2nd kitchen upstairs

[Ratty80]

Hi there,

I am in the process of installing a second kitchen upstairs for my 2 lodgers to use, whilst I use the main one downstairs.

I am doing this by converting the smallest bedroom into a kitchen and would appreciate some advice on the regs.

I am looking to use a free standing cooker if pos as I already have one spare. What r the regs when putting this on a timber floor? I was looking to use Lino over ply...is this ok? Or would I need to use some fireproof base or even tile the whole floor?

Since this would 'devalue' the house and if I was to sell I would remove the kitchen I wasn't going to bother applying for building control/change of use....is this a bad idea?

Any help/ideas would be massively appreciated

 

[merlin50]

a friend of mine has 2 kitchens and has to pay to lots of council tax

 

[^woody^]

There would be a whole host of b/regs, HMO, and other issues.

Mainly though, the criminal offence, negligence, failure in duty of care to the lodgers, increased fire risk and invalidating insurance implications would be more concerning

 

[Ratty80]

Thanks for the replies. So basically I MUST go for building regs.

It will not be HMO as I would have to have 3 or more lodgers

I know it needs certain things like a fire door, heat detector linked to main smoke alarm, sufficient extraction etc

What I am struggling to find regs on is weather the cooker can sit on Lino which is on top of timber floor

Any ideas on this would be major help, thanks again.

 

[flameport]

What I am struggling to find regs on is weather the cooker can sit on Lino which is on top of timber floor

Cooker standing on timber floor is what you will find in millions of properties already. Not a problem.

 

[OwainDIYer]

you don't need planning or building control to install a kitchen.

However you do need to comply with Building Regs and some activities may be notifiable, eg some drainage work (and once the kitchen is complete, electrical work)

If the work is creating a self-contained apartment then you may be liable for separate council tax, change of use permission for house to flats, and your lodgers may become tenants and gain tenant's rights.

 

[BuildingSurveyor]

Ratty80

Generally, there are a host of building regulations with which you may need to comply, not limited to compartmentalisation/means of escape, control of fire/spread of flame, electrical works, insulation of pipework passing through unheated spaces, drainage, ventilation etc.. although work in respect of each may be relatively simple and limited, there are too many to cover here.

With respect to the cooker, unless is it particularly heavy, a standard floor as existing may suffice, however if an AGA or something else is proposed, then I would recommend you strengthen the floor.

 

[Ratty80]

Thanks buildingSurveyor and OwenDIYer some very usefull thoughts.

I think that I need to ensure that I am not creating a self contained apartment, that it is still a normal house with 1 entrance, just there is an extra kitchen. In which case I just need to ensure I comply with the regs involved around installing a kitchen. I have a corgi plumber who is sorting drainage etc so hopefully he will take care of regs on his side of things.

Would you know what classifies it as a "separate dwelling" if I had a door separating upstairs and downstairs this would presumably be viewed as two separate dwellings? What about if the door was not locked? What if there is no door? What about if there was a door but they had free access to downstairs and could walk through it to go and use the garden? What about if the freezer for the house was stored in main kitchen, which they had free access to?

Any ideas would be massive help, thanks again for your input.