Can my loft room be classed as a bedroom

Nics87

I'm contemplating selling my house. When I bought it it was marked as 3 bed with a loft room, however  upon completion I recieved a room in roof building regs certificate issued by the council. So I'm wondering if I could market it as a 4 bed.

Now it's from 1997 so I'm not sure if the rules have changed since then. But the room in question is fully kitted out to be a bedroom , has a normal sized staircase, a fire door at the top and two velux windows, when we fixed a few squeaky floorboards we also saw a seperate level of joists ( two sets).

Anyone with any expertise that can say if I can confidently list this as a 4 bed property.. if you want to have a look at previously sold listing pictures on zoopla  the address is [removed by Forum Team]

Browntoa

If it had planning permission and a completion certificate then it's a bedroom 

theartfullodger

What size is it please??

See what sizes mean as bedrooms here...
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_conditions/overcrowding#title-2

Floor space in square feet (square meters in brackets)     Number of people allowed in each room

110 (10.22 square metres)                                                 2

90 –109 (8.36-10.21 square metres)                                 1.5

70 – 89 (6.5-8.35 square metres)                                      1

50 – 69 (4.65-6.5 square metres)                                      0.5

Child under one counts as zero.
Child 1-10 counts as 0.5 human 

Occupants/owner/landlord may get criminal prosecution or fines for overcrowding (sadly rarely...)

Nics87

Browntoa said:

If it had planning permission and a completion certificate then it's a bedroom 

I'm so uneducated in this area so if I have a room in a roof building regs certificate is this good enough 

Bookworm105

Nics87 said:

Browntoa said:

If it had planning permission and a completion certificate then it's a bedroom 

I'm so uneducated in this area so if I have a room in a roof building regs certificate is this good enough 

the issue with loft conversion is that to market it as a bedroom it should be safe as a bedroom, therefore it should meet building regs (applicable at the time of conversion).
You state you have BR approval therefore end of discussion.

- fire safety: enclosed staircase with fire doors, fully openable window as secondary means of escape
- takes the weight: one is not suddenly going to arrive downstairs because the floor collapses due to inadequate rafters
- big enough to be usable as a bedroom (Victorian attitudes to domestic servant quarters in the attic no longer acceptable to the WOKE)

propertyrental

Planning Permission may well not have been needed.

But Building Regulations certification IS needed.

So as you say things like access, escape routes, floor strength insulation would all need to comply with the Regs in force at the time of the conversion.

I received a room in roof building regs certificate issued by the council.

That sounds like it had BR sign off (depending on the precise document). Did this come direct from the council? If so why? Did you apply? Had your sellers applied (perhaps retrospectively)? Did it come from your conveyancer as part of a bundle of papers? If so, had you not been sent these by the conveyancer before you agreed to Exchange?

eddddy

Nics87 said:

So I'm wondering if I could market it as a 4 bed.

The legal position would be...

• If you market it yourself, as a private individual, you can market it any way you want. 

• But if you ask an estate agent to market it, they will be bound by Consumer Protection laws, Property Ombudsman rules, etc.

In theory, the estate agent could be ordered to pay compensation to buyers, (or even be prosecuted) if it's ruled that they  gave a misleading description.

So the bottom line is, you'd need to show the estate agent the house and the "room in roof building regs certificate", and let them decide if they are happy to market it as 4 beds or 3 beds.  (You might find that different estate agents have different views.)


And it's probably best for the estate agent to be upfront with buyers who make offers - for example, by saying "We consider this to be 4 beds, but be prepared that your mortgage lender's valuer might describe it as 4 beds or 3 beds."

Doozergirl

I'm not sure why there are so many vague answers. 

If you have a building control completion certificate, it is classed as a habitable room, full stop.  

It is unlikely to have needed planning permission at the time, but even if it did, unless it's a listed building, it would be classed as lawful development. 

Go ahead and market it as a 4th bedroom. 

Herzlos

Nics87 said:

Browntoa said:

If it had planning permission and a completion certificate then it's a bedroom 

I'm so uneducated in this area so if I have a room in a roof building regs certificate is this good enough 

Yes. You've got a certificate to say it meets the regs for a bedroom, so it's a bedroom.


(Most houses with loft converted rooms *don't* have the certificate so can't be advertised as bedrooms, but you're fine).