Panic over whether to go ahead with flat purchase - 2 beds but without building regs for loft!

[custarddonut]

Hi there, posting here for traffic.

DH and I found what we thought was the perfect flat nearly 6 months ago now. Always intended to complete by August as that's when our current tenancy expires (we're first time buyers). This also suited the vendor. Flat was marketed as a 2 bedroom, with one 'normal' bedroom and another bedroom in the converted loft. This room has stairs leading up to it but no actual door to it if that makes sense, but we loved the flat so much we decided to go ahead anyway. THe flat is a fantastic size and a good price for a 2 bedroom flat in the area. Anyway fast forward 6 months and our surveyor has come back and said that the loft conversion bedroom doesn't have building regulations. Our lawyer asked the vendor's lawyer to get retrospective building regulations done. HOwever, we've now heard that this won't be possible as there is apparently no way that the loft conversion would comply with current building regs (stairs too steep, no door etc.). However it doesn't seem structurally unsound and it's still to all intents and purposes, a bedroom. We are now waiting to hear from our mortgage provider and are worried that they will take the view that this is actually a 1 bedroom flat with a loft space, and subsequently not give us our full mortgage (the price should reflect this 'new' news type thing). All this though has given us cold feet, much as we love the flat, it won't be our forever home and I worry that we'll face the same problem when we come to sell. I don't think that an indemnity insurance policy will be enough? Does anyone have any expertise here? Feeling so torn as we love the flat, we've already given notice on our tenancy but nervous to buy a 'two bed' flat if really it's just a one bed. Any thoughts or advice would be much appreciated!!

Indemnity insurance won't do anything in a situation like this as far as I'm aware. What could it insure you against exactly?

The loft isn't an illegal room or structure, it's just a loft not a bedroom. So the local authority couldn't force you or a subsequent purchaser to put anything right, you just can't describe it as a bedroom, and when the mortgage company send a surveyor to value it they'll value it as a one-bed with a loft space.

That's my understanding anyway - I'm no expert!

Pull out.

@qinsi I know it's not cut and dried - but the op seems to think that the stairs is the only issue. If the room hasn't been done to standard there might be loads of other issues too. The big one with out loft cinversion was things like insulation - the building inspector came out to measure the depth before they put the olasterboard up. And fire doors. And a smoke alarm at the top of the stairs.

Some easy to remedy in retrospect. Insulation not so much.

RUN!!!

My partner has this issue with the flat he owns, and we currently live in.

There are two normal bedrooms, and a loft space which doesn't meet regs and which had not been agreed with the freeholder. All changes to a building HAVE to be agreed with the freeholder.

The freeholder demanded £20k plus legal fees just to make the amendment to the lease, which he had no choice but to pay. £27,000 out of pocket.

I'm going to take a guess that the freeholder in your case would not have agreed to alterations which don't meet regs. When they find out, not only will you have to pay for remedial works to bring it up to code, you'll also have to pay thousands for them to amend the lease, plus all their legal costs.

Absolute fucking nightmare. We are currently trying to sell and getting nowhere.

You should also look at how many years are remaining on the lease. Anything less than 100 years and you're likely to need to get it extended before you sell, which is another £20k plus. We have just done this (currently sat at 82 years) so overall we are down nearly £50k just to get the property in saleable condition. All because he was a naive first time buyer who was easily fooled by a sharp estate agent and unscrupulous vendor.

Seriously, walk away.

Building regs are there for a reason.
I suspect that the narrow stairs and the lack of door - both issues with fire and access,
are the top of the iceberg. My main concern would be have they just boarded the existing ceiling trusses?, if so they could easily be too small for regular use and would need strengthening. Is it insulated - will affect running costs and usability? Who did the electrics, are they safe or was it a diy add on?
A lot of the reasons I see given for why something doesn't have building regulations are actually surmountable within the system but take a bit of lateral design by someone who knows what they are doing. This may cost more so people tend to opt for the hope and cross fingers approach.

I used to be a conveyancer and I agree with everything that @bobblehat102 has said. Run!

How would your insurance sit if there was a fire in the house? The reason that I ask is because a house in the town I live it had a fire in the loft (which according to the fire fighter I know who attended was a bedroom). Apparently the bedroom didn’t meet building regs (narrow staircase) which meant the fire fighters were unable to gain adequate access (which admittedly would probably be the case with any loft) and it was his assumption that the buildings insurance would not pay out because of the alterations made which didn’t meet the requirements.
I’m not an expert in this, but this would be my concern buying something without building regs on a loft conversion

I wouldn’t go ahead. You’ll have loads of problems when you come to sell it for the same reason.