Seller made structural changes after survey!!!

GixerKate

Ripping out the staircase seems very extreme!!  Its a shame they have done this without discussion, if I were in your shoes I'd have to walk away if renegotiation wasn't an option - I need a home office so if that is off the table the house isn't suitable.  Maybe look at this another way - maybe you've dodged a bullet, if they are extreme enough to rip out an entire staircase what else have they done?

lookstraightahead

Niv said:

lookstraightahead said:

I don't think you could have used it as an office though 

why not? You can use a shed as an office if you want.

You can sleep in a shed too, but you can't call it a bedroom when you sell. I get your point though.

eddddy

To be honest, it just sounds like naivety or inexperience on everyone's part - the buyer, the seller and the estate agent.

Essentially it sounds like this happened:

• The seller had a loft conversion which didn't meet building regs (and was probably incapable of meeting building regs)

• But the council building control department would probably never find out.

• Except that the seller invited them along to see the loft conversion which didn't meet building regs

• And unsurprisingly, if the loft conversion was recent, the council building control would have told the seller to undo the loft conversion

Having made that mistake, the seller might have chosen to partially redeem the situation by carefully removing the staircase (and maybe storing it the garage), and carefully putting in a new bit of ceiling that could be removed again later. So that you could buy the house and reinstate the staircase later.


But it's also possible (likely) that the loft conversion has an insufficiently strong floor, insufficient insulation, inadequate fire protection, inadequate means of escape from fire, etc.  But, to be honest, that's true of lots of 'secretly converted' lofts.

Kyrae

That sounds like a very strange decision on the part of the sellers, you'd think the inspector would have told them the changes needed to make it compliant and they could have just been honest and let you know what needs done, or done it themselves, rather than losing money for work they've already done and pulling them down. Maybe ask for some money off to cover the cost of you rebuilding some stairs?   

Woolsery

lookstraightahead said:

I don't think you could have used it as an office though 

No problem. A 'habitable room' in practical terms means for sleeping in. The lack of fire door etc isn't so acute if you're able-bodied and conscious!

Woolsery

comeandgo said:

I’m with the sellers on this.  They have made their property pass all the requests you made.  Could you renegotiate and do your own work to get the room back to the condition that will pass all the building requirements?

A few years ago I made my van pass the MoT by removing the tow ball and cutting the wiring for a trailer. If I'd done that after showing a purchaser the van that 'just needed a MOT' it might have affected their future plans for it significantly!

Same principle. Consultation is everything.

prowla

If the staircase has been ripped out and replaced by a hatch and a ladder then it is no longer a room.

Therefore the house has one room less than it was advertised with.

I'd walk away.

Woolsery

prowla said:

I'd walk away.

There's usually someone who says this. Maybe for an average sort of  house it would apply, but when it's taken a long time to track-down and secure something unusual or substantially better than average, giving it all up over a secondary staircase might be somehat extreme. Communication hasn't been great but it's in no one's interest now to stand aloof. Some serious conversation and compromise on both sides might still save things. After all, the vendors can see what's happening in the market now!

pinkshoes

housemovepanic said:

Thank you both - it was advertised as a loft room/storage space and as my husband and I have both said, as we wanted to make this our permanent home, had the sellers come to us and explained we would likely have forgone the certificate for the sake of the sale.

In which case, that implies it was not sold as a room, and I assume not included on the footprint in square meters of the house? In which case  no certificate required and absolutely no need to rip out staircase.

This is quite normal in many homes. To meet fire regs you need a fire door as well as an alternative escape route I believe.

Does the price reflect it as a storage space or as a room? Are there other properties available you are interested in?

Why the seller ripped the staircase out I have no idea. I would go and look round again to check they have actually done this, then you will need to decide if you want to continue. I would ask them to put the stairs back in or reduce the price to have the staircase put back in.

cx200

Somewhat a moot point now that action has been taken on the offending staircase, but "loft room/storage space" is either classified a loft room, needing to meet the regs etc or a storage room where it doesn't need the regs that the loft room does. It would change the insurance wouldn't it if one said it was one thing but actually it was another and you could be liable. They were caught with a hand in the cookie jar but only because you were looking. Best to get these things out in the open beforehand I think, however nasty.

Either way, I've bought properties where I've have spoken with the seller about the x modifcation without any proof of compliance I took additional building regulations indemnity insurance via my solicitor if I felt it was necessary. That would've been preferrable to hastily undoing the work. In some cases it was simply electricity to a shed without certificate, another time a juliet balcony where a window once was. In my case, all was resolved to the satisfaction of seller, buyer, insurer and mortgage company.

Not sure if anything I said helps, and sorry it's all up in the air. If you want the house, and it can be made to work and you can find a way to be compliant later when you put the stairs back then try to find a way whether thats a cost drop or accepting it.. otherwise, yes, drop it.