Existing loft no building regs

AE1995

Hello,
I am currently in the process of buying a house built in 1890’s with a loft room. We have had our buildings survey back and it has said the loft doesn’t comply with fire safety regs and is therefore unlikely to comply with building regs.

we’re concerned as believe if this is the case then the attic room cannot be used as a third bedroom without work to make it compliant. The vendor is saying essentially there were no problems when he bought (36 years ago). 

Looking for some advice on whether anyone has been in this situation - we would want the work doing to be able to use it as a bedroom and for the purposes of a future sale so an indemnity policy is no good to us. 

Can’t find much about when the loft was a part of the original construction rather than a conversion so wondered whether anyone has been in the same situation.

thanks in advance

user1977

If it's so old that it might have been part of the original construction, then it doesn't need to comply with building regulations any more than the rest of the house does. Does your surveyor suspect that it might actually be a modern conversion? If it's more than 36 years old then any compliance issues are ancient history, it is what it is.

AE1995

user1977 said:

If it's so old that it might have been part of the original construction, then it doesn't need to comply with building regulations any more than the rest of the house does. Does your surveyor suspect that it might actually be a modern conversion? If it's more than 36 years old then any compliance issues are ancient history, it is what it is.

Thanks for your response - no the surveyor has said it’s part of original construction. Are we still able to use/market as a third bedroom do you think?

eddddy

AE1995 said:

I am currently in the process of buying a house built in 1890’s with a loft room. We have had our buildings survey back and it has said the loft doesn’t comply with fire safety regs and is therefore unlikely to comply with building regs.

I suspect the surveyor was saying that the loft wouldn't comply with current fire safety regs and building regs. But then the rest of the house wouldn't comply with current fire safety regs and building regs  - because it was built in the 1890s. 

You can use the loft room as a bedroom, if you want - there's nothing to stop you.

It's possible that you would have to gut the house and completely change the layout to make the loft room comply with current regulations - or it may be physically impossible.

user1977

AE1995 said:

user1977 said:

If it's so old that it might have been part of the original construction, then it doesn't need to comply with building regulations any more than the rest of the house does. Does your surveyor suspect that it might actually be a modern conversion? If it's more than 36 years old then any compliance issues are ancient history, it is what it is.

Thanks for your response - no the surveyor has said it’s part of original construction. Are we still able to use/market as a third bedroom do you think?

Yes, you can use (or call) any room in the house whatever you want, the fact the loft wouldn't comply with current building regulations isn't relevant. The whole house almost certainly wouldn't comply with current building regulations, that doesn't mean you're not allowed to live in it!

AdrianC

AE1995 said:

I am currently in the process of buying a house built in 1890’s with a loft room.

And this room was converted at least 36 years ago...?

We have had our buildings survey back and it has said the loft doesn’t comply with fire safety regs and is therefore unlikely to comply with building regs.

Well, no, it won't comply with MODERN regs...
Nor will the rest of the house. Nor does it need to.

It only needed to comply with the then-current regs at the time it was done... If there were any.

we’re concerned as believe if this is the case then the attic room cannot be used as a third bedroom without work to make it compliant.

Of course it can.

eddddy

AE1995 said:
Are we still able to use/market as a third bedroom do you think?

Regarding future marketing...

Consumer protection laws say that estate agents must not say anything misleading in their property descriptions...

So if a reasonable person would regard the house as having 3 bedrooms, then it wouldn't be misleading to describe it that way.

(But some EAs are still a little over enthusiastic with their descriptions - and a few seem to have been spooked by the relatively new laws, and are over-cautious in their descriptions.)