Loft conversion in 1930s house with basement

Bex123456

Hi,
This has maybe been covered before but I couldn't find a relevant thread and I'm struggling a bit with just Googling it!
I've recently bought a 1930s semi-detached house which has a basement level (consisting of 2 rooms and a bathroom) leading down to the back garden. The main front door is on the ground floor at the front of the house. 
I'm considering converting the loft so that I could add a master bedroom and ensuite, but when we got our survey done prior to buying, he mentioned that it's currently counted as 3 storeys, and looking at the building regs, having a loft conversion would essentially mean it's 4 storeys and create all sorts of planning issues (mostly with fire regs).

I wondered if anyone has been in a similar situation and whether the basement level 'counts'?
I appreciate I may just have to bite the bullet and have a conversation with local building control/builders!

Thanks in advance

grumbler

Well, I am no expert, but my common sense tells me that for fire regulations the basement does count if it leads to the back garden.

Owain_Moneysaver

Additional fire regs apply to 3+ storeys, not 4, so a loft conversion will apply even if the basement is disregarded. There are plenty of houses with both basement and loft conversion. It's certainly possible, but you will require a protected staircase to all storeys to the final exit, and you may need to consider sprinklers in mitigation of other defects. 
These are Building Regulations, not planning conditions. 

Bex123456

grumbler said:

Well, I am no expert, but my common sense tells me that for fire regulations the basement does count if it leads to the back garden.

I wasn't sure if the 'definitive' exit was the front door and so that additional route down to the back door down another flight of stairs would be disregarded as there would be no need to take it... but I'm always ready to admit I'm wrong!

Bex123456

Owain_Moneysaver said:

Additional fire regs apply to 3+ storeys, not 4, so a loft conversion will apply even if the basement is disregarded. There are plenty of houses with both basement and loft conversion. It's certainly possible, but you will require a protected staircase to all storeys to the final exit, and you may need to consider sprinklers in mitigation of other defects. 
These are Building Regulations, not planning conditions. 

I'd read that there were even more that applied at 4, but I got more confused the more I read around it! I assumed at minimum I'd have to get fire doors fitted to replace the doors leading down to the front door, but wasn't sure if sprinklers etc would apply.