Should we proceed with an Indemnity policy for a property with planning uncertainty

dark_knight005

Hi all,

Me and my partner are first time buyers and are in the process of purchasing a four bedroom property. During the legal checks we discovered that the original plans are for a three bedroom house with a playroom. The playroom seems to have been repurposed as a bedroom. There are no external modifications just seems an internal repurposing. Funnily the playroom isn't the smallest room upstairs the third bedroom in the original plans is significantly smaller so there's no question that it's big enough to constitute as a bedroom.

However we are now being advised to put an indemnity policy in place to protect against a potential breach in planning permission. We initially rejected this and wanted to go down the route of checking with the local authority as we feel like it's sweeping the issue under the rug. However the seller has rejected this to avoid potential complications so are pushing us to go ahead with the policy.

Athough our mortgage lender are happy with the policy we are concerend about future re sale value and complications in the future. Are we overthinking things? As in the property clearly looks like a four bedroom house. Do we have a right to negotiate on the price as the advert is not to the original plans? 

Would love to hear any thoughts or similar experiences  and any advice on what to do next would be greatly appreciated as we haven't got a clue 😂

Thanks.

user1977

Who has advised that there's a planning distinction between a "playroom" and a "bedroom"? Is there a reason why it can't be considered a habitable room (e.g. lack of windows)? On the face of it, I doubt there's actually any issue here unless there's something you haven't mentioned.

Albermarle

On the other side many people repurpose bedrooms into a home office. You do not need any permission to do that,

dark_knight005

Hi @user1977 thanks for the reply. So for a little more context, we were sent the title deed and other documents and we were surprised that it said 3 bedroom house rather than four bedroom. So we pointed it out to our solicitor and they said that this is likely a breach in planning permission (which kind of scared us a little) and advised us on getting the sellers to put a indemnity policy in place.

No reason it cannot be considered a habitable room it is upstairs with all the other bedrooms, has windows and I guess it is built to the same spec as the other bedrooms. Its bigger than the third bedroom so I don't think size is an issue for it not to be classed as a bedroom. 

I think as we are first time buyers we are questioning everything as we are unsure on a lot of things. Is it right for a house to be advertised as a four bedroom even though the plans are for a third bedroom? Also should we be concerned about future saleability (as in would someone else pick up the issue and put them off)?

TheJP

I dont think you need planning to change the use of a playroom into a bedroom. One of my bedrooms is my office. Has it been advertised as a 4 bedroom house? Is the playroom downstairs? I have a playroom downstairs in my house and i could make that a 5th bedroom and i dont see why i would need planning or how it would affect the value of the property.

dark_knight005

Hi @Albermarle thanks for the reply. Yes that was I was thinking and what I have read. I think it just scared us that the solicitor said this is likely a breach in planning permission (which don't know if I agree with to be honest I guess they are saying it as they can't confirm for certain). Is it ok to sell as a four bedroom then even thought the plans says three?

user1977

Unless there's an unusually specific condition in the planning consent restricting the number of bedrooms, I don't see how this is a planning concern at all. I suspect the most likely answer is that your solicitor doesn't know what they're doing...

Generally speaking, a room is a room and can be repurposed at will. Your dining room can become your playroom, a bedroom can become a study, etc etc. Nothing to do with planning or anybody else.

loubel

As above, unless there is a planning condition restricting use of that room to a playroom (which seems very unlikely) I don't see anything to worry about. How old is the property?

EssexHebridean

Is the property on a street with other broadly similar houses? If so it might be worth looking at others that have sold and have old listings showing - Zoopla is good for this (use the "area search" option under sold prices and input the postcode - you will need to be signed in to see listings) You should then be able to look at floorplans for other properties to see how "yours" has evolved.

Absolutely don't be tempted to contact the LA either - as you will then invalidate any indemnity insurance and probably mean that your lender will stop being happy...! 

dark_knight005

@user1977 Ye I feel that sometimes that they doesnt have a clue ... they also arent very good at communicating . Our first experience of solicitors isnt a good one. Thanks for this, it gives us a bit of confidence now to move forward with the purchase. I think the main thing we were worried about is that potential buyers in future will look at it as a 3-bedroom property and try and negotiate down.

dark_knight005

@TheJP thanks for the reply. Yes it has been advertised as a four bedroom house which is what we were concerned with (as in does this matter that the original plans are three bed). Playroom is upstairs next to all the other bedrooms and is bigger than the third bedroom.