Staircase to loft

[Friedbanana]

We have a boarded out loft with velux windows from the previous owners. It’s a huge space that would be incredibly useful as a workshop space for me but the pull out ladder is impossible for me to use so it’s just wasted as storage space at the moment. We definitely don’t need it as an extra bedroom yet but when we have a child in the future it would be handy, so long term view is to make it a building ref certified extra bedroom with an extra bathroom as well. However for now I just want to be able to get up there without having to pull down the ladder! So has anyone just gone for a staircase installation and if so, how much did you pay? I don’t want to do it now and then have to do it again for when we get the building regs loft done, unless it really is very cheap and means I have a lot more useful space in the house!
Thanks for any input!

does the ladder have counterweights or a spring assist?

A picture would help.

Aluminium ones are lighter than wood. Is yours the type that you pull down with a hooked pole?

What is the ceiling height, and how tall are you?

I hav known people have pulleys and a rope, but it would be dangerous if the rope broke or slipped out of your hand and the ladder fell on you.

p.s.

a staircase will be expensive, and takes up a huge amount of space from the room you install it in.

I think a permanent staircase means you need Building Regulations approval, including fire protection and a strengthened floor, which is a lot of cost and might mean removing the non-compliant conversion you already have.

it is fair to assume that a loft conversion that does not have Building Regulations approval, is not built to compliant standards. If it was, why wouldn't it have approval?

Thanks so much for your reply @PigletJohn!! Interesting idea about just getting a better ladder! Yes it’s wooden with a pole and I have trouble getting it down and also I quite want to use the space for doing up furniture as a little hobby, so I think it’ll be necessary to have stairs in order to get furniture up and down! It’s an Edwardian terrace so the ceiling is pretty high up in the loft so I assume that the floor wouldn’t need lowered (although I should measure exactly to be sure!) and luckily we have a big landing which is unused space really, so that’s where the staircase would go (our neighbours with same house layout had a full building reg loft conversion done and their staircase just took up part of the landing)
It is weird how they didn’t put Stairs in really.. in the loft room they went to the effort of putting skirting boards on even! But I’ve no idea of the floor has been reinforced, assuming not!

It's not actually weird that they didn't put stairs in - since stairs would immediately mean it needs to be building regs compliant, the lack of stairs makes it clear that it's not compliant.
Whether that's an issue for you personally is something for you to decide, but generally you'd want it to comply in most ways, and especially if you want to sell it.

If you have stairs you need fire doors and sprinklers etc as there are fire risks associated with unregulated loft rooms.

And you need the floor joists in the loft to be of a certain strength (floor joists are thicker/stronger than ceiling joists). So it is not just is the ceiling height enough.