Habitable Rooms, Surveyors etc.

[RealPolitik]

I'm interested in buying a19th Century house which has a loft room with a fixed staircase - it has an original small dormer at the front and is fully plastered, boarded, etc. It has been in use as a habitable room (rather than loft storage) possibly for as long as the house has existed (same the rest of the terrace) - and certainly for many decades before 1985.

The room is advertised as a loft room, rather than bedroom - given that the conversion was carried out many years ago, will the addition of a Velux or additional dormer under permitted development rules require any changes to or inspection of the rest of the space?

 

[^woody^]

No

 

[RealPolitik]

Thank you.

Would describing a room like this as a bedroom cause issues with a surveyor's report for a mortgage? I'm assuming there's a good reason given the agent's not doing so.

 

[tony1851]

If it was original to the house, and boarded/plastered etc, then it was almost certainly intended as a bedroom from day 1.
Any other alterations should only be considered on their own by Building Control.
Agent has not described it as a bedroom as he won't know how old it is, so is playing safe.

 

[^woody^]

The law that Estate Agents (and others) need to abide by in describing property, prevents them from describing loft conversions, extensions and the like as proper rooms if they do not have the necessary approvals.

That is not to say that they have not been properly built, but just means that the Estate Agent commits a criminal offence if they describe [imply] that additions to the original house are approved and lawful - even if the work was done years ago and time barred from any enforcement.

So by calling a room in a roof a "bedroom" implies that it has been properly converted into a "bedroom" and meets all the regulatory requirements of a "bedroom".

 

[tony1851]

If it was built like that - and all the other houses in the row have the same attic room - then surely it could be classed as a bedroom?

 

[^woody^]

The OP mentions this room being used for as long as the house has existed, and then describes it as a conversion. So it's unclear if it's original or not.

In practical terms the sale price will be cheaper if it's got one less bedroom. But then again we don't know the context, as describing it as a "loft room" could imply possible other uses thus increasing value.

 

[RealPolitik]

Thanks for the comments, I've now viewed the house in person - if it isn't an original feature, it's definitely been there for a very long time. The staircase and bannisters match all the way up to the attic room and it certainly hasn't had any work done in the last thirty years.

Would splitting this existing single attic bedroom into two bedrooms with a simple stud wall and a new door require building regs approval? Each would have its own (existing) opening dormer.

 

[Nakajo]

So there's no door separating the loft space from the rest of the property?

 

[RealPolitik]

There's an existing door on the small landing at the top of the staircase into the second floor room.

 

[^woody^]

You will be creating a room an so will need b/regs approval

 

[RealPolitik]

Thanks, thought as much - that puts a stop to that plan.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Why?

 

[RealPolitik]

Money.

 

[noseall]

Were you going to try and build it without using money?