OK we`ve been entirely stupid and built a garage conversion without permission. Please can anyone talk to me about what to do now or are we stuffed ?

[namechange1970]

OK pls dont judge me. well you can but i know ive done wrong and now im going to pay. However i just wondered if anyone had any knowledge and could tell me really how much troublw were in.
I found myself pregnant with dd 4 in 3 bed semi.
BIL is a builder and i paid him cash in hand to quickly convert the garage into two very small rooms for older dds. We didnt get building regs. He has done the foundations and main front wall up to building regs im sure. However the back wall houses a boiler (have Carbon monoxide monitor on at all times ) so he couldnt build the double brick and its still only single brick. Weve plug in oil filled radiators and double glazed windows now to front and back. My questions are 1) Can i rectify this in any way retrospectively. Will have new boiler before Christmas so could then pay someone to come and redo that wall as boiler wont even be in that room.Can i then apply for some sort of retrospective building regs? ") Legally could we be in big trouble if ever reported. Its now been done nearly 2 years. 3) Id like to sell and move somewhere bigger in about 2 years -how will this affect selling the house ? Is it a 3 bed with garage conversion which is illegal so no one will get a mortgage on it ?. Could i get it sorted and sell as 5 bed ?
Would appreciate any knowledgable advice if at aall possible.
TIA

Have other garages been converted? If so, I'm pretty sure you can get retrospective consent as long as comply with building regs. Tbh, I'd be straight up about it and ask the council for advice.

Go to your local planning office for advice. You may have to pay a small sum, but as long as it has been done to building regs and isn't in a conservation are, it is quite likely that you will get retrospective planning consent without too much hassle.

We moved a bathroom once to another room with the help of a builder who was also a friend and didn't realise we'd need to consider building regulations until we came to sell. The buyers quite rightly asked for the necessary building regulations and it was also a grade II listed building so we needed to get consent for some of the pipework that had been changed on the outside and I think permission for the glass to be changed to opaque glass. Stupidly we hadn't realised this.
It was a very anxious few weeks but all was fine in the end. We had to have some small adjustments made to make the pipes look neater for the listed buildings permission (? I can't remember what it was called now) and add in an extractor fan.

As others have said, as long as there are other people who have done similar conversions and its been done properly you should be able to get it done retrospectively. Definitely do it before you sell though as the stress of trying to get it all done whilst waiting in a chain was not good!

There's two issues here, planning consent and building regulations approval.

See here for more information about both.

Calm down - you haven't killed anyone. I work in LA building control and people do this all the time believe me. Then they want to sell their houses and realise they needed to do it through building control.

You can apply to 'regularise' it, which is a retrospective application. If it was where I work, we'd ask you to open up some aspects ie we'd want to see the footing at the front. The floor wall and ceilings will have to meet the required U values, you need background ventilation and the boiler must have Gas Safe certification.

Get your local BCO round to tell you what you need to do.

Some very reassuring posts here thank you. Didnt expect it.
Jasper-if i get BCO (is that building control officer ? ) around wont then the council be aware and possibly fine me / Could they make me re errect the garage door etc and not allow use of it as bedroom ?

No, they won't! They're there to help you put it right, not try to catch you out. Again, I deal with several of these per month and much more serious ones too, like loft conversions that don't comply.

Council's can serve notices asking you to alter or remove non-compliant work, but it must be within 6 months of you doing it! You can sort this out retrospectively, it's no biggie.

Just to be clear, building control won't make you turn it back into a garage, and they won't fine you for doing it wrong, but if it hasn't been done properly they can make you spend a lot of money putting it right.

But if planning consent is required (it isn't normally for a garage conversion, but if you are in a conservation area or the house is relatively new it may well be) and cannot be obtained you may be required to convert it back to a garage.