Removal of purlins

shinytop

Asking for someone else.  A full building survey on a 1st (top) floor flat that has a partial attic conversion has come up with:
"The original purlins, cross and diagonal timber bracings have been removed and replaced with studwork bolted to the original rafters and supported lower down the rafters onto the original ceiling joists. Additionally, no larger joists have been installed."  
Both the roof and the ceiling of the 1st floor are visibly sagging.  The recommendation is reinstatement of the original supports plus strengthening to allow for the heavier concrete roof tiles the house now has.  The estimate on the surveyor's report is £2.5k and to get the work specced by a structural engineer and to be BR approved.  Any thoughts on how much this sort of job is likely to cost?  I was thinking £2.5k is way under if an SE is needed and BR required.  Me, I'd probably walk away.  BTW it's not intended to be a habitable room; just storage. 

TELLIT01

Habitable room or not doesn't matter.  The structural integrity of the building has been compromised by the removal of major structural timbers.  I tend to agree that the figure is on the low side as it may be necessary to remove all the tiles to get the sag out of the roof and ceiling.  I would walk away too.

FreeBear

Leasehold, certainly walk away. You'd have to convince the freeholder that repairs are needed, and they may try to spring the full cost on you rather than sharing it amongst the other leaseholders. It wouldn't make you very popular with the other owners either.

This assumes that you are not responsible for the roof or the repairs. If you are, get your running shoes on now.

shinytop

FreeBear said:

Leasehold, certainly walk away. You'd have to convince the freeholder that repairs are needed, and they may try to spring the full cost on you rather than sharing it amongst the other leaseholders. It wouldn't make you very popular with the other owners either.

This assumes that you are not responsible for the roof or the repairs. If you are, get your running shoes on now.

It's freehold.  Owner of said upstairs flat would be responsible I assume.    

Doozergirl

You wouldn't try to take the sag out of the roof, you'd just strengthen it so it didn't sag any more. 

It is a fairly simple job.  SE, yes, but Building Control to replace something that was there and shouldn't have been removed? I'm not sure. 

Is it actually supposed to a proper conversion used as a room or just a bodge of storage space? It sounds like the surveyor thinks it's just storage. 

shinytop

Doozergirl said:

You wouldn't try to take the sag out of the roof, you'd just strengthen it so it didn't sag any more. 

It is a fairly simple job.  SE, yes, but Building Control to replace something that was there and shouldn't have been removed? I'm not sure. 

Is it actually supposed to a proper conversion used as a room or just a bodge of storage space? It sounds like the surveyor thinks it's just storage. 

It's definitely a storage space; it doesn't even have a staircase, just a ladder. It is carpeted and plaster-boarded though. 

Doozergirl

It should be a simple job to put a purlin back in, then.  

troffasky

shinytop said:

It's freehold.  Owner of said upstairs flat would be responsible I assume.    

I wouldn't assume that if I were you. It really does depend on what the lease says.