Buying House: Open plan conservatory without building regulations

AdrianC

weezix said:

My partner and I are in the process of buying our first home, which comes with an open plan conservatory into the living room that was built in 2009. A homebuyers survey has flagged that one wall of the conservatory is only single skin thickness and the floor has no airbricks in place

What is the conservatory floor? Concrete? So it doesn't need ventilating.

Do you mean there's no replacement airbricks to the wooden floor of the rest of the property? Easy enough to add. What proportion of that rear wall is behind the conservatory?

but the area externally appears in reasonable order. Additionally there is no FENSA certification for any of the glazing. 

The sellers have claimed that no building regulations were required at the time, which I know is not the case since 2010 but have been unable to find an answer one way or another about the regulations pre-2010. Would anyone be able to confirm?

For all practical purposes, it's totally irrelevant. 11yrs ago is way outside any enforcement window for failing to get BR signoff.

It certainly won't meet current BR... but very few works from even a year or two ago would.

They have offered indemnity insurance as a means around this, however I am not currently convinced by this approach. If the conservatory does fall short of the building regulations at the time, then I believe we would be justified in asking for a reduction in price or walking away.

You don't need to justify walking away to anybody but yourself.

If I were the vendor, would I give you a reduction? No. Because it's no more or less than it was when you viewed.
We aren't talking about hidden constructional details - we're talking about a deliberate design feature; something big, glaring and in-your-face, impossible-to-miss. You knew there were no doors between the room and conservatory - and that's exactly why it didn't get BR sign-off.

snowcat75

Davesnave said:

At the right price, I'd buy the house and stick bifolds or other doors across if I was happy with the conservatory as an additional space and not a full-time room, which it isn't. We don't find the doors on ours cut the amount of light that much, but they are about 9' wide. We also have a radiator...used once in a blue moon.

As for building regs, our BCO has walked past the conservatory numerous times and never given it a second glance. He doesn't know or care that everything, apart from the roof, is built to housing standard, because in his eyes it's a 'temporary structure.' It's also about 5m2 oversize to be exempt from planning, but he doesn't do planning!

The worst things about conservatories are usually the bits people don't see or think about, like the depth of foundations, the underfloor insulation and ventilation etc. Generally, the firms who fit conservatories are interested in achieving a competitive price, not doing things well. That's why ours was merely screwed to the fascia boards until I showed the fitters the manufacturer's installation instructions and said, 'I want it done like this, please.' It took them 4x longer to secure it than the first attempt.

Iv never known BC to be remotely interested in anything outside of what they have come to inspect.
Likewise with planning years ago (decades now) I put a dormer in without planning knowing full well the council would reject it within green belt and I couldn't use the PD (this was the advice of a local planning consultant BTW) did it well pitched and blended to match the property..... about 8 years latter when a property built to a similar style half a mile away applied to do the same, the LA on the officers report used mine as the architectural style it must be matched too!!!!! 

Jeepers_Creepers

weezix said:

Not sure what you mean by all glass or glass sections, so I've attached a picture.

The floor is suspended timber, so will need vent bricks. It seemed a decent quality and definitely added to the living room, it was one of the things that drew us to the place initially. Not sure the bifolds would be a good compromise, as the opening to the conservatory is the main source of light.

Thank you for the advice on adding the vent bricks and thermal laminate board, it gives us something to go to the seller with.

Nice! That's a great room that you can use for 90%+ of the year. 

My only remaining (minor) concerns are for the foundation void since it's a timber floor (get proper advice on this) and that it could, at certain times of the year, consume more heating energy than it'll justify in its use. Bi-fold doors are an ideal way to solve this problem and they look great - honestly. They also won't reduce the amount of light to any significant degree. They will even allow that room to be used completely separately should one person wish to watch TV and another listen to music, for example. Should you be lucky enough to get the house (fingers crossed for you) then live in it for a while and then decide on this, but I doubt you'd regret adding them.

(We're at the final stages of having an extension built into the garden, and are lucky enough to have have views of the local estuary in that direction, now viewed through triple-glazed bifolds. I was gazing out from the house and through the extension at these views the other day and my wife remarked "You know - I think I prefer looking out through the closed bifolds...". I knew what she meant - it sort of framed the view whilst also giving you a cosy feeling of being properly inside. Weird. In any case, they don't reduce the light to any noticeable degree when closed. (Aluminium framed doors are slimmer.))

By 'glass or glass sections' I was wondering if it was a 'normal' roof but with a number of skylights fitted which would have been more thermally efficient. It isn't, obviously; it's all glass. Being real double-glazed glass, tho', it's far superior to that of a conventional conservatory. That is still a lot of glass area, tho', so it simply will not be as well insulated as solid walls and a roof would be. This will largely be compensated by solar gain even in Winter, but I think you might find you'll want to shut it away during dark cold evenings. 

Anyhoo, don't be put off by this lovely room - other folk won't be... :-)

Vasquez65

Is there a picture looking back into the house?  Is the whole back wall of the living room gone or is there an archway where a window/patio door was removed?
It’s a lovely big conservatory but it will be a big, expensive job when it comes to replacing it,  which will probably need doing in the next 10 years. 

I had a window and the wall/radiator underneath removed for mine, so the concrete lintel was left intact, having glass doors doesn’t obstruct light at all, I’ve attached a photo of mine , if the whole back wall is gone it would have needed an rsj ?  

I’d be looking at the potential expense of replacing if you plan to stay there long term.

Jeepers_Creepers

I wouldn't be concerned at replacement costs. A bog-standard connie should last 20 years without significant upkeep - the odd blown glazing unit, etc - and that's with nasty polycarbonate roofs. Weezix's 'garden room' - its official title from now on... - is far superior. I can't see any reason why it shouldn't last 30+ years. 

weezix

Thanks all for your comments and suggestions, they have definitely helped clarify things. We have asked our solicitors to ask the sellers if they are prepared to get a quote to put in airbricks serving the timber floor to keep it dry and prolong the life, will see what comes back.

If all goes well I think we will definitely be referring to it as the garden room, thats a great title!