Cellar window opening onto public pavement

whiskywhisky

Hi All

I think I have made a bad decision.

I have a BTL which had a dark dingy cellar, I got some trademen who will make the cellar usuable (plastered walls, electrics etc) - this is almost finished. The cellar had the old "coal shoot" and there is NO front garden. Anyway the people started working, and then I was in a bit of a pickle to get a window quickly. I wanted a internal opening one, I searched high and low but could not find one unless I got it made to measure. Which would have taken a couple of weeks and cost a couple of hundred extra.

I ended up buying from B+Q, an outside opening. There is about 6 inches window seal before the window would be on the pavement if fully opened.

I guess I will hope to BTL for a couple of years before selling, can someone please let me know what problems I could encounter with my window ???(please do not say to speak to the council, as we all know what they will say).

Thanks in advance.

martinman3

Is this property freehold or leasehold ?
If it is leasehold you would need the permission of the freeholder to make an opening in the wall for a window.

PasturesNew

Thinking it through, even if you decided to chance it ... would you even be insured if somebody was passing and either had the window opened out onto them suddenly, or, worse, they didn't spot it, collided with it and had lacerations.

Doozergirl

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well.

You will probably be asked to provide an indemnity policy if you cannot provide a FENSA or building regs approval certificate for the new windows. That will cost, mm, about the same as a decent window would have done.

Twitchy buyers will pull out over trivial stuff like this.

Thinking about it further, the thing with 'converting' cellars is that people will see it as a room and will think they are paying for that. You need Building Regs approval for that as well. You won't get it with a dodgy window.

tbs624

What do you intend to use the cellar for?

If it's as a habitable space, rather than for storage, you'll need to comply with building regs on ventilation, fire escape routes, damp proofing etc. Appropriate heating, lighting and ventilation are crucial to any cellar conversion and if you're going to be a LL you need be aware of your obligations to your tenants, and to make sure you've complied. Doozer has already mentioned FENSA with regard to window installation .

PasturesNew

It appears I skimped my first reading and applied my own understanding to the situation. On reviewing the OP's posting it appears clarification might be required.

I assumed that he was just making the room usable as storage. Certainly not as a habitable area. To have it as a habitable area would certainly require building regulations and the importance of the window would have been clear and reiterated by his builder.

On second reading, it could be construed that he intends that space as a room in its own right. Which brings a whole raft of questions regarding building regs, whether it is or is intended to become a HMO and require licensing. Or, in short, what was going on in his head.

Edit: Sometimes I just assume people know what they're doing and have done all the right things... Doh me!

silvercar

How far above the pavement is this window? I would be concerned about street debris ending up in your cellar.

whiskywhisky

Thanks for the advice, some answers:

- The property is freehold.
- It will be used as storage and not as a "room".
- The window is approximately 6 -8 inches from the pavement, this is the size of the concrete window sil.

The advice about providing an Indemnity Policy if I cannot provide a Fensa/Building Regs - can someone please explain what one of these is?

silvercar

Someone buying your property queries the fact that you have no certificates for the work, so you take out an indemnity policy which covers the cost of the council enforcing them to do corrective works.

You can't get an indemnity if the council have been tipped off or the works are less than a year old. After a year the council can't enforce building regs action AFAIK. These policies are in fact worthless, but they do keep buyers solicitors happy.

They are generally used when work has been done correctly but no certificates obtained and regulations have moved on so it is not possible to get certificates to old standards only current standards which the works wouldn't meet. Another use is when it would be too much effort/ interference to investigate whether work complied with regs at a later date eg roof insolation now obscured by part of the building.

As well as getting peace of mind from these indemnities, buyers are advised to get a surveyor to check the the work is of decent standard. In your case I would imagine that it would be fairly obvious that standards have not been met and you could be forced by a buyer to rectify the window (or knock the cost off the price).

If this is really a storage are not a room, why does it need an opening window? Glass bricks could provide light.

tbs624

AFAIAA the indemnity policies only pay out for council enforcement action, not if you create any problem with the physical condition of the property because the standards weren’t met: they don’t provide the same level of reassurance as building regs approval/FENSA cert would when selling up. If they did, why would anyone seek building regs approval/certification in the first place?

Is the coal chute opening one of those that originally had a cast iron ventilated grille over it? Presumably you were talking about an open window for ventilation purposes, so that you didn’t cause problems with damp/condensation? Could you not put in extra air bricks to do the job and use an appropriate sealed window with toughened glass( or glass bricks as silvercar suggested) ?

If you read up on the FENSA info you can always get a buildings officer in afterwards - it cost me £70 for a certificate to show that windows in a property I had bought were compliant, although no FENSA certificate had been supplied.


Is this the only bit of shortcutting you are trying to do on your BTL property?

PasturesNew

What about in the event of fire? Does anybody know if not having an opening (escape) window in a room not intended as a bedroom/living room is a problem?

I know if you go into the loft you need specific fire escape windows/to meet regs. Would an altered basement attract the same type of requirement or is there no need as it's just been beautified for storage? And what might the implications for this be if the renters started to use the room as a bedroom/living room on the quiet? (because you might if the space exists)