Buying: Regularisation and loft without regs

LME_2

Hi there,

Please could you help.

We are buying a house which has a loft conversion which was done in 1993.
It was done by the buyer before the current owner.

The homebuyers report said to check whether it had building regulations approval. The seller said it didn't need them, but advice from the council confirmed it does.

I approached the council and asked about regularisation - getting a sort of retrospective building approval.

They said - "A regularisation is normally submitted by the owner. Once the application is deposited with us we can inspect within 48hrs. We would then determine if the works is compliant or what needs to be altered to comply. If everything is complaint we issue a regularisation certificate, so it could all be resolved within a week. If things are wrong it is then down to how fast the remedial works are re done and we then reinspect.

"With lofts, structural calculations are often required to justify steel beams used. It is better to get this sorted before the application comes in , rather than submit an application and then we come to site and ask for them, which would delay matters whilst the calculations were prepared.

"Sometimes the owner submits the application, we then inspect and produce a things to do list. The purchaser can then decide, if they want to finish the items after purchase, reducing the purchase price accordingly. But at least you know what you are letting yourself in for."

So, upshot is that applying for this might only delay things by a week or two. We didn't think this was unreasonable, so approached the seller to ask them to apply for this.

Seller's solicitor said no, and something to the effect of it having been up there for 20-odd years, and "it is what it is".

We aren't worried about it falling down (it has been up for so long now) but are worried about when we come to sell. There is no evidence that it has been installed properly, and if it is worrying us, it could worry any potential buyer in the future.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Many thanks
Laura

hazyjo

Without it, you can only sell as boarded useable loft space. Same as they should be selling it to you as...


They can't really call it a bedroom, so don't pay for it. If it's a 3 bed house with a boarded loft, you pay for a 3 bed house, not a 4 (maybe more if you want to use the space as it's obviously all been boarded for you).

Jx

jimbog

It is what it is, i.e. not a bedroom and readjust price accordingly

DRP

Are you getting a mortgage?

If so, you will need to tell your mortgage co. If you like a gamble, you can give the vendor the options: Please either regularise the loft or take the risk of my mortgage co wanting to re-value the house (delay and potential reduction in value).

They might tell you to shove it, or it may convince them to get it done.

Our vendors regularised and it cost them over 2 grand altogether.

david1951

Reduce your offer in light of this new information and see how they respond.

Remind them that the problem will be the mortgage company, and this will be the case for all buyers with a mortgage.

They can accept the offer or hold out for a cash buyer who is also an idiot (fairly rare)

nicmyles

This would generally be handled through the vendor buying an indemnity insurance policy. This would cover you up to the full value of the property in the event of any intervention from the council about works done with no building regs. Doesn't help you if it falls down, but you say you're not worried about that.

Honestly unless it appears to obviously be non-compliant with issues around access, head height, etc., I also wouldn't be losing too much sleep over it being described as a room.

In reality this is not a major issue, particularly given the age of the conversion, I suppose UNLESS the reason your surveyor has raised it is because he thinks it is unlikely to have been compliant from inspecting it. Might be more of a worry then.

I bought and sold my flat with no regs for a historical loft conversion with no issues.

Hoploz

Yes the usual way around this is by getting an indemnity policy in place, which can be paid for either by the seller or the buyer.

When you discussed with the council, did you give them the address, or did you keep it theoretical? If the council have been notified then it would nullify any indemnity policy.

Cakeguts

Make sure that you are paying for a house with a loft conversion. For example if the house was built originally as a 2 bed house and the loft conversion gives you 3 bedrooms make sure that you are not paying the same price as a purpose built 3 bed house. A 2 bed house with a loft conversion can never become a 3 bed house it can only ever be a 2 bed house with a loft conversion. Only buy it if it is cheaper than a purpose built house. Whatever the condition of the loft conversion this is only ever going to be a house with a loft conversion so you need to make sure that you only pay for a house with a loft conversion.