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Original poster

How do i sell my house with a loft conversion & No building regulations?

33 replies

auntilin · 07/08/2017 23:01

The conversion was completed by my ( builder) sbxh, some 5 yrs ago.
I knew there were no building regs. & so it is marketed & priced as a 2 bed.
I have a buyer who has had a survey, all ok, but it seems it is his solicitor who says he is not to buy the house without building regs.
I have spoken to the council dept ..Who will send me some forms to apply for building regs ? but this seems a waste of time & money,
I can't apply for retrospective/building regs, as it wouldn't pass, as in stairs too steep & no fire doors etc. not anything structural..
I feel like i'm in a catch 22 situation..
how do people sell , there must be others in this situation?

OP posts:
RaininSummer · 07/08/2017 23:04

I have heard of people taking out indemnity insurance in this instance. Would your solicitor advise you.

ChristinaParsons · 07/08/2017 23:16

Your buyers lender will look at their survey. They will then decide whether it is too dangerous or not to lend on.

ChristinaParsons · 07/08/2017 23:21

Your buyers solicitors first priority is always to protect the lender. Loft conversions without planning/building regs even marketed as just additional storage space. BAD. You said it yourself no fire door, stairs too steep.

GU24Mum · 07/08/2017 23:35

Sounds like you've got three choices:

  1. Hope you will find someone who will take a view. Not impossible but could br tricky in this market esp if they are getting a mortgage;
  2. Fix it (sounds expensive) and get building regs approval; or
  3. Change it so that it's more like a loft space again (put back a hatch/ceiling)?

IMO a buyer won't want to take out indemnity insurance for this as it's the wrong sort of thing. Insurance is fine if you've done something basically OK but without building regs and will cover you if the enforcement team comes knocking on the door. If it's dangerous then having an indemnity won't really cut if in a house fire.

superram · 07/08/2017 23:39

We bought a house with a crap loft extension (stairs in another bedroom). House was sold as 3 bed so we knew it would have to be ripped out and done again. Is it priced accordingly?

Boredboredboredboredbored · 08/08/2017 07:24

Op said it's priced and marketed as a 2 bed. If the buyers are happy to proceed and pay the price they've offered then yes an indemnity policy should be taken out to protect the buyers. We have similar with a converted garage (previous owners turned it into a utility) we have no building regs so will provide the indemnity insurance for our buyers.

HSMMaCM · 08/08/2017 07:28

We were told if we converted our loft without regs it was simply 'luxury storage'. It's a boarded loft with a fixed ladder essentially.

boringbertha · 08/08/2017 07:33

I have the same situation although loft was already converted when we bought it. I don't recall there being any issues and the seller took out an indemnity to satisfy the solicitors questions. I've had the house valued for sale recently and know we'll not be able to market it as a bedroom.

DividedKingdom · 08/08/2017 07:44

I'm 99% sure no indemnity policy can be granted now because it is an officially "known" issue side OP has notified the council. Indemnity policies are generally only granted to cover issues that are "questionable", but this is not.

I'm not sure what the best way forward is except to reverse the conversion (remove stairs and just call it a loft?).

Haint · 08/08/2017 08:33

Ours was the same when we bought it, we just had an indemnity policy. From what I remember the vendor paid and it was about £150

hiddenmnetter · 08/08/2017 11:59

Fire doors are readily available (and not that expensive- around £80/door I think) and you can buy a fire alarm on amazon for £20 to fit to the loft level.

The stairs might have to be redone but you could potentially do all this and then market it as a 3-bed? Speak to the DS and ask what he would want to see for him to sign it off?

HipsterHunter · 08/08/2017 12:30

Loft conversions without planning/building regs even marketed as just additional storage space. BAD. You said it yourself no fire door, stairs too steep.

Disagree.

Marketed and priced as a 2 bed not 3 bed (or even 2 bed plus 'loft room'", this is not "BAD". More convenient storage than a hatch and ladder.

Hopefully you didn't give you name/address when you talked to the council OP because you won't be able to get indemnity.

PoppyPopcorn · 08/08/2017 12:57

Without Building Regs you are simply passing the problem on to someone else. The buyers' solicitor is advising them that if they buy your house and try to sell it in the future, they may struggle.

There are only a couple of things you can do. Firstly, drop the price to reflect the lack of Building Regs and you might get someone to take the risk and do the work to make the loft conform.

Or, go through the process yourself with Building COntrol. Having done a loft conversion recently there is a LOT to conform too - not just steepness of stairs but head height too, insulation, fire doors, etc etc etc. There are a lot of rules and you can't just ignore them. (Also stairs which are wrong or too steep sounds pretty structural to me).

Building Control are fairly helpful in my experience, I would call the local council and ask if they can send out an inspector. Make a list, see what it would cost to make it conform. Then you at least know how much you should knock off the asking price, or what it will cost to fix.

scaryteacher · 08/08/2017 13:11

Our house had the attic converted in the 70s, and the house is let a as 4 bed with a hobby room at the top. It hasn't put off tenants, and it is plain it can't be used as a bedroom, so not sure it will be am issue when we come to sell. It wasn't an issue for us when we bought it in 92.

ulmiedzaavquane · 08/08/2017 14:02

Steep stairs can pass building regs if you replace them with "alternating step" type stairs - but you would still need to worry about sufficient landing areas, overhead clearance and fire doors.

Either you need to sell to a cash buyer who cares as little for building regs as your stbx (which will mean a lower price, even lower than pricing as a 2 bed) or you need to spend money on sorting out the problem.

scaryteacher · 08/08/2017 15:40

ulmied When it was done as long ago as ours was (in 78 iirc), and building regs aren't retrospective, does it matter?

Original poster
auntilin · 08/08/2017 21:02

Thanks all.
what a damn mess, I 'm stuck really, unless I find a cash buyer..

OP posts:
hatsoncats · 08/08/2017 21:15

Can't it just be advertised as a 2 bed with boarded out loft? As long as you're not trying to claim the loft is a bedroom, can't you simply say that the loft is for storage only, & the staircase is for easier access? Why does removing the staircase make it all legal again please? (Similar problem here, done back in 1990)

LIZS · 08/08/2017 21:20

You can't get indemnity insurance if you've contacted the council. Even so it won't do away with doubts about safety and compliance. Either get it brought up to regulations or agree a discount for a buyer prepared to do so.

Shadowboy · 08/08/2017 21:22

Indemnity only works if the council don't know about the issue. Because you contacted the council you can't get indemnity. Your solicitor should have warned you about this.

PattyPenguin · 08/08/2017 21:27

I live in an area full of terraces. Houses regularly come up for sale, and are sold, advertised as 2 or 3 beds (i.e. the original bedrooms on the first floor) with "a useful loft room" or "a good-sized loft room" i.e. with loft conversions without building reg approval. They go for the same price as 2 / 3 bed houses with an unconverted attic in the same street, not 3 / 4 beds.

I can't believe they are all bought by cash buyers. Provided the lender is satisfied that they would recoup their money, i.e. the price is the same as for a house with an unconverted attic, I can't see them being difficult.

Indeed, the OP says it was a solicitor who said the buyer couldn't proceed. I'm at a loss to explain why. Loft rooms without building regs approval aren't illegal - they just can't be marketed as bedrooms. Also, it would be very unwise to use them as bedrooms and doing so could invalidate buildings and contents insurance.

HipsterHunter · 08/08/2017 23:15

Either get it brought up to regulations or agree a discount for a buyer prepared to do so.

I just totally disagree with this. A 2 bed house with a 'useful boarded loft storage room with staircase' needs to be at a DISCOUNT to a 2 bed with loft space accesses by a ladder.

Yes you can 100% not sell it as a 3 bed but that isn't what the OP is doing!

You do not need your nicely boarded loft storage space to confirm to building regs for a loft conversion.

If you are buying as a 2 bed, and the mortgage co is valuing as a 2 bed there shouldn't be any issue.

Loft rooms without building regs approval aren't illegal - they just can't be marketed as bedrooms.

Quite

HSMMaCM · 09/08/2017 06:16

I agree. It's a 2 bed with a nice loft. What's the problem?

mooneypie · 09/08/2017 07:29

I think your buyer, well solicitor, is being really cheeky. If you got building regs they would be buying a 3 bed for price of 2 bed!! Unless they are offering to pay more? I would stick with it as a loft room op

hiddenmnetter · 09/08/2017 07:29

I live in an area full of terraces. Houses regularly come up for sale, and are sold, advertised as 2 or 3 beds (i.e. the original bedrooms on the first floor) with "a useful loft room" or "a good-sized loft room" i.e. with loft conversions without building reg approval.

That rather sounds like they have loft conversions without planning permission not without building reg approval, since if you don't comply with building regs the DS can order the work undone.

With no fire doors and stairs that do not comply OP can't just market it as anything. perhaps OP you could speak to a local builder or architect to see what would be required to get it up to code?