Converting loft

t3rm3y2

Hello. I need to find out how best to look at loft conversion. We don't have savings for this so would it be best to speak to the mortgage provider about releasing some equity in property to fund the project or getting a loan or another way of financing it ? 
We are also in North Essex -as this is a big project for us how do we locate trusted and good tradesmen to do the work? 
It's a terraced house so I would like to know how they will support the new floor/weight and support the roof etc.

ElephantBoy57

Have any houses similar to yours had a loft conversion? Ask them who they used and how much. I guess the starting point would be £20,000 depending on what you want.

DOH_a

Bear in mind you will have to spend some initial monies upfront in order to get to a stage to obtain prices. It will not really help having a contractor provide you with ball park figures as these can vary so much. This does also mean initiating both the Planning and Building Regulation processes where applicable.

You will find there are many loft conversion companies who will take care of both the design and build processes and there can sometimes be an additional premium for this package. Otherwise, you can look to appoint individual technicians/technologists/architects to deal with the design phase and all round contractors to deal with the development phase.

t3rm3y2

We were thinking of a dormer to increase the space. But a basic build. Enough to have as a bedroom for a child. Stairs will go in a small playroom up to the ceiling which is a central point so highest gap to ceiling.  As I understand it I would need a building surveyor but won't need planning permission? 
What money upfront is required and who is it going to? 

DOH_a

The majority of loft conversions that are done to accommodate a bedroom, study, play room, etc... would normally require a dormer window. Not only would this provide additional usable space to the room but would also help with stair headroom if that was restricted.

You may not require Planning approval if your property benefits from PD rights. There are certain limitations on loft conversions under PD of which you can find here...

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/36/loft_conversion

You will require Building Regulations approval and of which you can find here...

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/36/loft_conversion/3

Something to note now is that when you add a third storey/floor to an existing two storey dwelling, you would need to provide a protected staircase from the top to a final exit (normally the front door). This new staircase can not pass through an existing Bedroom because if a fire started in that Bedroom, that would knock out the fire escape from the new upper floor.

You should first seek advice from a designer who is familiar with residential alterations, in particular loft conversions. They should be able to advise you on both the Planning and Building Regulation fees, processes and timescales. This would provide you with an indication of those initial upfront costs before you start speaking to builders.

rach_k

You can ask a builder or loft conversion company to come round and see what they think, but they won't be able to give you definite answers until you have paid an architect to do all of the measurements and calculations and then design it for you.  Our builder was able to tell us that what we wanted should be possible and how he would suggest doing it as well as a guesstimate of the price, but he wasn't able to do things like calculate the size etc to stay within PD.  In the end, the architect told us we had to have it a little smaller than we hoped.

IIRC, we paid around £3K+VAT for the initial design work by the architect.  I suppose that's a South London price.  There was also £720 we paid direct to the council for the building regs stuff.  The next payment was 20% of the total remaining price, paid to the builder after the design work was complete, then weekly instalments once work commenced.

In our mid-terrace, steels were inserted from front to back of the house to support the new weight.  

Ours was financed through a secured loan with our mortgage company.  I didn't handle that but I assume it was either cheaper and/or simpler than increasing the mortgage.  

We found the company we used (a builder who does a lot of lofts but not a 'loft company') by asking our plumber if he could recommend anybody.  The trades often work together so they know who is good (or who is like themselves, and we knew our plumber was good). I didn't want to ask the two neighbours who recently had their lofts converted as the companies they used seemed pretty rubbish/dodgy. It worked out very well for us.  

askeym

t3rm3y2 said:

Hello. I need to find out how best to look at loft conversion. We don't have savings for this so would it be best to speak to the mortgage provider about releasing some equity in property to fund the project or getting a loan or another way of financing it ? 
We are also in North Essex -as this is a big project for us how do we locate trusted and good tradesmen to do the work? 
It's a terraced house so I would like to know how they will support the new floor/weight and support the roof etc.

Our conversion had RSJs to support the weight. Instead of hoisting them up by crane the builder, who was built like a brick outhouse, hauled them up the stairs with his oppos.

rach_k

askeym said:

t3rm3y2 said:

Hello. I need to find out how best to look at loft conversion. We don't have savings for this so would it be best to speak to the mortgage provider about releasing some equity in property to fund the project or getting a loan or another way of financing it ? 
We are also in North Essex -as this is a big project for us how do we locate trusted and good tradesmen to do the work? 
It's a terraced house so I would like to know how they will support the new floor/weight and support the roof etc.

Our conversion had RSJs to support the weight. Instead of hoisting them up by crane the builder, who was built like a brick outhouse, hauled them up the stairs with his oppos.

Our steels went in ages before they broke through to the house!  They did most of the construction using a hole they made in the roof for access, to keep mess in the house down to a minimum.  

t3rm3y2

Ok. I'll speak to someone. I only know of two nearby and one was a long time ago and tenants changed.. didn't realise needed a designed/architect. Didn't really want it "designed" as just wanted a straightforward box or room. I'll speak to mortgage lender too and get some idea of figures/rates.

Aylesbury_Duck

I think you've misunderstood what design means.  People aren't referring to design in the cosmetic sense (wall colours, finishes, etc).  Even a "straightforward box or room" needs proper technical design.  There are loads of dubious "loft conversion" companies who'll do a bodge job of flooring and insulating your loft, sticking some electrics in and putting in a semi-permanent ladder, but that's only ok if you want storage or hobby space.  You want a bedroom into which you're going to put a child rather than a train set, which means it needs to be able to take loads such as people and furniture, be safe to move about in and above all, safe to exit from in an emergency.  That's why design is important.  Doing it on the cheap is not a good idea.

rach_k

Our architect wasn't involved in the cosmetics at all. He was the one who took the precise measurements and calculated what steels we needed and where to support the extra weight, where we needed fire doors and alarms as well as exactly how much we were allowed to do to stay within PD. When the council queried whether we had extended too far, he was the one to provide the calculations to show we were right!