Is this illegal?

turnitround

And it was last sold only 12 months ago. Perhaps the current owners thought they could move the oven as well.

Grumpy_chap

getmore4less said:

this will give a better idea of the situation.(according to the floor plan there are stairs to a basement somewhere in that alcove.  

What a lovely cottage and the price seems very keen for that location.

You will want to move the cooker, no doubt about it.  It's electric, so probably not that difficult to get a wire run to another position, especially given the basement below so you would not need to chase out a concrete floor or anything difficult. 

I'd be more worried about the ghost (as others mentioned) and why you were not able to access the basement during the property viewing.  I certainly would not want to buy a property with a basement that I had not been able to view.

Looking at the floor plan, the stairs down to the basement are under the cupboard to the left so that is why the cooker is to the right.

pinkshoes

There is a recommended requirement of 650mm above any electric hob, and also if the stairwell goes into the kitchen then regulations mean that upstairs you have to have a proper fire exit/escape. 

The ghost would put me off too! What is it wearing?!?!?

Woolsery

pinkshoes said:

The ghost would put me off too! What is it wearing?!?!

Eminem's hoodie?

sheramber

You may find there was originally a cooker in another position. 

I never liked where the electric hob and oven were in the house we bought. We decided to put in a new kitchen and when we took out the old units we found a capped off gas supply exactly where I wanted to put a gas hob.

babyblade41

A very pretty property & would happily buy it if it was near me 

Woolsery

babyblade41 said:

A very pretty property & would happily buy it if it was near me 

It is, but I would want to ascertain why the basement has only occasional style access and no picture. Is it because of periodic winter water ingress? Stretching the old grey cells, I seem to remember it's chalk around there, so maybe that problem doesn't affect the cottage?

Annisele

Are you certain the cooker is actually connected where it is?

It's in such a ridiculous position that I'm wondering if it's just decorative, and has been borrowed and then dressed with pretty pans for the purposes of the sale. I know that people really can live without ovens - I once had a colleague who used hers as a bread bin, and had never turned it on - and maybe this seller has done that.

If it's not connected where it is, then you're going to have to pay for it to be connected somewhere anyway. (And I'd certainly want a surveyor to look at the place; whoever lived there did at least one strange thing and I'd want clues as to what else they'd done.)

bbat

I can't answer about insurance but it appears the stairs to basement are in the unit next to cooker and thats why its that way round. If you look closely the worktop is cut on the left side by the wall so I expect its got hinges. 

justwhat

Alarm bells are ringing for me. 

Why put the cooker there?
Its against building standards. Totally impractical to use. and underneath stairs is going to get dirty with steam etc

Other side of kitchen has narrow units/worktop. I would be looking allot more at any other issues. What they have done is stupid and dangerous.

i am with your parents on this one.

sink is centre of window , if you place cooker on other side you cant have the sink in centre of window. Space looks tight possibly why they have bodge the cooker.

i assume its too small for cooker to go in centre of room?