Any planning permission experts around?

[FunbleBummy]

So DH and I have finally, after months of looking, found a house we want to buy. right schools catchment, right price, big enough etc.

The EA has listed as 2 beds, but on viewing it is clearly a 3+ bedroom house. Apparently this is because it has planning permission for 2 beds, and the other rooms have to be called something else although they can exist

Does it even matter?
does it affect how council tax is calculated?
if we use upstairs room 3 as a 3rd bedroom, what are the implications?
do we really need to get the PP changed to reflect it in reality?
Is that likely to be difficult? Costly?
what if it got turned down?

anyone?

Thanks in advance.

Do you mean planning permission or building regulations? Is the bedroom a loft conversion, for example? Rooms need to meet certain quality and safety standards to be approved as a bedroom, so sometimes people try to cut corners by using rooms as bedrooms which don't meet these standards.

My previous house had one of these - didn't meet fire safety regulations, so it couldn't legally be called a bedroom.

Exactly as Grendelsmums says, planing permission isn't always required but building regulations are. Regs are the construction rules about how you should build/extend or modify a house. If it's a loft conversion the building regs are quite strict, typically to ensure that the room is safe from fire.

Building regs do get updated regularly but if any building work has been done it should have been signed off at the time (to the then current building standard) and a certificate is issued to say it's a habitable area.

An example of current regs - if you are converting a loft the ceilings below should be replaced with fire retardant plaster board. If you are creating a bathroom or utility room it should have an electrically operated extractor fan. Stairs treads have to be built to a certain size and with handrails. If you build an extension the foundations should be dug to 1m (more if if on clay soil).

Prior to starting a build you apply for building regs (it's chargeable) through your council and they will send an inspector around during various stages to validate the build. At the end they will issue the cert to say it's been built correctly.

If this house doesn't have building regs you can apply retrospectively but I would advise getting a builder to look at it as it could be costly if not done correctly.

I am guessing that because you say "upstairs" you mean the loft has been converted.

It all depends on whether you want to use that as a storage area or a room. lofts are not rooms, so when you convert one certain buildings regs apply. The main one is that the joists in the loft are not as big as they would be if they were flooring joists. IIRC loft joists are about 4-5 inches and flooring joists are 9 inches. It means the loft cannot take the weight of furniture and people under normal circumstances.

There is also a head height issue, that a loft conversion has to have a certain amount of headroom.

There are fire regulations as well, my sister has a 3 storey Victorian house, where the loft is a huge proper room, no conversion it was built that way. She put an en-suite up there and had to have fire doors fitted.

If the house doesn't have building regs they can apply for it retrospectively but why didn't they get it in the first place and secondly it can mean ripping up flooring and popping holes in the plaster.

I would want the vendor to apply for it before I went anywhere near it.

Council tax wise, if it is priced higher than a normal comparable 2 bed house then the Valuation Office may wish for the house to be reassessed for council tax banding. (I used to work in council tax) usually someone has planning and/or building regs so the property is marked for re-banding when it is sold. I am not sure how it would be approached as technically it is a 2 bed, however it clearly has more usable space than a 2 bed.

thanks.

no, not a loft conversion.

Am going to quiz the EA tomorrow, but I suspect it has to do with the size of the window (or in particular the bit that opens) in the third room.

Ah, you think that the window is too small or too high to pass building regulations?

in which case you could presumably make the room habitable by increasing the window size... but then you wonder why it hasn't been done before.

Hi all We are currently planning to buy a 5 bed chalet bungalow which we have since found out had the loft converted back in 1992 to include 2 bedrooms and a shower room. Our solicitor has asked if they had planning and building regs done at the time but the vendor solicitors were not very forthcoming. It is now been 3 weeks since the initial enquiry to find out they didn't and the vendors solicitor advised that as the loft conversion was 20 years old planning and building regs would not be enforced. Our solicitor has said otherwise and that there could be a small risk that the building regs could still be enforced. The problem I have is the property needs a lot of updating including cavity wall insulation, knocking a wall down and installing a wood burner and a few other things that I know are going to involve planning and building regs and I am a little concerned that if they do a site visit once the initial application went in they would spot this and bring it up. Also our solicitor advised that an indemnity would be rendered void once they come in. I am little annoyed by the vendors solicitor as I feel she has led us up the garden path and thought we would go ahead with the purchase and we are being pressured in completing by the 18th December . Does anyone have any experience of this or if anyone can advise? Any help would be be much appreciated

You or your solicitor can check direct with the local authority to establish if the work was granted consent.

I wouldn't approach the council without taking legal advice as it could stop you from getting indemnity insurance if the vendor did something without planning permission.

Have to disagree with jolydiane on this. The council are obliged to show what has been approved and there is no need to reveal anything to them about your concerns. The planning /buildng regulations consents are a matter of public record.

You would be in a much better position if you know what has and what has not been approved and are under no obligation to share this with the vendor.

I didn't know that Pendeen (I must declare I not a planning expert - just been through the process of buying a house), I just remember when I took out an indemnity policy I had to declare that I had not contacted the council or relevant authority or the indemnity policy would have been invalid.

All the best.

My daughter bought a house with a "loft conversion", but on the estate agent's details it was stated that as there had been no planning permission or building regs. for the room, plus toilet and wash basin, it could be described only as a 2 bed house. The estate agent was an honest one.