Roof terrace - without planning permission, on own roof - advice requested

Oz355

Hi, I am wondering if anyone might be able to offer some advice. My boyfriend and I are in the process of buying our first flat in London. It is on the top floor of a terrace house which has been converted into three flats. Our flat is split level - the lower level is an extension with a flat roof, the upper level is essentially a loft conversion. The main bedroom on the top floor looks out directly onto the room of our living area. We've been told it is structurally sound to use as a roof terrace and has the correct drainage etc but it doesn't have planning for this kind of use. Does anyone know if there is likely to be any consequences if we were to climb out the window and use the space? Also if we were to put a door in out to the terrace in the future without planning permission? And finally, what chance you think we'd have of ever getting planning for the using the space as a roof terrace? Any guidance would be really appreciated!! Thank you!! 

davidmcn

Depends how you "use the space" and how often, really. The two of you occasionally sitting out when it's sunny, fine. Inviting all your pals over for a barbecue, potentially more troublesome. Any significant physical changes would need planning permission, and it's the sort of thing likely to attract adverse attention.

hazyjo

Let me guess - the owner or EA told you that lol.

It takes far more than drainage to make it structurally sound. PP would've been needed, and building regs would need to be adhered to.

Plus, I should imagine the freeholder should've been informed and possibly even paid.

Hopefully the loft conversion met building regulations too.

eddddy

Oz355 said:

 We've been told it is structurally sound to use as a roof terrace and has the correct drainage etc 

Who told you? A building surveyor, a structural engineer or maybe the seller? If it's the seller, I wouldn't necessarily rely on that.

Unless the felt on the roof has been specifically designed for walking on, you could damage it - even if the structure underneath is capable of holding your weight.

Oz355 said:

Does anyone know if there is likely to be any consequences if we were to climb out the window and use the space? Also if we were to put a door in out to the terrace in the future without planning permission? And finally, what chance you think we'd have of ever getting planning for the using the space as a roof terrace? 

There's the issue of planning consent and freeholder consent (it's very likely that your lease doesn't allow you access to the roof, and wouldn't allow you to create a doorway).

But if you went ahead and used the roof, it would probably only become an issue if somebody complained. Although, if walking on the roof damaged the felt and caused a leak, you might have to report it to the freeholder - who might then find out what you've done and charge you for repairs, charge you admin fees etc.

And it might be an issue when you eventually sell the property.

Oz355

Thanks so much for all your comments and advice. It was the estate agent who told us. We going to get a surveyor to review the property before the sale is finalised so perhaps this is something we can ask them to look at? The property is being sold with a share of the freehold - would that solve that potential issue? We certainly don't want to damage the roof regardless. We were thinking that ideally it would be good to put decking over the roof to ensure it was protected but I'm pretty sure we'd need planning for that. Thanks again!

eddddy

Oz355 said:

The property is being sold with a share of the freehold - would that solve that potential issue? 

TBH, with your joint freeholders living downstairs, they're likely to spot you using the roof. It depends on their mindset whether they decide to take action against you, or just ignore it.

To make it legitimate, you would probably need the consent from the other two joint freeholders to use the roof.  In fact, you'd probably need the roof demised to you - and the other two joint freeholders might decide to charge you a chunk of cash for that.

But before doing that, it would be sensible to get planning consent. Otherwise you might pay a chuck of cash for the roof, and then get a planning enforcement notice, that prevents you from using the roof.

davidmcn

As above you'd need planning consent to do anything really with the roof, even if it's structurally suitable (and there's no reason why it would have been built to be anything other than roof). If you can get away with using it occasionally (as I can with mine), view it as a bonus.

gwynlas

The roof does not belong to you but to the building as a whole. If there was any damage to the structure you would rightly expect the other owners in the building to contribute to the cost of repair. 
In order to create a roof terrace you would need planning permission.

brianposter

A horizontal surface which is not specifically designed to be walked on will almost certainly fail if used regularly.