New Build - Windowless Main Bedroom and Only Bathroom

deece1

Hi,

I am looking for some guidance re safety and window regs on a new build.  I reserved and paid a deposit for a 2 bed duplex in London.  I viewed it three times but failed to notice the only bathroom has no windows. If the kitchen was on fire there would be no escape (main bedroom is ground floor) as the bedroom is next to the kitchen and the bathroom is through the bedroom.

The property doesn’t come with NHBC but has

The mortgage broker said when the mortgage company evaluates the property it may class it as one bed only, which will negatively impact the mortgage we get.

When I originally went for the viewing the estate agent said the previous couple were unable to the mortgage due furlough. I am worried it may be because they couldn’t get the mortgage.

I want to pull out of the purchase of the property but the estate agent won’t return the deposit.

Any ideas on how to get the deposit back?  Many thanks.

[Deleted User]

You won't get the deposit back if you pull out.

deece1

Apologies I pressed post too quickly.

The property comes with Build-Zone Home Warranty.

twopenny

I've known flats to have windowless bathrooms with extractor fan.
But if you don't have somewhere to escape in case of fire thats an excellent observation on your part. 
I have a bungalow where I could be in the bedroom unable to access the doors so keep the window key easily grabbed iin a panic.
What is the fire escape route that the builders propose? That should be fit for purpose.
I fear once you have paid a deposit you can't get it back. Have you read the agreement you signed on paying the deposit and what does that say?

Doozergirl

Do you have the floorplan, please?  

A bathroom does not need a window but a bedroom does.  In a flat, it is more about protected escape routes than windows, per say.  

The place has to pass Building Control though, so there has to be an approved escape route, because the flat would be unsaleable without the Building Control Completion Certificate, which then feeds the warranty.  

TELLIT01

A couple of new build bungalows opposite our house have no window in the bathroom.  Natural light comes via a light tube/ sun tube.

Doozergirl

Have you exchanged contracts? 

cattie

Nearly all new builds these days have windowless bathrooms  so it doesn't mean there will be an issue getting a mortgage. I've lived in 3 properties over the years that didn't have a window in the bathroom, but the extraction system was excellent. Plus it meant that the bathroom kept warmer by not having a window, so was a bonus I felt.

If there's no window in the main bedroom then that is a problem, I'm pretty sure that a bedroom can't be classified as such if it doesn't have a window.

Ganga

Nothing new about window-less bathrooms ,we live in a two bed semi ,about 37 years old and has an internal bathroom .

pinkteapot

So... the main bedroom has no windows and the only access to the only bathroom is through the main bedroom? Really? 

That's an absolutely terrible design for a 2-bed as it means the second bedroom isn't really practical as a bedroom, as whoever's sleeping in there has to disturb the person in the main bedroom to access the bathroom. 

Would love to see the floor plan and marketing blurb... 

Assume you're talking about a reservation deposit rather than the deposit you pay at exchange of contracts? If you've exchanged contracts you're going to be stuck. 

Alderbank

RICS know a thing or two about property. RICS website says this:

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.
The Valuation Office Agency Rent Officers' Handbook makes some attempt to explain what a bedroom is:

• "The simple test to apply is, for this type and size of property in this or a similar area, how has the property been let, and how do occupants use the accommodation? The size of the room is irrelevant. A room that would never be thought of as a bedroom or living room in a large country house might well be perfectly acceptable to most people, for those same uses, in an expensive, densely populated city."

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.

More and more London hotels offer 'cosy' windowless bedrooms, popular apparently with light sleepers.

Estate agents like to describe windowless (bed)rooms as office, study, gym, etc.