Indemnity insurance loft conversion 1 December 2017 at 1:32PM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in House Buying, Renting & Selling 34 replies 7.3K views

pma13

Hello
Just wanted to get some advice /feedback . It's come back that the 4 bed we,re buying hasn't got building regs for loft conversion. Surveyor says he's not concerned over safety but it will incur costs to get up to building regs spec. And to be honest as this will be daughters room I am keen to do this. I gave vendor two options money off to account for work to be undertaken ( this decision wasn't taken lightly there's a lot unexpected work to do along side this ) or himself go for retrospective regs.

Anyway they've come back and said they'll purchase indemnity insurance. Yes I am happy that we're protected in case any action taken by LA but my opinion is that I am still going to be paying out more unexpected money. Am I being greedy ? Expecting too much ? Can anyone advise how to proceed even though I've told solicitor they've sent contracts this morning !

RedFraggle

So it is now a 3-bed with a "useful loft room" not a 4 bed. What impact has that on price in your area?

lincroft1710

If you are intending bringing the conversion up to BR spec then indemnity insurance is a waste of money. Actually indemnity insurance in such cases is a waste of money full stop as there is next to zero chance of a council taking action.

Ask the surveyor exactly what parts of the conversion lead him to believe there is no safety risk.

davidmcn

Is the work actually necessary? After, I suspect the rest of the property isn't up to current "building regs spec" either, but that isn't an argument for getting money off. How old is the conversion?

pma13

RedFraggle wrote: »

So it is now a 3-bed with a "useful loft room" not a 4 bed. What impact has that on price in your area?

Well yes will lower price

pma13

davidmcn wrote: »

Is the work actually necessary? After, I suspect the rest of the property isn't up to current "building regs spec" either, but that isn't an argument for getting money off. How old is the conversion?

It was done prior to 2007 and surveyor couldn't give me a estimate

bouicca21

Does the vendor have the drawings so that you can work out exactly what was done? It may be quite safe even though not up to current regs. No point in indemnit insurance.

And yes it's a 3 bed and should be priced accordingly.

Aylesbury_Duck

I'd consider revising your offer. You are now looking at a three-bed house with an accessible loft fitted out for storage. Unless you have details to show that it's safe, would you risk having your daughter sleeping up there? If it's safe, but just not compliant, that's different but until you understand why it's not compliant I would put things on hold.

glasgowdan

How old is the house? Can you ask neighbours if they know when it was converted?

There are tens/hundreds of thousands of loft conversions around the UK that have been done decades ago without building regs. They are safe, and they ARE bedrooms in every sense.

Upgrading a conversion to meet BR because you're concerned about safety is very OTT. Appoint a structural survey instead and ask if it's safe (rather than what need a done to meet building regulations).

G_M

pma13 wrote: »

......Surveyor says he's not concerned over safety but it will incur costs to get up to building regs spec.

1) Spec in 2007 when the conversion was done? Or current Building Regs spec? You could argue the former is reasonable. The latter is not.

2) Surveyor has clearly done a thorough inspection since he was prepared to write "he's not concerned over safety ". So which aspects are below the relevant spec? That obviously affects what costs you might/might not reasonably discuss. You can't jst pick a vague cost out of the air.

pma13

glasgowdan wrote: »

How old is the house? Can you ask neighbours if they know when it was converted?

There are tens/hundreds of thousands of loft conversions around the UK that have been done decades ago without building regs. They are safe, and they ARE bedrooms in every sense.

Upgrading a conversion to meet BR because you're concerned about safety is very OTT. Appoint a structural survey instead and ask if it's safe (rather than what need a done to meet building regulations).

Good idea thankyou