on the House buying board there are regular posts where the buyer's solicitor / lender has required retrospective permission or indemnity insurance, irrespective of whether the limitation period has expired. So you cannot assume that all would be well because of the passage of time.

leveller2911

Yorkie1 wrote: »

There are limitation periods beyond which the council can't enforce B Regs or PP, I think.

Others will confirm them hopefully - I can't remember with enough certainty to have a go at stating them here.

Not sure thats right Yorkie.Its still in the news about that farmer Mr Fidler (apt name) who built the castle behind the hay bales without PP. He assumed the time lapsed for action but the council have taken him to the high court so I'm not sure the time element is correct.

macman

Spicy_McHaggis wrote: »

They haven't been a problem for the past 12 years.

Correct. But that does not mean it will never be a problem in the future-and certainly it will be when the OP wants to sell it.
OP, the dormer being at the back is irrelevant, what matters is whether the work done required planning permission. It may or may not have. But it most certainly will have required building regs approval.
Was the new floor properly supported with RSJ's inserted to take the additional load? If not it's structurally unsafe.
The bottom line here is that you will take a hit on the sale price, as you cannot market it as a loft conversion, and you will have to pay for an indemnity policy for the new owner.
You can certainly apply for retrospective PP, but you won't be able to get building regs approval without dismantling large parts of the conversion-for example the floor will have to partially come up to reveal the joists and associated support. I would not be happy living in the property without knowing if the loft floor is properly supported.
However since building regs approval would have needed to be done before the floor went down, plasterboard put up, etc, you really don't know if it was processed or not.