Garage Party converted - Is Building Regulations required?

Veeo

Hi all, 

I am currently in the process of buying a house with a garage that is attached to the house. The current owners have converted three quarters of the garage into a store/study room but they didn’t get building control because they believe it’s not a habitable space? 

Please does anyone know if this is normal for part conversations and if I am doing the right thing by processing on the purchase?

TIA x

jonnydeppiwish!

When was it done? I completed mine recently but to use as a bedroom so obviously got BR. Is it just an additional room ie utility?

ComicGeek

A study/home office would be a habitable space, and would need to meet building regulations. A store wouldn't be considered a habitable space.

Does it have fixed heating (ie radiators or wall mounted panel heaters etc)? If so then that would trigger the need for building regulations approval - if it has a desk and a plug in heater then I wouldn't be considering that a habitable space, but also wouldn't be paying any extra for that room over and above a store.

ThisIsWeird

Veeo said:

Hi all, 

I am currently in the process of buying a house with a garage that is attached to the house. The current owners have converted three quarters of the garage into a store/study room but they didn’t get building control because they believe it’s not a habitable space? 

Please does anyone know if this is normal for part conversations and if I am doing the right thing by processing on the purchase?

TIA x

Are you doing the right thing by proceeding with the purchase? That depends - do you want the house?

That the garage is half converted is largely an irrelevance. It is still a garage. You could, perhaps, keep it as a luxury, lined, carpeted and beautifully lit garage for your classic car (I can dream). Or turn it back into an ordinary one - boo-boo.

It only becomes a BC issue if you continue to turn it into a habitable space, and use it as one. If you fancy doing this, then you should get BC involved so it can be 'signed off' and made a safe and efficient asset that should add value to the house. Or you can just do it on the cheap, without BC, but don't try and pass it off as a proper habitable space. If BC don't catch you living there for 4 years, they cannot act (except for safety reasons). Of course, you'll then have issues when you come to sell - why should anyone believe it's been done well, is properly insulated, has safe electrics...

But should it stop you from buying the house? Why should it?

user1977

Leaving aside whether building control know anything about it (and in practice, they're not going to come round checking), are you happy with the standard of the work? How long ago was it done? 

There might (though probably won't) be a planning implication, if the garage is meant to be providing an off-street parking space and now can't.

Section62

ThisIsWeird said:

If BC don't catch you living there for 4 years, they cannot act (except for safety reasons).

12 months.

ThisIsWeird said:

But should it stop you from buying the house? Why should it?

Because the ultimate buyer, unless they do their homework, will potentially be taking on someone else's (potentially expensive) problem to fix.

In my general experience, people who know building regs exist but think their project is exempt, don't understand enough about the regulations to carry out (/commission) work safely and effectively.  If you think a space is non-habitable, then why would you spend money on the work required to meet habitable standards?  Or if you've already spent the money required to make it habitable, then what were you thinking when you say it isn't a habitable room?

It isn't difficult to find out whether work you want to do is covered by the regulations.  I'm generalising here, but if someone is disinclined to invest the effort in working out whether or not they have to comply with BR, then why would anyone expect to find the work the same person has done is of reasonable quality?

It doesn't mean that the property shouldn't be considered, but the price paid needs to reflect the potential costs in putting someone else's mess in order. (not least because the next buyer after you may not be so forgiving of other people's lackadaisical approach)

Veeo

ComicGeek said:

A study/home office would be a habitable space, and would need to meet building regulations. A store wouldn't be considered a habitable space.

Does it have fixed heating (ie radiators or wall mounted panel heaters etc)? If so then that would trigger the need for building regulations approval - if it has a desk and a plug in heater then I wouldn't be considering that a habitable space, but also wouldn't be paying any extra for that room over and above a store.

Thank you very much for your reply.

The current owners and the previous owners used it as a room for their shoes and coats. The only furniture in there are 3 shoe racks and coat hangers.

They installed a radiator and a window 

Veeo

jonnydeppiwish! said:

When was it done? I completed mine recently but to use as a bedroom so obviously got BR. Is it just an additional room ie utility?

I am not 100% sure when it was done but I have asked my solicitor to ask the sellers. Looking at the Zoopla photos from when the current owners put the property in 2017 this room can be seen in the photos.

it’s a very tiny room with a window, door, wall mounted radiator, shoe racks and coat hanger. 

ThisIsWeird

Does this part-conversion affect the asking price at all? Is the vendor expecting a premium due to this amazing cloakroom?

If not, I don't understand why you'd be considering walking away from the purchase. It's just a 'garage'. That's used to store clothes. You can use it for whatever you want. Including a garage.

If you want to use it as habitable space, then you would ideally want to know it's been insulated to a good standard, so the radiator in there doesn't waste more energy than it should. You'd want to know that the electrics are safe. That the ceiling - presumably lined - still has a ventilated roof space above so you don't get condensation forming which could lead to rot. And stuff like that. This should be easy to determine by a builder or even an informed DIYer. 

There is no onus on the vendor to sort all this, and bring it up to current building standards - provided they aren't expecting the added value of an extra bedroom or similar. Likewise, if you buy this house and find the room perfectly comfy and usable, you don't have to bring it up to current standards either. 

I'd suggest that the current owner knows very well what level of work has been carried out, and who by, and I'd be asking my conveyancer or EA to ask them for this info; who did the work. What insulation has been added to the floor, walls, and ceiling. Who did the electrics. And anything else of relevance. 

They don't have to answer, and you don't have to give a penny extra above an identical house with a normal garage.