3 bed but has 4 beds

davidmcn

Unless it's been done very recently (and it doesn't look like it) not really a problem from a building regulations enforcement point of view. It is what it is - as long as structurally it's fine and you're happy with insulation / headroom etc then you can view it as a bedroom if you want. Some agents are just paranoid about loft conversions. As far as fire safety is concerned it at least seems to have a door at the bottom of the stairs and on the attic landing, the hazardous conversions are where there's just an open stair leading straight from the main landing into the attic room. 

AdrianC

davidmcn said:

Unless it's been done very recently (and it doesn't look like it) not really a problem from a building regulations enforcement point of view. It is what it is - as long as structurally it's fine and you're happy with insulation / headroom etc then you can view it as a bedroom if you want. Some agents are just paranoid about loft conversions. As far as fire safety is concerned it at least seems to have a door at the bottom of the stairs and on the attic landing, the hazardous conversions are where there's just an open stair leading straight from the main landing into the attic room. 

When I was a kid in the 70s, my parents converted the attic into my bedroom. Knowing them, it would have had all the paperwork needed - and there was certainly no issue selling it c.1980.

There was no door, not even fixed stairs - just a retractable loft ladder.

steve866

I saw a property described similarly recently. The loft room didn’t have building regs and couldn’t be advertised as a bedroom. It’s quite common. I believe you can buy an insurance indemnity as the point of purchasing to cover the very very small risk that the council enforce the room is converted to meet building regs.

getmore4less

No 96
First stop the planning portal.

handy map interface to see whats been going on around there 
https://www.stoke.gov.uk/homepage/90/search_planning_applications
https://planning.stoke.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=property&type=custom
96 BIDDULPH ROAD CHELL ST6 6TB
nothing.

couriervanman

I don't know the area but love the house its has lots of character and as others have said shouldn't be a problem if conversion was done years ago 

[Deleted User]

couriervanman said:

I don't know the area but love the house its has lots of character and as others have said shouldn't be a problem if conversion was done years ago 

Having been a casual observer of topics such as this I am still none the wiser as to how the council will know when the space has been converted.
In that particular advertisement the estate agent has clearly been careful to advertise it as an attic room, but if the vendor was to insist that the room has been a bedroom for the past 50 years, who would be in a position to say otherwise?

SameOldRoundabout

I would say the loft was originally a room given the (what appears to be) original bannister up there. The stairs however are in another bedroom which I suspect is the one that can not be called a bedroom. 

Edited as I see the description says 3 + loft. Odd. The stair case may be particularly steep therefore can’t be counted, but I would not call it a 4 bed anyway if the stairs are accessed via another room! Who wants a sibling going through their room to bed every night. 

davidmcn

SameOldRoundabout said:

The stairs however are in another bedroom 

They're not, there's a door between the stairs and that bedroom. 

UnderOffer

My friend viewed a 3 bedroom which had the additional attic conversion with bed in it to make it a 4, no paperwork for conversion. House advertised as 3, particulars stated 3, artic room referred to as storage area. They made offer, bank surveyor valued at £0 and turned down mortgage. They approached another bank and mentioned previous decline and was advised to seek another property. 

I never understand why vendors, wake up, decide to convert or add a room and don’t follow the required planning/building consents, leaving their home difficult to sell. 

davidmcn

UnderOffer said:

bank surveyor valued at £0 and turned down mortgage. 

That suggests there was something more significantly wrong than merely a lack of paperwork (and generally surveyors leave it to the solicitors to figure out whether consents exist or not).