Indemnity policies on house I want to buy

davidmcn

sarah124562 wrote: »

Good point about building regulations regarding the commercial to residential change. The planning permission is documented but I checked the building control register for the local council and nothing is there?! I wonder if regulations should be involved in this type of work?

It would seem very unlikely that it's possible to convert from a shop to a house without doing something which ought to involve building control. Have you seen plans with the planning consent to see what changes in layout etc were done? It's possible that nothing significant was done to the attic, but at least the council would have been aware that there was already an attic room which was (probably) going to be used as a habitable room.

sarah124562

Thanks @AdrianC - very helpful! Maybe I'm overthinking it 🤔

sarah124562

Hmm strange, just read the planning permission proposal response for turning it from a shop to a residential home and they described the building as "two-storey"... Not sure if this implies the staircase was not previously there or if it means a loft conversion can't be classified as a three-storey, OR if it means the council never actually checked the premises?! The work was allowed but that's where the documentation ends - no building regs or any letter indicating completion etc. 😑

davidmcn

An attic isn't necessarily a "storey".

Cakeguts

davidmcn wrote: »

An attic isn't necessarily a "storey".

But what happens if the house is being described as 3 storey? This would cause confusion to a first time buyer?

sarah124562

Hi guys

A quick update on this. My mortgage advisor has said it will be fine in terms of getting a mortgage, my only issue is the description of it being a two bed house when it is legally a one bed house with a loft conversion.

I am personally happy to buy if a structural engineer can confirm it is safe to use as a bedroom or study area, so the owners are currently looking for documentation and if they can't find it, they will get a surveyor in. This of course won't change the fact that it's a one bedroom house in the law's eyes.

My question now is whether it is likely to qualify for building regs. Will it be checked against building regs for back in the day or for today's regs if no proof of when built? I believe by looks alone it should be compliant, my only issue is it doesnt have a fire door as it's an open plan bedroom with an open staircase. It does have a self closing door which shuts off rhe living room from the kitchen however if this counts as the fire exit.

Several people i have spoken to recently have had the same issue however their house has more bedrooms so won't have the limited market if I did buy the house and then resell as a one bed.

G_M

Employ your own surveyor.


If the seller agrees to pay, fine, but he should be working for, and report to, you.

Cakeguts

sarah124562 wrote: »

Hi guys

A quick update on this. My mortgage advisor has said it will be fine in terms of getting a mortgage, my only issue is the description of it being a two bed house when it is legally a one bed house with a loft conversion.

I am personally happy to buy if a structural engineer can confirm it is safe to use as a bedroom or study area, so the owners are currently looking for documentation and if they can't find it, they will get a surveyor in. This of course won't change the fact that it's a one bedroom house in the law's eyes.

My question now is whether it is likely to qualify for building regs. Will it be checked against building regs for back in the day or for today's regs if no proof of when built? I believe by looks alone it should be compliant, my only issue is it doesnt have a fire door as it's an open plan bedroom with an open staircase. It does have a self closing door which shuts off rhe living room from the kitchen however if this counts as the fire exit.

Several people i have spoken to recently have had the same issue however their house has more bedrooms so won't have the limited market if I did buy the house and then resell as a one bed.

Right so the fact that it doesn't have a fire door means that it is not compliant and not safe for someone to sleep in. So what the house actually has is a nice loft for storage that is easy to get to but which is not up to the fire requirements for a bedroom. Now the problem is that if they haven't put in a firedoor there is also the possibility that they also haven't put in enough insulation either so it could be freezing in winter and boiling in the summer which will mean that you can't even use it comfortably as an extra room and can only use it for extra storage.



Get your own surveyor to check this as it seems that the vendors have already been economical with the truth by showing the house with a bed in the loft. A loft that doesn't meet fire regulations for sleeping in.

sarah124562

Thanks for the advice on getting my own surveyor. I don't like the idea of a seller who's a landlord getting their own surveyor and then reporting back to me.

The storeys all have fire alarms which I have read makes it exempt from the rule to add fire doors, but this could be wrong. I would be happy to invest money in the property to bring it up to regs, but ideally I'd like to spend no more than 15k and I'm not sure if this is very optimistic towards an old unregulated loft conversion!