Does putting a radiator in a sun room mean paying more council tax?

[toucancancan]

We've just bought a house with a sun room and its the only room in the house with no central heating. We can't work out why. If we put one in would that mean our council tax band would go up?

I wouldn't have thought so. Council tax bands are based on the value of the property at a particular date. A new extension might increase the band of a property when it is sold, but not putting a radiator in an existing room will not sufficently affect the value of a house.

It may well be that the boiler couldn't cope with an extra radiator or the previous occupatents never got round to it.

Is it a sun room or a conservatory (can it be shut off from the rest of the house with an external-type door) ? If so I think its building regs for a conservatory but you can retro fit a radiator without issue if I understand things correctly (don't take my word for gospel).

It's about building regs approval. There are various things that make a conservatory exempt from needing it... e.g. built on level ground, under 3m squared, a doorway that has always been there (not one that has been knocked through), doors separating it from the main house, certain % of glass in the roof and walls... And having its own heating not run off the main system - i.e. no CH radiator.

You can have a radiator run off the main system, but then you need to get BR sign-off, and may need thicker glass or some other changes to compensate for the environmental impact of a CH rad in a glass room. :)

if it's a conservatory, it will be built much more cheaply than an extension, will not meet building regulations for a habitable room, is considered like a shed, will have awful insulation. It's the awful insulation that means you are not allowed to incluyde it in your central heating.

Some people do though, just as some people park on yellow lines or rob banks.

I agree conservatories, being made mostly of glass, will inevitably have awful heat-loss. However, it seems very odd to me that building regulations exempt structures with a MINIMUM amount of glass, rather than a maximum amount.

It won't affe t your council tax either way.

Properties can be re-banded to take extensions etc into account when sold but you don't have to re-band for improvements you make yourself.

This is one of the advantages of extending rather than moving, which might leave you with a bigger CT. bill for the same size property.

I don't think council bands are ever going to change again.

It's a proper room with a velux window and french doors. We live in the north and think it will be cold in there in winter.

If it has got an insulated roof and insulated brick/block walls, it probably counts as an extension and probably meets BRs so radiators are probably allowed.

However if it has a glass or plastic roof, and predominantly glass walls, it probably does not meet heat loss requirements for a house.

Thanks piglet, sounds like we can get it done.

lljk - the actual bands don't need to change: within the bands councils increase the amount of council tax paid on that band - and properties do get re-banded to a higher band if a room is added, extension, etc, and become subject to higher tax.

But not until it changes hands.

We had to have our house re-assessed as the previous owners had a loft conversion done - 1 bed, one shower room. We had a letter form the council and a form to fill in. Luckily the house still came in the same band as previously.

I used to work in Council Tax, if a house is rebanded it is on completion of a sale, so you can add 2 extra bedrooms and 4 downstairs rooms and pay no extra council tax whilst you live there.

The sale price of the property would reflect the new size and it is usually already flagged for rebanding due to planning/building regs. The new owner is the one who is stung for the larger sized property.

Thanks for the info

potterer
my house got rebanded after we did our building work, even though the council refused to sign it off!