Help Needed! Buying a house with a musty cellar conversion - what do I need to ask?

[HugePotatoes]

Hi,

Have a final viewing on a house tomorrow which already has offers on it, so need to decide soon whether to proceed.

It is a terraced house with a 20 square meter converted cellar with reasonable head height - I think it's about 6ft. It's currently being used as a music and computer room, we'd use it as a dining room.

It smells musty in there, the estate agent blamed lack of circulation.

I've spent tonight googling what to ask before making an offer and I am no clearer than when I started!

Membrane waterproofing? Party wall agreements? Sump Pumps? Fire regs?

If anybody has any experience and can give me a tick list of things to be aware of, that would be beyond helpful!

It has electricity, lighting, a gas central heating radiator and is well plastered and painted. The flooring is a mess though.

I'd be happy to invest 10k or so to make it a proper room - but I don't know how far that kind of money goes with basements.

I assume it must have been waterproofed for the music equipment to be kept in there, and for the plastering/painting to have worked.

Pic attached - any thoughts welcome!

Cellar aside, house is in a fab area and would be a solid investment.

Thank you if you made it this far!

Sounds as though it hasn't been tanked and/or ventilation is poor. Ask how the conversion was done and when it was done. Can you get another viewing and see what's going on under that flooring? Ask if there have been any problems with water ingress or flooding down there.

We have a utility room in the cellar of our house. The room is fitted out with cupboards and shelves but isn't tanked. We have a dehumidifier running in there to keep moisture levels down. There's no damp smell as a result.

Thanks wowfudge, really appreciate your advice. The estate agent has got back to me, and it was fully tanked 10 years ago, and there are no known problems with the waterproofing, so it may just be ventilation.

Seeing it again tonight so will investigate the flooring in more detail.

How did the second viewing go @HugePotatoes?

I have heard it is very difficult to effectively dap proof cellars in these type of properties. ask a surveyor or a damp specialist

Did the conversion have Building Regulations approval?

If the house has become a three-storey one due to the conversion, does it comply with other regulations, for example fire doors on all habitable rooms opening onto the stairway and exit route?