How do I find out if a loft conversion is legit?

sniperpenguin

A house im buying has a loft / attic converted into a small upstairs room (was being used as a bedroom previuosly) with a static staircase.

However, the estate has informed me that they (the EA) are not describing as a bedroom as it doesnt appear to be "on the plans".

So my questions are:

1. Do you need planning permission for a loft conversion?
2. If it doesnt have it, is it easy to get retrospectively?
3. Should I be worried?

Thanks!

itsgototstop

Someone else may know more, but yes I think PP is required for loft conversion, probably building regs also.

Can you find out when it was done, and look into vendor paying for a indemnity policy for you, maybe also knock price down a bit?>

If you ring council now you will invalidate any indemnity policy so hold fire

dubsey

We have been told by our local council that we can install velux style windows and use the loft space without planning permission - but, we cannot have a fixed staircase, it must be a retractable type and we cannot use it as a habitable room. So, if we were to turn it into a play area for the children we couldn't sell the house claiming to have an extra room.

If you call your local planning office and just ask a general question about loft planning for the area you're looking to buy in they should be able to tell you what does or doesn't require permission and building regs.

I would think that when the surveyor goes aroung the property it would be something he would pick up on, especially if it hasn't been done properly.

Richard_Webster

They are probably saying that it is a "storage area with window" or some similar expression. This would reduce the value a bit because it would have one less bedroom, but the idea would be to encourage the mortgage valuer to regard it as not habitable so he doesn't raise all the predictable points about statutory consents, etc.

Possibly a lender's surveyor, if told this, might value it assuming it isn't a habitable room and therefore worth a bit less than otherwise with one more "real" bedroom. If he consciously does that then possibly nobody needs to bother about policies.

If he says that the conveyancer should check that it complies with all statutory regulations etc then the buyer is stuck with having to obtain a building regulation indemnity policy. Such a policy only protects against the consequences of enforcement, which is very unlikely indeed.

Finally I assume this is a conversion and not one of these older houses that has been like that since the year dot.

Zazen999

Are they selling it at a price that infers it is an extra room?

sniperpenguin

Zazen999 wrote: »

Are they selling it at a price that infers it is an extra room?

Well, that can it interpreted any way, cant it? ;-) Its a reposession, going for £111K (im at the point of being about to complete / exchange... just want to make sure Im not walking into a minefield!)

chappers

Sorry to reply so late. Most loft conversions will not require planning permission provided that no alteration is made to either the front or side elevation of the property, except for velux type roof windows, in most cases this would come under permitted development.

However a loft conversion would fall completely under the remit of the Building Regulations and would have to be certificated by them as complying, although not the only or deciding factor one of the major definitions used is a fixed staircase.Depending when these works were carried out they will still be subject to the regs. Phone the relevant local building control department and they will be able to tell you if this conversion was ever signed off.
It could possibly be a problem if you come to sell in the future if it hasn't been signed off and you don't bring it up to regs, particularly the way lenders/solicitors are acting lately.

pesky_princess

I read this thread with interest.. as i have just moved from a rented house which had an attic room... it was advertised for rent as a 3 bedroom house. We had the attic room as our bedroom - it had a proper staircase to it.
It is now for sale as a 2 bed house with a 'useful attic room'
so.. how come it is not officially classed as a 3rd bedroom? just out of interest like!
it had one little window in the room, was not in the roof, was in the wall.

chappers

Probably has no official BC consent, dosent adhere to regs, is a fire hazard waiting to happen, maybe even structurally un-sound.

Debt_Free_Chick

sniperpenguin wrote: »

A house im buying has a loft / attic converted into a small upstairs room (was being used as a bedroom previuosly) with a static staircase.

However, the estate has informed me that they (the EA) are not describing as a bedroom as it doesnt appear to be "on the plans".

So my questions are:

1. Do you need planning permission for a loft conversion?

Not necessarily. And if it's needed "now", it does not necessarily mean that it was needed when it was done.

2. If it doesnt have it, is it easy to get retrospectively?

It's only easy if it complies with current Planning requirements. But if it didn't need Planning Permission when built, then there's no point in getting it now. And if it did need PP when built, but that is more than 4 years ago, there's no point in applying now as no-one can take any action. Once a development has been in place for 4 years - unchallenged - then no-one can challenge you for not having PP, even if you should have had it when the development was undertaken.

In other words ... if the conversion is more than 4 years old, ignore any lack of PP.

3. Should I be worried?

I don't know But if you pay a structural engineer to inspect it, he'll tell you whether or not you should worry i.e. whether you'll end up in the floor below if you attempt to "hump the missus" in the loft conversion :rotfl:

Debt_Free_Chick

Incidentally .....

Some people live in properties that never had and never needed PP or Building Regs .... anything over 100 years old, springs to mind.

And they are possibly (how do we prove it?) amongst the most solid, stable and secure buildings you'll come across. But they don't comply with Building Regs :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:


Will it fall down? Well, it hasn't done, so far :rolleyes:

Anyone who's had/seen any substantial building work done lately - new build, extension etc - will tell you that current builds are of more concern. It's rather like "painting by numbers" ... you buy "kits". Rolls of insulation; sheets of dry lining; pallets of volcanic rock. And it's all stuck together with "tubes of stuff" ... mastic, silicone-this, silicone-that.

New construction is quite scary ... but it meets Building Regs, so what the heck :rolleyes:

Seriously ... what is your concern? Planning? Building Regs? "Safety"?