Planning permission for Garage conversion or is it a garage?

pmlindyloo

Please explain exactly what has been done.

Is there still a garage door? Has an inside wall been knocked down to go through to the TV room/garage? Or is it a stand alone garage?

Answering these will decide whether it needs building regs.

We retained the garage door, left 6 feet behind the door for storage, put up inside wall and knocked through from inside to create a dining room.

We did not need planning permission but needed building regs.

Depending on what you want to do/what it currently is - room/garage (see above) - then there may not be a problem.

suvp

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Please explain exactly what has been done.

Is there still a garage door? Has an inside wall been knocked down to go through to the TV room/garage? Or is it a stand alone garage?

Answering these will decide whether it needs building regs.

We retained the garage door, left 6 feet behind the door for storage, put up inside wall and knocked through from inside to create a dining room.

We did not need planning permission but needed building regs.

Depending on what you want to do/what it currently is - room/garage (see above) - then there may not be a problem.

Hi the garage door still exists on the front, with some storage space. behind which is a wooden wall. the inside of the garage has been kitted out with a home theatre system and lighting and radiator and furnished to make it into a tv room. I understand from reading the previous posts and yours that this does not need planning permission. but in the draft contract papers that have been sent in there is a section which says please provide copies of planning permission/ building reg approval and completion cert - they have noted that 'it is still a garage'.
my solicitor says that is still not a habitable space and has to notify the lender which may or maynot change the value of the property.

PS: the garage is attached to the property so there is access to it from inside the house through a doorway next to the foyer.

Surrey_EA

suvp wrote: »

my solicitor says that is still not a habitable space and has to notify the lender which may or maynot change the value of the property.

Has the mortgage valuation been carried out yet?

Doozergirl

Surrey_EA wrote: »

If the conversion was done more than 12 months ago then the local authority cannot take any enforcement action. However, you then are left with the problem of whether the conversion was done to an acceptable standard.

There is no time limit on enforcement action for building regulations. After 12 months they can't do it via a simple
method, they would need a court order. However unlikely this is to occur for a minor breach, there is not a time limit.

Surrey_EA wrote: »

If they didn't bother doing things correctly for the garage conversion, is it likely they did for the conservatory?

Conservatories are exempt from building regulations so you'd never expect them to comply. Comparing a conservatory to a garage conversion is like comparing apples with oranges.

Davesnave

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Depending on what you want to do/what it currently is - room/garage (see above) - then there may not be a problem.

However, if it's recent and not properly converted, problems arising from using it as a room rather than a garage may not have had time to become apparent.

As an example, my garage was single skin brick and not noticeably damp, but with the typical draughty garage door in place, there was always much more air circulating than there would be in a typical TV room.
If I'd converted it without double skinning the walls and adding insulation to them, (and to the floor and ceiling) there would have been large cold surfaces for the warm air in the house to condense on and less air circulation. In other words, the walls would have become damp and mouldy in winter time.

Doozergirl

suvp wrote: »

Hi the garage door still exists on the front, with some storage space. behind which is a wooden wall. the inside of the garage has been kitted out with a home theatre system and lighting and radiator and furnished to make it into a tv room. I understand from reading the previous posts and yours that this does not need planning permission. but in the draft contract papers that have been sent in there is a section which says please provide copies of planning permission/ building reg approval and completion cert - they have noted that 'it is still a garage'.
my solicitor says that is still not a habitable space and has to notify the lender which may or maynot change the value of the property.

PS: the garage is attached to the property so there is access to it from inside the house through a doorway next to the foyer.

So, they clearly haven't done it to regulations but have decided that instead of trying to say it's been done properly but not via the correct channels, they've just backed down and said it isn't a room.

Easier for you as they've just admitted to it holding no value as a room. Potential for renegotiation there.

It isn't hard to create a compliant garage conversion. Does it have a window? Is it integral to the house, with rooms above or is it planted on the side? The main compliance issues are means of escape in a fire (compliant window), fireproofing from the actual garage area and insulation.

It's unlikely that anyone will ever make you remove it, but it sounds like it's superficially built anyway. You want to be safe in it.

Surrey_EA

Doozergirl wrote: »

There is no time limit on enforcement action for building regulations. After 12 months they can't do it via a simple
method, they would need a court order. However unlikely this is to occur for a minor breach, there is not a time limit.

Apologies, you are quite right.

Doozergirl wrote: »

Conservatories are exempt from building regulations so you'd never expect them to comply. Comparing a conservatory to a garage conversion is like comparing apples with oranges.

Perhaps I poorly worded my earlier post. The conservatory may have needed planning permission, particularly if PD rights had been removed, which appears to be the case here. I was not suggesting that building regs were required, more that the correct procedures may not have been followed.

I was not seeking to compare a garage conversion to a conservatory, more making a general comment to suggest that if a homeowner does not follow the correct procedure for one alteration, they may not for a separate alteration.

pmlindyloo

I think the question here is what you want to use it for. If you want to have it as a garage then knocking down the wall behind the garage and blocking up the internal door (opening?) will turn it back into a garage and there would be no problems regarding building regs.

If you want to use it as a TV room then you might have a problem.

I suspect this is what the EA means - that they are advertising it as a garage as they realise that building regs have not been adhered to.

To be honest, if you want it as a TV room then I would walk away as to make it adhere to building regs would require a decent amount of money (although you may be prepared to do this, if so, not a problem.) If you intend to do this it might be worth getting a builder in to see how much it would cost to redo it to building regs.

Doozergirl

Surrey_EA wrote: »

Apologies, you are quite right.




Perhaps I poorly worded my earlier post. The conservatory may have needed planning permission, particularly if PD rights had been removed, which appears to be the case here. I was not suggesting that building regs were required, more that the correct procedures may not have been followed.

I was not seeking to compare a garage conversion to a conservatory, more making a general comment to suggest that if a homeowner does not follow the correct procedure for one alteration, they may not for a separate alteration.

Ah, likewise. I read along the lines that 'they had already asked for PP' and thought th vendor had asked the local authority already and done that correctly, but reading again, it's that the OP appears to have asked the vendor for the paperwork.

suvp

Doozergirl wrote: »

So, they clearly haven't done it to regulations but have decided that instead of trying to say it's been done properly but not via the correct channels, they've just backed down and said it isn't a room.

Easier for you as they've just admitted to it holding no value as a room. Potential for renegotiation there.

It isn't hard to create a compliant garage conversion. Does it have a window? Is it integral to the house, with rooms above or is it planted on the side? The main compliance issues are means of escape in a fire (compliant window), fireproofing from the actual garage area and insulation.

It's unlikely that anyone will ever make you remove it, but it sounds like it's superficially built anyway. You want to be safe in it.

It does not have a window there is a doorway into the foyer by the main door.
the thought of renegotiation has crossed my mind but is there a guide on how much can be knocked off because the room is now a garage?