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3rd bedroom - not technically a bedroom ..what to do next?!!
wench90
Posts: 104 Forumite
Hi
Just wanted to get peoples thoughts on the situation we are currently finding ourselves in b/c we're a bit stuck.
We're in process of buying a (what we thought) was a three bedroom house and had an offer accepted on £152k. We have paid our around £800 already for valuation, survey and deposit for solics fees.
However our survey was done this week and the surveyor has stated in his report that one of the rooms isn't technically "habitable". On further investigation with our surveyor and a structural engineer mate of ours it appears that the particular room wouldn't meet building regs as it has no window/escape route..so basically it cannot be called a bedroom and instead could only be considered a study. Despite this the surveyor did not suggest we offer less for the house and said it was a fair price which i'm not really sure how i feel about and have gone back to him to clarify this view.
We are very annoyed about this, firstly the estate agency should not have advertised it as a 3 bedroomed house in the first place, and secondly, we have already spent money on this house which we are bound to lose if we pull out now.
I have now put process on hold for a minute whilst we decide what to do next. Our biggest concern is if we go ahead and buy it in the hope we can convert the upstairs back to 3 habitable bedrooms we could be looking at a hefty bill, if it is in fact possible without compromising the rest of the bedroom sizes. We are also concerned about our ability to sell the house on as we wont really be able to market it as a 3 bedroom with the knowledge we now have of its limitations and therefore we would have to sell it as a two bedroom with a study which feels very risky in terms of getting our money back in the future.
Any thoughts/advice would be great.
Just wanted to get peoples thoughts on the situation we are currently finding ourselves in b/c we're a bit stuck.
We're in process of buying a (what we thought) was a three bedroom house and had an offer accepted on £152k. We have paid our around £800 already for valuation, survey and deposit for solics fees.
However our survey was done this week and the surveyor has stated in his report that one of the rooms isn't technically "habitable". On further investigation with our surveyor and a structural engineer mate of ours it appears that the particular room wouldn't meet building regs as it has no window/escape route..so basically it cannot be called a bedroom and instead could only be considered a study. Despite this the surveyor did not suggest we offer less for the house and said it was a fair price which i'm not really sure how i feel about and have gone back to him to clarify this view.
We are very annoyed about this, firstly the estate agency should not have advertised it as a 3 bedroomed house in the first place, and secondly, we have already spent money on this house which we are bound to lose if we pull out now.
I have now put process on hold for a minute whilst we decide what to do next. Our biggest concern is if we go ahead and buy it in the hope we can convert the upstairs back to 3 habitable bedrooms we could be looking at a hefty bill, if it is in fact possible without compromising the rest of the bedroom sizes. We are also concerned about our ability to sell the house on as we wont really be able to market it as a 3 bedroom with the knowledge we now have of its limitations and therefore we would have to sell it as a two bedroom with a study which feels very risky in terms of getting our money back in the future.
Any thoughts/advice would be great.
0
Comments
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You are right, it should not have been described as a bedroom by the estate agent. However, some people (like your surveyor) value a study equally to a bedroom.
Surely you noticed there was no window in this room?
There's nothing to stop you using it as you like, it just doesn't meet current regulations for a bedroom. You can still use it as such, or as a study, or as storage, or even as a utility room for that matter. Nobody will stop you from doing so, but the rules are there for safety purposes, eg fire escape.
Could a window be installed somehow? Even a velux window can have a fire escape system (concealed rope ladder) so you may not have to move as many walls as you first think.
Did your structural engineer friend not have many ideas for solutions?0 -
Nothing has changed since you viewed it and put in an offer.
The house was worth £152k to you so you offered that, the surveyors valuation concurs, so I can't see the problem?
You now have it in writing that the third bedroom isn't technically a bedroom, but you already knew this as there was no window when you viewed it!
I agree the agent should probably not have said it was a 3 bed, but seeing as you viewed it I don't think you can blame the agent if you decide to pull out and therefore lose money.0 -
Hi
Yep we knew there wasn't any window (there is a kind of light shaft that does allow light into room but isn't an escapable route) but as building regs isn't really our forte then it did not cross our minds that this would affect its capacity to be classed as a bedroom.
Our concern is not really for now, of course we will use the room as we wish. More worrying is we are not going to be able to sell it on as a 3 bedroom property and as such this could affect its resale value and carrying out the work may be costly and given the house is only a small terraced house then we're not confident we would make that money back.
My mate hasn't seen the floor plans so is unable to assist until we have these which i have already requested. A window is not possible because the bedroom isn't on an outside wall and a velux window also isn't possible due to ceiling height and general lay out of house, and even if we could do this i am sure the costs would be astronomical.0 -
The house hasn't changed since you viewed it (and we happy enough with it to put in an offer)
The surveyor thinks it's still a fair price to pay
What's the problem? You feel you were misled - but that doesn't change the fact that you can get what you want for a fair price! What's to say that you can't re-advertise it as a 3 (or 2/3) bed as that's what it will be listed on zoopla/RightMove historical links as!0 -
If it was going to affect the resale value when you come to sell it, surely it should have also affected the value now?
Which apparently it hasn't.0 -
I guess so but I'm not convinced the surveyor has thought it through properly as he mentions it once during survey but does not follow this up at all further in the report or consider its implications for the future. I was only alerted to its future implications when I got someone else to look at his report for us who is familiar with these kind of surveys. I have asked the surveyor to clarify his position again however so we are very clear.
My concern is that two bedroomed properties don't go for this price in the area and as we are now aware of the issue I wouldn't be as bold as to allow an EA to put property on market in future as a 3 bedroom house as it isn't and legally cant be classed as such! And even if we did that surely any future buyers would experience the same concern as us when they had a survey completed. The house hasnt been on the market for 15-20 years so we are the first buyers experiencing this issue with the house. Just feels a little uncertain. But clearly no quick fix..guess we just have to decide whether to take risk or not.0 -
If, in the light of you and your mates doubts, you don't now believe the property is worth what the surveyor has valued it at then reduce your offer or pull out.
There are no other options.0 -
If it was going to affect the resale value when you come to sell it, surely it should have also affected the value now?
Which apparently it hasn't.
I must admit that thought occurred to me. Are you buying it to live in now or as a BTL? Does it meet your needs? Why worry about resale value - it'll reflect what you paid for it? I think your attitude reflects current thinking that property is an investment, but it's ultimate value is as a place to live in.0 -
silverwhistle wrote: »I think your attitude reflects current thinking that property is an investment, but it's ultimate value is as a place to live in.
Spot on. We know nothing else about this house, which may well offer great value or a really hard-to-find feature, such as a large garden.
Otherwise, if it's 'just a house' why not walk away and buy one that has 3 full bedrooms?0
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