Advise re attic bedroom.

user1977

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

We aren’t doing part exchange with Taylor wimpey because they had a problem with the attic room. We’re still on the open market but keep having recurring problems with people not wanting to offer because of the attic room and it not having building regs. I’ve tried explaining to the potential purchasers that it’s likely an original room because of the reasons above but they can’t get their heads around the building regs thing. 

In which case, what is the estate agent telling people when they book a viewing?  Is the room described as a bedroom?  Is the EA prompting these responses by telling potential buyers there's an issue with building regs?  The public (generally) don't know that much about building regs - it is common for this kind of thing to get flagged in a survey, but for it to be raised before people even (don't) offer suggests there is something wrong in the marketing approach.

It is impossible to say for sure from the photos, but I wouldn't rule out this is original room or at least a very old conversion.

Have you got any photos of the other side of the wall which partitions the rest of the loft from this room?  It looks like only about half the total loft space is taken up by the room, what the rest of the space looks like may give the best clues regarding originality.

The viewers tend to query the building regs and all the estate agent says is ‘I don’t know’.

Why aren't they saying "our client believes it to be part of the original construction"?

Fdbjg123

user1977 said:

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

We aren’t doing part exchange with Taylor wimpey because they had a problem with the attic room. We’re still on the open market but keep having recurring problems with people not wanting to offer because of the attic room and it not having building regs. I’ve tried explaining to the potential purchasers that it’s likely an original room because of the reasons above but they can’t get their heads around the building regs thing. 

In which case, what is the estate agent telling people when they book a viewing?  Is the room described as a bedroom?  Is the EA prompting these responses by telling potential buyers there's an issue with building regs?  The public (generally) don't know that much about building regs - it is common for this kind of thing to get flagged in a survey, but for it to be raised before people even (don't) offer suggests there is something wrong in the marketing approach.

It is impossible to say for sure from the photos, but I wouldn't rule out this is original room or at least a very old conversion.

Have you got any photos of the other side of the wall which partitions the rest of the loft from this room?  It looks like only about half the total loft space is taken up by the room, what the rest of the space looks like may give the best clues regarding originality.

The viewers tend to query the building regs and all the estate agent says is ‘I don’t know’.

Why aren't they saying "our client believes it to be part of the original construction"?

I don’t know, really. They keep forgetting whether or not it was me that did the loft conversion (no!). I’ve told them several times it wasn’t me and is likely an original part of the house. Considering changing estate agents.

MultiFuelBurner

Your weakest link is the estate agent

Ramouth

Fdbjg123 said:

Ramouth said:

Am I understanding correctly that there is no door at the bottom of the stair?  That would be the thing that would me question the function of the room if I were looking as a buyer simply from a privacy perspective.  A wireless interlinked fire alarm system wouldn’t be too difficult to fit but if there isn’t room for a door that could be far more difficult to rectify.

No there isn’t a door at the bottom. There would be room for one but none of the doors aren’t fire doors so would I have to change the rest? 

I would add a door - perhaps one from a reclamation yard so it looks like it has always been there.  It would help people see it as a room and stop them questioning it.  I wouldn’t change the other doors - that is an easy upgrade for someone else to do if they want (I personally would but am unusually risk adverse!).

vic_sf49

Fdbjg123 said:

user1977 said:

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

Fdbjg123 said:

Section62 said:

We aren’t doing part exchange with Taylor wimpey because they had a problem with the attic room. We’re still on the open market but keep having recurring problems with people not wanting to offer because of the attic room and it not having building regs. I’ve tried explaining to the potential purchasers that it’s likely an original room because of the reasons above but they can’t get their heads around the building regs thing. 

In which case, what is the estate agent telling people when they book a viewing?  Is the room described as a bedroom?  Is the EA prompting these responses by telling potential buyers there's an issue with building regs?  The public (generally) don't know that much about building regs - it is common for this kind of thing to get flagged in a survey, but for it to be raised before people even (don't) offer suggests there is something wrong in the marketing approach.

It is impossible to say for sure from the photos, but I wouldn't rule out this is original room or at least a very old conversion.

Have you got any photos of the other side of the wall which partitions the rest of the loft from this room?  It looks like only about half the total loft space is taken up by the room, what the rest of the space looks like may give the best clues regarding originality.

The viewers tend to query the building regs and all the estate agent says is ‘I don’t know’.

Why aren't they saying "our client believes it to be part of the original construction"?

I don’t know, really. They keep forgetting whether or not it was me that did the loft conversion (no!). I’ve told them several times it wasn’t me and is likely an original part of the house. Considering changing estate agents.

I'd print off the information about it likely being the original construction, which is the same as every other house, and pin it up in that room. 

And complain to the EA, then switch. 

RAS

Stop using the word likely. It's not likely, houses in the street were normally have attic bedrooms.

CSI_Yorkshire

RAS said:

Stop using the word likely. It's not likely, houses in the street were normally have attic bedrooms.

Likely is exactly the right term when the speaker does not have satisfactory proof.

As the OP has discovered, "houses in the street normally having attic bedrooms" is not satisfactory proof to many people.

ThisIsWeird

"I believe it to be the original layout, and the other similar properties in the 'hood also have them. It's unlikely to meet current BR standards - which is obviously true of the vast majority of building stock in the country - but it clearly did at the time, and such requirements are not applied retrospectively."

And use a stapling gun to attach that to the EA's forehead.

diggingdude

Maybe consider putting some insulation on that eaves wall. Whether it was considered a bedroom or not I would assume it was freezing up there and it would make me think twice whether it was a real bedroom