Loft Conversion not a bedroom

[MugsLife]

We are in the process of buying what we thought was a three bedroom house, however it's been deemed a 2 bedroom by the surveyers because the loft coversion isn't habitable by currents regs. This does seem odd when they have a certificate that says it was done to regs in 2010, but has a list of reasons why it's not now: window too small, insulation and ventilation not sufficient floor too thin and not load bearing enough, wrong type of door, roof not supported enough, etc. Have things changed so much in 4 years? The valuation is still what we offered, even if it's a lot more than 2 beds on the road, but I'm worried it will cause problems when will try to sell it and we could lose money if we can only market it as 2 bed.

Any similar experiences? We are planning to use it as an office/spare bedroom so it's not an immediate issue, I'm just concerned about the true value of the house.

Could you get quotes to correct some of those issues?

The floor, window, roof support and door would bother me the most. Door for fire, window for fire escape, roof suport and floor for safety. Insulation is a comfort issue.

Personally I would initially have said to use it to try and get a reduction on the house price-if your surveyor states it isn't a 3 bed house then so will any other, so the vendors may be hard to pressed to get it sold as a 3 bed. However the situation seems a bit odd-is the certificate they have for the conversion for building regs? If so then I would have thought as long as it met the requirements at the time it was done then it should still be counted as a bedroom. Buildings regs change constantly and if building work has been signed off a few years ago but doesn't meet current requirements then you don't need to update to current levels! Otherwise we would all be modify our houses constantly.

The things you describe that are wrong with this conversion aren't minor things though so I would suspect the conversion hasn't been signed off for building regs and so we are back to it being a 2 bed house. If this is the case now it has come to light if you were to pull out of the sale the house should then be marketed as a 2 bed with useable attic space. I would talk to the EA and clarify what the certificate is and then speak to your surveyor and get their advice. The valuation given by surveyors in my opinion always seems to match the asking price of the property! I think it would be better that they surveyed the house without knowing the asking price first!

The load bearing and support issues sound concerning.

It may well be that somehow they got dodgy certification.

My friend had a cheap loft conversion done and had cupboards built into the eves - also the most convenient inspection hatch into the roof void. She discovered that on the day buildings regs came to sign it off, the builders had mysteriously plaster boarded and painted over the cupboard hatches so that there was very little access into crucial bits of the roof and structure. The next day the cupboards re-appeared.....

Surveys are full of endless details that sound scary but are neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things - but the load bearing and support issues in a badly done loft conversion would worry me a lot.

Have you got the paperwork form the conversion? It should be made available to you. Is there a 10 year guarantee? Was it a reputable company?

Yes, it will cause problems when you sell, and could cause problems well before then!

yy - your solicitor can search for a record of the building regs, and the solicitor or EA ask for certification and any paperwork from the coversion builders.

Is there a proper staircase to access the room or a pull-down ladder?

It's proper staircase at least with a door at the bottom, so it looked to us that had been properly, although not well. They said the work was done by a family member so guarantees for the work our unlikely. That's scary that it's possible to get a dodgy certificate!

OH spoke to the surveyer yesterday who didn't see it as a major issue, and highlighted some other areas that he thought were more important so we are definitelty going to have to get a builder in anyway for quotes and other work too.