Loft conversion.

[FunbleBummy]

We are looking to buy a house t the moment, and recently weren't successful for an end of terrace Victorian home with a loft bedroom and dormer en suite.

However we re going to view one in resume row, but mid terrace without the loft conversion with a view to putting one in.

Is it likely to be more difficult to get the planning permission for this? Or even possible? None of the other mid terrace ones seem to have one at present but i don't know if that is important or not.

Thanks in advance!

If none of the inner terraces has a conversion, it might be to do with the configuration of the properties / head height which means it can't be done. The ends might be slightly different.

Victorian mid-terraces are usually ideal for loft conversions - as long as there's enough head room as mandy says. If you had veluxes at the front and the former at the back you could probably do it under permitted development so no planning permission needed. Is there head room and an obvious space for the stairs?

Dormer at the back sorry....

yes, enough height, and enough space for stairs.

Which is all lucky since we just bought the house!

You don't normally need planning permission for lofts.

There's only a building regs requirement for headroom on the stairs, loft area can be anything.

You don't normally need planning permission for lofts.

There's only a building regs requirement for headroom on the stairs, loft area can be anything.

We did a loft conversion on our mid terrace Victorian house last year and out a dormer on the back. We now have a fabulous light & airy master bedroom, dressing area and ensuite (with eaves storage - very useful for suitcases & Christmas decs etc). It was all done within permitted development but we did have to change ALL the interior doors in the house from the beautiful originals (broke my heart) to new doors that meet current fire regs and have intumescent strips.

Dare I ask how much??

Why don't you phone the planning department & ask them?

They'll be able to tell you if permission is required & if it is they might advise of the likelihood in that area.

Best of luck.

Sleep- what was stopping you from changing the doors for the purpose of the inspection and then switching them back the moment it was signed off? Obviously you would have a fire risk that you then knew about, but it might have been one you thought was worth it. Or am I just being mean mentioning it now - benefit of hindsight etc .

Can I ask how much your loft conversions cost? I know it depends so much on how big the house is, how the stairs work, and what you put up there etc, but I would really like a ballpark figure for a small 2 bed Victorian terrace.

Our loft conversion was done in 2010 for £32k. We then spent another £13k on the flooring, bathroom suite, new custom wardrobes. It was all done under permitted development.
Again, all our internal doors were exchanged for fire doors but we were happy to lose them as they were inherited from previous owners.

We were quoted £20k for a terrace loft conversion 3 years ago

I'm talking cheap. What's a really cheap quote for a really basic job (small loft but high enough to stand up in)!

I wouldn't have a heightened fire risk Thistledew just for a more appealing look.

you can get fire doors in 4 and 6 panels, which look very original but are rather heavy (and a little thicker)

LineRunner our loft STORAGE room cost £14k but were quoted £24k to be building regs compliant with dormer to back in South East.

If there was a fire and you'd changed the doors back to the originals after the inspection, where would you stand re: insurance payout?
And surely you'd also be paying for new doors (expensive, I would guess) that you'd be binning?

Actual fire doors are around £70 each plus fixtures so not hugely expensive.

£70 each. We have 10 doors that would need changing. Plus fixtures, as you say, which don't come up cheap if you want nice ones. Then there's the cost of re-hanging them. I would say that's approaching expensive.

The basic fire doors were included in the quote although we did pay the difference for the 4 panel doors instead. I'm quite relieved we were lazy and never got new doors to replace the crap ones we got with the house when we bought it.
We did consider taking the door off the kitchen after the inspection but we quite like it now (the original door was a revolting teak coloured wood with part frosted glass folding door. Think bad 1970s pub look).

Oh, the hanging of doors and fixing of new handles was included although handles were up to us to find and buy.

Sure, the new fire doors would be included in the price, but if you're going to bin them and replace them with the originals, then it's still wasted money.

Yes. I may have got confused with what you meant, sorry.

Yes it did momentarily occur to me to change them back after building regs passed but then I thought about the fire risk and the fact my children would be sleeping in the house and also the house insurance would be invalid if we had to make a claim. The replacement doors aren't hideous by any standards (still 4 panels) it's just I know they're not the originals and I love the original features in the house.

Our conversion was completed last year and cost in the region on £32k. We also had a lot of other work done on the house at the same time so difficult to give an exact figure. That price included changing and hanging 9 (fire) doors, and the fittings, tiling & installation of the ensuite; plus a wired in smoke alarm system throughout the property. Ours was a 3 bedroomed terrace but now is 4 large doubles.