buying house, no buildings regs on old loft conversion

[buildingregsq]

FTB here. Just found out from the solicitors that there are no building regs on an attic conversion. It was advertised as a 2 bed, which included the loft, and seems priced as a 2 bed when compared to similar old terraces in the area. Its also registered on Zoopla, everywhere as a two bed ect.

The loft conversion was there in place when the seller brought - the previous owner got indemnity insurance or something. My offer was a couple grand more than the seller paid more than ten years ago(during the boom I think.)

Its a teeny tiny terrace with 1 reception at the bottom of the market. The attic room would need to be in constant use.

There's not a lot going in the area, and this house was in the perfect location - not sure what to do!

When was the loft conversion done?

Indemnity insurance? What on earth for?

If it’s that old and still fine I wouldn’t worry.

You probably need to ask your conveyancer about an indemnity policy. We have one covering a very old loan on the property we are buying and also had to get one to cover an irreparable conveyancing mistake that happened when the land our house was built on was registered. Not really a huge deal or all that expensive. Seems to be quite common.

Should have said, you get the vendor to buy the insurance and the policy goes in your favour.

Actually you need to find out when the loft conversion was carried out. If it pre-dated building regs then an indemnity isn't needed because it hasn't contravened anything.

No idea when it was done. It has its own stairs and door at the bottom of the stairs.

Interesting answers - when I googled this, most of the advice I saw was not to proceed unless discounted/ get building regs sign off. Maybe its different seeing as its old?

I'm still a little worried about safety.

Your solicitor is the person to advise you on this. Other than the lack of building regs, were you at all concerned when you looked round?

Building regs came in in the 60s from what I understand and it was def done after then - we think maybe in the 80s.

The seller had an indemnity policy from the previous seller.

Also worried about the future saleability of the house if it should only be advertised as a one bed + loft room.

Have you had the property surveyed? If it has been there for 30+ years with no signs of collapse I would imagine its sound.

My MIL bought a house with an extension and loft conversion that has no building regs, the sellers purchased an indemnity policy.

Couldn't see anything concerning when looking around. Its generally a bit scruffy, but bottom of the market. Could only look around once because of the distance.

The indemnity policy is useless to you. It indemnified you against finding out that the loft conversion needed building regs. You know it does, therefore the policy is a waste of money.

If you love the house, get a good surveyor to have a very thorough look at it and provide an opinion of not only the structural side of things, but more importantly the fire escape aspects. Most illegal loft conversions are structurally fine, but death traps in the event of a fire.

@swimmer

Valuation survey next week.

Thinking about getting a structural surveyor round now to check it out, wonder how much that would cost

@cant

From what I understand it protects you if the council demands changes

Not really - if the insurer can prove that you knew it should have had an application before you took out the policy, they won't pay out. And let's face it, it's their business to take your money and then not pay put if they can help it.

@cant

I see

Ok, I'm reading the policy from seller's seller 10 years ago and it looks like it also insures successors of the mortgage.

This will come down to a valuation issue and should be referred back to the mortgage company. A one bed plus loft room is not usually worth the same as a two bed and should be valued accordingly. Going forward you should not market it as a 2 bed when you come to sell it.

Putting an indmenity policy in place doesn't make the loft room a bedroom nor does it make it safe to sleep in, it merely protects you if the LA chose to take enforcement action.
The building regs are there for safety reasons not to make life difficult.
If it has been sold as a 2 bed house it has misadvertised and in theory you could pursue the estate agents for your loss is your costs if you chose not to proceed.

Also things have moved on bit since the seller bought 10 years ago. Indemnity policies used to be thrown around everywhere but banks are a lot more cautious now

I would ask the vendors to regularise it or reduce the price accordingly. Indemnities are worthless in this scenario.

It's an illegal loft from a BC point of view.

@blankscreen

Exactly. I wouldn't want to advertise it as a 2 bed - apart from the obv ethics and legality Id also be worried that a potential buyer would pull out. I move around a lot for work so might have to rent it out at some point, and need to look at how the regs might affect that also.

Can't find any comparable 1 beds, so not sure how would affect the valuation. I'm only paying a bit over what the vendor paid who was also aware of this. But yes, I don't feel comfortable paying the price of a 2 bed if its actually a one. I'd kind of feel sorry for the vendor, but I guess they shouldn't have paid for/ advertised a two-bed right.

Buy indemnity insurance. We bought a house 10 yrs ago with a garage conversion with no building regs. We will buy insurance if we sell

Indemnity insurance is useless, it just covers loss of value if the council insists on it being demolished or otherwise removed. It's there for the mortgage companies benefit as they are only concerned about the value dropping enough that the amount doesn't cover the mortgage.
Just get it checked carefully potentially including invasive checks. Or walk away. But I'd do the checks.

If you want to rent it out in the future there might be problems.

I'll talk to the solicitors on Monday.

Is this an acceptable thing to pull out over? Because I felt my accepted offer was pretty high - the ceiling price for the street - I made them take it off the market as a condition. I'd need to find somewhere else pretty quickly so wouldn't want to be vilified by all the EAs in the area