Tenement roof space conversion - Scotland

gelliott007

Hi all. I'm in a top floor flat in Edinburgh and want to convert the roof space. My title deeds do not preclude me from converting and under common law it appears fine to do so.

However, i am the middle floor flat and from the stairwell is an access to the roof space and then up onto the roof itself. While the title is silent on the ownership of roof space (and therefore presumed to me mine), do I still need to maintain/provide access to the roof itself to other parties in the building??

Has anyone else successfully overcome this situation? Can anyone help?

Thanks
Graeme

gelliott007

would really welcome your thoughts...

wallacebob

Check you title carefully. Do you own the roof space? I live in Edinburgh tenement and I had a look at my deeds recently, it stated that the roof space is not part of anyones property, but a "common part". It also stated access must be allowed to roof space, and roof for neccesary repairs or improvements - eg TV, telecom, slates, etc. so no-one can lock it and prevent access.
I know some owners have used their roof space to store stuff, but as the roof is a common repair item I doubt whether you can claim the space as yours to convert. There are also building control problems - fire escape being one that comes to mind!
I would check with your council, Edinburgh has "Stair Partnership", but speak to a good solicitor and get advice. It could make your flat un-saleable!!

mvteng

What you need to remember is that it may well be in the other flat owners deeds that they have the right of shared access to the roof.

This was picked up on when we sold a flat in Broughton Street. The owner of the top floor flat had put a little terrace on the top.

Technically all other flat owners also had equal rights to the roof i.e. it was a "common part" as wallacebob says.

Luckily our buyers were pretty down to earth & were willing to ignore this loss of their share of the roof space.

However, if they hadn't been so understanding this may have been a problem.

This also caused some lively debate when roof repairs came up, as generally it was felt the repairs may have been required or accellerated as a result of the extra use of the roof by the top floor flat. In the end the bill was very heavily weighted towards the top floor flat owner, so again, this is something you should think about.

bathgatebuyer

gelliott007 wrote: »

While the title is silent on the ownership of roof space (and therefore presumed to me mine)

Very dangerous to assume that you automatically own the space because the deeds are silent! It's more likely it's held in shared ownership by all residents within the block.

Check with your solicitor or a surveyor (we're a nice bunch really!) as to the full extent of your demised interest in the block, however, don't be surprised if you only have he same rights to that space as the guy on the ground floor.

donna-j_2

Also, if you want to buy the shared ownership rights from the other flat owners, you will probably have to take on the 'roof burden', so if anything goes wrong you will have to pay for all the repairs yourself.