Loft conversion with basics

magn8p

Hi all,

I have come across several posts about Loft conversion but most of them seem to pretty old, so I just thought of writing here to learn about the current market.

I have a 3 bed end-terrace house and I would like to convert the loft into a home theater. So I would like to stick to the basics. So please can you give me your insights into the following areas.

1. Gain planning permission - I live in a new development (5 yr old house) where loft conversions are quite common and I intend to fit only 4 Velux sky windows, would I still need to apply for a planning permission?
2. Truss loft - The truss loft support mechanism needs to be substituted with steel support - do I need building regulation in place?
3. Cost - For planning to completion, how much do you think it will cost me for my requirement? Just so that you know, I live in East Cambridgeshire.
4. Future improvement - The plan is to stick to basics - so I have decided not to go for a dormer window or an ensuite or walls separating rooms etc. However, if I intend to use the converted loft as a bedroom in the future and install a dormer window and an ensuite - would it still be economical - i.e. Doing it in 2 installments rather than spending £30,000+ in one go.

Thanks in anticipation.

mags.

Furts

New houses tend to be small, and I suspect this is the case with your roofspace. This means you would end up with a room in your roof but also loose one below (which would become your stairs and landing.)

You may be thinking of a loft ladder getting you into the new roof room, but these are entirely unsuitable for children, elderly, infirm and Buildings Regulations. You need a proper stairs and landing.

The bottom line will be spending a lot of money and still ending up with a three bed terrace house. Not a wise investment decision, but the figures may work out OK. This depends on items we do not know - desirability of the home, location, floor area...

magn8p

Thanks for your kind response.

The floor area is roughly 35 sq. mts. Attached is the current floor plan. I thought the stairs to the loft would take off from in front of the bathroom conveniently on top of the current stairs. Of course, the loft landing will need sufficient headroom and I thought a double-kit staircase will take care of it.

Please correct me if my assumptions are wrong.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzZtpskPzlFY3dSWTkydTVEeGs/view

Also, just so that you know, some of the houses in our development with a similar floorplan have bedroom in the loft - built that way by the developer (Taylor Wimpey) and the roof is quite high, >= 2.8 Mts.

Hoploz

You'll need building regs as it is a structural change. You can add velux windows under permitted development at the moment, also dormers on the back but you need planning permission for a dormer on the front. This may change over time as PD gets updated from time to time.

Best to get a specialist to do some plans for you, they know what they are doing with positioning stairs etc.

Even though it's not going to be a bedroom, you'll need to reinforce the ceiling joists for the floor. You suggest possible changes to the roof structure also. This seems like a huge waste of money to me unless it's done properly - a proper loft conversion would ideally have potential incorporate both bedroom and bathroom so I think it would be worth considering a plan for this at the same time. You wouldn't need to put the walls up and bathroom in, but if you ensured the space was suitably planned and laid-out at the first stage it would make it easier later on to add the dormers or whatever.

The common problem when selling is when the loft is half-converted, and building regs are not followed or it hasn't been signed off properly by the building inspector. You get questions about whether it is genuinely classed as a bedroom, if not why not etc. Make sure you do a decent job with the structure and paperwork, and it'll mean you don't suffer headaches later on when you want to convert it to a bedroom, or when you sell and the next person is thinking of it.

brightontraveller

Its far cheaper to build log cabin in garden or move, Its unusual for a recent development where they haven’t crammed in as much as they can normally its because that it wasn’t financially viable to do so and five years on things wouldn't have changed that much...

magn8p

Thanks a ton for that!

Indeed, I don't intend to cut corners when it comes to structural integrity of the house. I will make sure the ceiling joists are installed and get necessary building regs sign off done.

Your point is very valid - getting planning, keeping future plans in mind.

Do you know how much it is going to cost - only a ballpark figure of course?

Hoploz

Yes I agree with brightontraveller. That's what I meant by it being a waste of money to do all the work properly, just for a cinema room. A cinema room for occasional use could probably be little more than a boarded out loft - but this is where the problems arise as when you sell the EA will inevitably list it as a bedroom, resulting in the problems I mentioned.

If you actually just want a cinema room a large shed/log cabin is a much cheaper idea. For 5-10k it could be all-singing-all-dancing. Depending on how much of a garden you have to begin with. (if it leaves little garden you'd be devaluing the house)

brightontraveller

magn8p wrote: »

Thanks a ton for that!

Indeed, I don't intend to cut corners when it comes to structural integrity of the house. I will make sure the ceiling joists are installed and get necessary building regs sign off done.

Your point is very valid - getting planning, keeping future plans in mind.

Do you know how much it is going to cost - only a ballpark figure of course?

You sought of already have a good indicator the difference in value when you first purchased from the ones that have loft converted, Works are rarely going to be cheaper as you don’t have buying power of TW, the cheap labour force, and you re going to be removing and replacing twice the work..... Hence the move or log cabin both would be cheaper

magn8p

Thanks again.

What if I rent the converted loft room instead? A decent sized double bedroom goes for about £450 a month in our area.

Let's say I spend £20,000 for the conversion, do you think an ROI of 36 months is realistic? If it bumps up the value of the house by 10 to 20%, I wouldn't mind that either ;-)

Furts

magn8p wrote: »

Thanks again.

What if I rent the converted loft room instead? A decent sized double bedroom goes for about £450 a month in our area.

Let's say I spend £20,000 for the conversion, do you think an ROI of 36 months is realistic? If it bumps up the value of the house by 10 to 20%, I wouldn't mind that either ;-)

Taking a quick look at your link my gut reaction is everything about your proposal does not stack up. Everything from not being able to locate the new stairs above the existing stairs, to loosing the bathroom, (or bed 3) in order to try and do this, to the stairs running counter to the roof pitch (you will hit your head) to the new bathroom in the roof (what headroom will exist?), to making your NHBC warranty void, to needing a new roof...the list goes on.

Modern builders such as yours are genius at squeezing a quart into a pint pot, but the brutal truth is you really only have a two bed home at present. With a 35 metre square footprint (your figures) unless you are in a very expensive location the figures are not going to stack up. The sensible answer would be to move to one of the nearby homes that were built with a room in the roof.

If you are in an expensive area I would not be surprised if the work came in at least £30000, and you will end up with no more bedrooms and little extra usable floor space.

magn8p

Thanks for sharing your insights.