Rules re listing bedrooms

Khaderbhai

As title suggests, are there any rules re marketing a house as a 2 or 3 bedroom?

If we were to sell, our property has a 3rd bedroom loft room conversion with ensuite. It has not however had full sign off from the council as there are a few ‘snagging’ jobs to complete.
Therefore weighing up whether to pay for these jobs to be completed to list as a 3rd bedroom officially or could it be marketed as that already with further details in the description? 

Ultimately would want it coming up on 3 bed searches on rightmove.

thanks

DullGreyGuy

If you had a downstairs room that you've gotten setup as a home office with a sofa bed it's really up to you how you describe it. 

If you dont have building regs sign off for the conversion then at this point it cannot be described as a habitable room so would have to be excluded at this stage. 

Albermarle

You can not say it is a bedroom, unless it has sign off from Building Control that it is a suitable habitable space.
So sounds like the snagging jobs need doing.

RHemmings

It seems to me that even if this space isn't advertised as a bedroom, that it's the kind of thing that could become an issue during the purchase process. If I was buying a place and I was told that there is a loft conversion which hasn't been signed off by building control, then I would not want to get involved in that. Having the space being described as 'not being a habitable room' would not allay my concerns. 

eddddy

The bottom line is... it's up to the Estate Agent to decide how they are happy to describe the property.

It is the Estate Agent (and not you) who will be breaching the Consumer Protection From Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs), if they give a misleading description of the property.


Depending on the precise facts, it's possible that one Estate Agent might be happy to describe it as "3 bedroom", but another more cautious Estate Agent might insist that they can only call it "2 Bedroom".

A  more creative Estate Agent might be happy to call it something like "Potential 3 Bedroom".



And any decent Estate Agent should tell a potential buyer about the building regs situation, for (at least) 2 reasons...

• Failing to tell them at the earliest opportunity may be seen as breaking the law (the CPRs) - and a breach of the Ombudsman's code of practice

• It's probably best to tell buyers at the outset, rather than them getting a nasty surprise during conveyancing - and maybe walking away as a result

Grumpy_chap

Get the loft conversion completed and full buildings control sign off before marketing the property for sale.
No-one will want to inherit a partially-completed loft conversion and the absence of full building control sign off would raise a load of red flags for any purchaser.

EssexHebridean

If the property is marketed as a 3-bed - and ultimately the seller has the final call on this - then as a buyer, I would be expecting to be buying a 3 bedroom property - ie with 3 habitable bedrooms. At the least, if you allowed it to be marketed as a 3 bed without the loft room having the snagging and sign off completed, you might expect any buyer to be trying to negotiate down on price when they discover that actually, it's a 2 bed with a fancy loft space. 

ManuelG

Just checked. Forget rules, the 'four bed' we looked at and instantly dismissed due to two dubious 'bedrooms' in the attic space is coming up to two years on the market. Another property that we looked at with estate agent speak of 'attic space currently used as a bedroom by the current owners with an en suite' has fallen through after offer at least once, is still on the market 18 months later with a large price reduction.

I'd get the work done to finish it off.

eddddy

EssexHebridean said:

If the property is marketed as a 3-bed - and ultimately the seller has the final call on this 

Not really...

As I say, it's the Estate Agent who has the ultimate call on this - because they won't agree to break the law and/or make themselves liable to pay compensation, just because a seller tells them to.

Trading Standards actually gives Estate Agents very clear guidance on this (see the bit in bold)...

National Trading Standards Estate and Lettings Agency Team

Material Information in Property Listings
(Sales)
Guidance for Estate Agents
November 2023

2. Number and type(s) of room(s)

NTSELAT’s view is that the numbers and types of room are always considered

material information for every property listing.

A listing should include an accurate description or statement as to the number and type(s) of

each room in the property.

...

...

Rooms should not be listed as “bedrooms” if they have not met building regulations to be

considered as such. Where unsure, building regulations and planning documents should be

checked, or advice sought from the local council. 

Link: https://www.nationaltradingstandards.uk/uploads/Material Information in Property Listings (Sales) v1.0.pdf

And here's 2 examples of Estate Agents who had to pay compensation for describing rooms without Building Regs as bedrooms...

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/30220-2/

https://thenegotiator.co.uk/misleading-information-about-an-extension-that-didnt-meet-building-regulations/





Edit to add...

In my opinion, Trading Standards are going too far with this.

But I guess some Estate Agents will want to stick to the letter of the guidance... especially if they have been 'caught' in the past, and instructed to pay compensation.

loubel

You would need to describe it honestly - a 2 bed in the process of having a 3rd bedroom added in the loft. Selling it with an unfinished conversion will limit your pool of buyers. What are the snagging items still needing finishing to get it signed off?

RHemmings

If a seller was selling a property like this without having it all finished and signed off, then I'd presume that there are significant problems preventing that, and these would become my problems should I buy it. Like buying land from developers without planning permission - if it was easy to get planning permission it would have happened already.