How do I legally change home to 1 bed and change it back before selling?

paystoomuchforwater

Hello,

Last month I bought and moved into a flat in East Sussex as a 2 bed property. However, since moving in we've turned the empty second bedroom into a utility room (freestanding tumble dryer, freezer etc., no permenant fixtures) as there are only 2 of us so we only need one bedroom.

I am currently having to pay South East Water ~£49 per month for 2 bedrooms worth of water but I reckon if it were a 1 bed this figure would be much lower...

I've inquired about getting a meter but it won't be possible as there's no appropriate place to put on inside the flat.

I've told South East Water that we're only using 1 bedroom but they say that they must bill me based on the number of bedrooms it was sold as.

Could someone please advise: how do I, legally-speaking, change my home to a 1 bedroom so that I can be billed more fairly for my water? And subsequently in a number of years time when I will hopefully have the opportunity to move onto another property, change it back to a 2 bedroom home?

I have scoured the web for an answer to this question but I haven't been able to find anything.

Any advice much appreciated.

- paystoomuchforwater

davidmcn

Their guide here suggests it's only going to be changed if there is "substantial alteration to the original premises", which I doubt is going to include merely rearranging the furniture:

https://www.southeastwater.co.uk/media/1392/hh-charges-scheme-1819.pdf

AdrianC

The fact you are only using one room as a bedroom doesn't change what the property is...

Why aren't you on a water meter?

paystoomuchforwater

Hi davidmcn,

Thanks for the taking the time.

I suppose a good question would be: What, legally-speaking, is a "bedroom" and how do I change that?

If I knew the answer to this question I'd either rest easy knowing I can't do anything or have a go at changing it and having a battle with the water company.

paystoomuchforwater

AdrianC said:

The fact you are only using one room as a bedroom doesn't change what the property is...

Why aren't you on a water meter?

Unfortunately I'm not able to get one installed as there's not enough pipework inside my property which the meter can be fitted to.

davidmcn

paystoomuchforwater said:

I suppose a good question would be: What, legally-speaking, is a "bedroom" and how do I change that?

If I knew the answer to this question I'd either rest easy knowing I can't do anything or have a go at changing it and having a battle with the water company.

There is no general legal definition of "bedroom" or a concept of dwellings having an "official" number of bedrooms. If there are any rules it's simply whatever the water company bases their tariff on. But in the context of a flat I really don't see scope for getting it changed, you have the same floor space no matter how you use it or how many people you cram in (though I see they have a single person concession). Would be different if, say, you demolish a house and replace it with something smaller.

paystoomuchforwater

paystoomuchforwater said:

AdrianC said:

The fact you are only using one room as a bedroom doesn't change what the property is...

Why aren't you on a water meter?

Unfortunately I'm not able to get one installed as there's not enough pipework inside my property which the meter can be fitted to.

As per my question, I'm trying to work out what a legal "bedroom" is and how one would go around altering that.

AdrianC

paystoomuchforwater said:

I suppose a good question would be: What, legally-speaking, is a "bedroom" and how do I change that?

There is no central legal definition or register.

[Deleted User]

If it was granted planning to be a 2 bed then you arent going to change it to a 1 bed.   How much of a saving are you hoping for anyway?  And how much is it going to cost to get the freeholders permission to legally alter the number of bedrooms in the property (as it will devalue the property)

RICS guidance on what a bedroom is: 

An indicator that a room can be used as a bedroom could be that at least a small single bed will fit into it, and in most cases it will have a window, although there is no legal requirement.

and

There is no statutory definition of the term 'bedroom' in the UK. The term is used to describe a room used for sleeping in and where you would expect to find a bed or other such piece of furniture designed for sleeping on.

paystoomuchforwater

Deleted_User said:

If it was granted planning to be a 2 bed then you arent going to change it to a 1 bed.   How much of a saving are you hoping for anyway?

It depended on the effort and cost involved in changing the number of bedrooms.

And how much is it going to cost to get the freeholders permission to legally alter the number of bedrooms in the property (as it will devalue the property)

That's what I hoping to find out. I had hoped naively that I could change a number where appropriate for a small legal fee and undo the change before selling the property.

If it was granted planning to be a 2 bed...

So when a flat/property is prepared for sale, its intended room types are noted at that point by the property owner and that's where the number of beds originates?

Mardle

£49 a month does seem a lot for 2 people. It's more than double what our metered bill is for water. 

How much pipework do they say you need for a meter? Maybe the simplest solution would be to get a plumber to alter the pipework inside the flat so you could have the meter fitted.