Loft conversion without building regs

Locornwall

Had an offer accepted on a bungalow. It has a loft conversion, which is being sold as a storage area, however has heating, electricity sockets and a toilet area. There is no building regulations certificate for this.

Any advice please.

I understand the seller can arrange for an indemnity certificate, however what implications does this have for me as a buyer? The loft is an L shape. Part of which has planning permission, as that side needs the roof rising.

davidmcn

How old is the conversion? Lack of paperwork is less relevant the older the works are.

The implications of the seller getting an indemnity policy is that it saves you from having to get it whenever a buyer or lender asks you. In practice, building control don't have hit squads coming round to enforce these things, so it's more a question of what you and your surveyor think about the quality of the work.

Locornwall

In terms of the age of the conversion, I am awaiting details. The current owners bought it just over 2 years ago and are moving on due to ill health.

I’m not sure how old google street view is, however, coincidentally, I can see there it was being done. Therefore, I would estimate between 5-10 years ago.

We are planning on doing a proper loft conversion in years to come. At the moment, it’s just a space to store things.

davidmcn

Locornwall wrote: »

I’m not sure how old google street view is

It tells you in the top left (if you use the normal browser version).

need_an_answer

Surely some of the advice given in this very recent thread,whilst not about your particular purchase will still be very relevant in terms of "information gathered from a forum"

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6028204/loft-has-no-building-regs-how-do-we-proceed


Its a subject that comes up frequently and the general consensus is usually the same if its been up a few years.

OP are you paying a premium for a property with the extended number of bedrooms or for the lesser amount of bedrooms and a loft room....that's perhaps the biggest factor to consider.


Also don't always assume that you can simply tweek the existing room into a bedroom a little down the line because you were thinking of extending and this is part done...sometimes those tweeks that are needed are more costly than starting again with a blank canvas.

Locornwall

Thanks

The question I suppose I should ask is, the loft conversion doesn’t have building regs, the seller arranges indemnity insurance, do I still buy? What work would needed to be done to rectify any problems when doing a proper loft conversion? What would happen if for example the rafters weren’t big enough and cost?

davidmcn

Locornwall wrote: »

The question I suppose I should ask is, the loft conversion doesn’t have building regs, the seller arranges indemnity insurance, do I still buy? What work would needed to be done to rectify any problems when doing a proper loft conversion? What would happen if for example the rafters weren’t big enough and cost?

That's something your surveyor should be able to advise on.

Argyle88

Us too, and we were told to ask surveyor if works actually done should have had building control consent (e.g staircase and windows up there) If not, then fine, but if consents should have been obtained then living in it or not:

- works could be a fire risk/fire escape risk
- works may be substandard too
- Council Building Control can enforce if there is still a danger
- unlawful use can void home insurance
Also:

- legal insurance pays out if Council enforce, but they are least of the worry if you do not call them out for any new works you plan, as why would they find out - instead it is still the above concerns

And - has property still been valued as if it has an extra bedroom - ask another estate agent - as could be overvalued

davidmcn

Argyle88 wrote: »

If not, then fine, but if consents should have been obtained then living in it or not:

- works could be a fire risk/fire escape risk

Something which you and/or your surveyor can figure out for yourselves.

- works may be substandard too

Consents are no guarantee of quality of work, only that the council was prepared to tick the boxes on the day they inspected to say that they passed the minimum requirements of the building regulations in force at the time. And you can't sue the council if they were wrong. And historical consents don't prove that the property hasn't deteriorated (or had other undeclared work carried out) since construction. Again, you'd be relying on your surveyor to report on the condition, in the same way that you would for the remainder of the house.

- Council Building Control can enforce if there is still a danger

Only likely to happen if something is literally likely to fall down, and if it is then they'll step in anyway irrespective of whether the works originally had consents.

- unlawful use can void home insurance

Nope. I have never seen an insurer ask a relevant question along these lines, or heard of one refusing to pay out. It's extremely commonplace for buildings to have had alterations for which nobody can find consents, it doesn't mean they're all uninsured. But what's worth bearing in mind is that insurance only covers you for the stated risks, and "shoddily-built alteration fell down" isn't one of them.

- has property still been valued as if it has an extra bedroom - ask another estate agent

They'll be getting it valued by a surveyor.

Cakeguts

The property is being sold as if it didn't have the electricity, toilet area and heating in its loft. So unless you are paying more because it has a loft conversion rather than just a very nice storage area then there is no problem because when you come to do your loft conversion you will be starting again as if nothing had already been done.

rococomaiden

Just adding my experience, we are buying a house with a non-compliant roof conversion.

We had no trouble getting a mortgage as the house was not priced to include the attic in the value.

We had a full survey done and agree we won't use the attic as a bedroom due to fire safety concerns, we will use it as a hobby room.

Basically the room has to be classed as "uninhabitable" so we get the house at a 3-bed price, but actually get 3 beds + 1 hobby room