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Survey results on Victorian mid-terrace


It is recommended that your legal adviser checks to see if there is a Building Control Completion Certificate for the conversion of the roof space into living accommodation. It is possible that due to the age of this conversion this will not be available, however, it is worth noting that the living accommodation at second floor level will not receive Building Regulation approval in its current configuration were it applied for today.
Does anyone know if this means that the bedrooms are not legally bedrooms? If so, it goes from a 4 bed house to a 2 bed. It's not such a worry for us now, but will obviously significantly affect the resale value. If the conversion was completed before standard regulations are they legally bedrooms? Anything to clear this up would be so helpful, thank you!
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It doesn’t mean they’re not legally bedrooms to my understanding. It means the way the loft has been converted doesn’t meet current building regs. You can use them however you like, bedrooms, office etc. But yes in the future when you come to sell on you’ll likely have the same issue come up. Pretty common in older houses where old extensions/conversions/alterations have taken place.Either you can leave it as it is or you can get the building inspectors in and see how you can bring it up to current code and potentially get a building regs sign off for when you sell in the future. Most likely the issue will be regarding something such as head height, light coming in, means of fire escape, stairs/access etc.In some cases you won’t be able to rectify this without major work if at all.0
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So this is a 3 storey building with 30 minute fire doors throughout ?
Is the 1950,s loft conversion well insulated or freezing cold in winter.
Is it safe and the floor well supported.
I have recently spent nearly £25,000 refurbishing a Victorian terrace house which was only 2 storey.
The full rewire with all the floors taken up cost £3,000 and new kitchen, bathroom and total replaster, redecorating took 4 months with an empty house.
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Thanks for replying! I think we are concerned because it was marketed as a 4 bed house - we put the offer in expecting that the four bedrooms all qualify as bedrooms (by some building standards). the house has also been tenanted in recent years, individually by bedroom - we assumed that they would only be able to be let if they met regs.0
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emmavntr said:Thanks for replying! I think we are concerned because it was marketed as a 4 bed house - we put the offer in expecting that the four bedrooms all qualify as bedrooms (by some building standards). the house has also been tenanted in recent years, individually by bedroom - we assumed that they would only be able to be let if they met regs.
Obviously, you can have a think about whether you're happy with fire safety, insulation, headroom, etc, but that's no different from your considerations about everything else in the house. Current building regulations are only relevant for work you're carrying out now.1 -
davidmcn said:emmavntr said:Thanks for replying! I think we are concerned because it was marketed as a 4 bed house - we put the offer in expecting that the four bedrooms all qualify as bedrooms (by some building standards). the house has also been tenanted in recent years, individually by bedroom - we assumed that they would only be able to be let if they met regs.
Obviously, you can have a think about whether you're happy with fire safety, insulation, headroom, etc, but that's no different from your considerations about everything else in the house. Current building regulations are only relevant for work you're carrying out now.0 -
emmavntr said:davidmcn said:emmavntr said:Thanks for replying! I think we are concerned because it was marketed as a 4 bed house - we put the offer in expecting that the four bedrooms all qualify as bedrooms (by some building standards). the house has also been tenanted in recent years, individually by bedroom - we assumed that they would only be able to be let if they met regs.
Obviously, you can have a think about whether you're happy with fire safety, insulation, headroom, etc, but that's no different from your considerations about everything else in the house. Current building regulations are only relevant for work you're carrying out now.1
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