Would this put you off buying a house?

[littlevet1]

Hello

We currently have two bedrooms and are are considering a loft conversion. We can create a reasonably sized (approx 3.5m2) third bedroom without creating a dormer window but only if we use an alternate tread staircase, like this:

www.stairplan.com/spacesaver.htm

The building control adviser has said that this staircase is acceptable. However both him and a couple of builders say that this staircase could put off potential purchasers, when we come to sell our property.

So my question is, would this be enough to put you off buying a house, if there was an alternate tread staircase going up into an extra bedroom in the loft? Obviously we have a normal staircase going from the ground floor to the first floor where the two original bedrooms and bathroom are.

Thanks for reading :)

It would make me think twice about the house tbh, I'd see it as a 2 bed with bonus loft space not a proper 3 bed iyswim

Yes it would put me off.

I hate it when building work's been done in a not great way because it's cheaper (which is what this sounds like with you wanting to avoid doing a dormer.) I look at it and think I'll have to rip out what's been done and redo it properly. I'd rather you hadn't done the conversion at all and left it for me to do properly iyswim.

Yes sorry.

It would definitely put me off. Very unattractive and difficult to negotiate.

Would definitely put me off as well. Might be better to wait and save to get the full sized stairs and then the dormer to help make up for any space lost for the bigger stairs

We ended up redoing our loft and putting a dormer in. Ended up with a massively bigger room, better stairs and increased the value of the house lots.

It recently put me off. It was literally the ONLY thing "wrong" with the house.

Yes, sorry. I'm really not good with stairs at the best of times, and those look terrifying.

My mother put stairs like that into a tiny old cottage, to replace a very steep old staircase that had two turns in it. In that context it has improved access to the 1st floor (especially with furniture!) and has proved stable and safe to use. She tried out using them in a showroom before deciding on them and was pleasantly surprised how easy she found them to use. But she was comparing them with something rather different to a standard staircase!

My mum has got these to her spare room, and they are beyond awful. Going up is OK but coming down is terrifying, and my girls were banned from using them without a grown up stood at the bottom when they stayed over. I'd never buy a house with them in, and Mum can't list her room as a bedroom due to the access if she ever sells.

It's a no from me

An ex boyfriend had one of these staircases.

I hated it - and I was a young 20 something. It felt really unsafe and I even had a couple of nightmares about it! So yes, it would put me off.

We have these going up to our loft conversion. The room was used as an office by previous owners but we use it as a guest bedroom. We thought the stairs were quirky when we first viewed the house and it didn't put us off, but having lived here for a few years now I can see that we would never be able to use the loft room properly. As a guest room, used occasionally, it's fine. But it's a hassle to carry stuff up and down so a hamper of washing, hoover etc would be a pain if we had to do it regularly. So we have children sharing a room and the loft room is empty.

My DH's parents had one of them going up to some loft bedrooms. It was pretty scary. Not much different from climbing a ladder. Would put me off.

I don't have kids and am mobile, but yes - would hugely put me off. Looks lethal (I'm thinking down will be even worse than up!) and super ugly to my eye too. Sorry!

Yes, it would put me off - I'm imagining carrying stuff up them,or down.And I've had knee problems and then I could manage normal stars by various means,but I don't think I could manage them with a bad knee.So it would be a nice loft,not a extra room.

I know a dormer window is more faff and expense, but if you can afford it plus a proper staircase I think it's well worth the investment. It will make the room feel more like a "real" room rather than a tarted up loft.

Would put me off. I wouldn't use the room. So I wouldn't want to buy the house because I would feel I was paying for a room I wouldn't use.

It would put me off. Why don't you do a dormer? We did a loft conversion last year and the difference in cost between with or without dormer wasn't that much. A lot of the costly stuff, scaffolding and steels needs to be done anyway.

Yes, I thinkit wojld put me off if theloft was a bedroom. As others have said, as office or play space it would bother me less although I would have concerns about small children.

Sorry but those stairs look so dangerous. Accident waiting to happen imo.

If I saw those on the photos I wouldn't even bother viewing the house tbh.

Total hazard when you're pregnant, or carrying a toddler, or for small children, or when you're tired or drunk.

Stayed in a holiday cottage with one for a week once and we never got used to it.

Honestly it will seriously limit your potential buyers. You may get lucky and sell to wacky hipsters with no children or something, but you'll be taking a major risk.

Much better to save up for longer and put in proper stairs. Also I think people want/expect a dormer window in a loft conversion anyway.

We viewed a house last year with one of these and it ruled it out for us, sorry.