Garage conversion without building regs

[IsItAllOverYetPlease]

I know there's been a recent thread about building regs but I didnt want to gatecrash..

I'm buying a house where the garage has been converted internally into a study and small utility, but the garage door has been retained instead of putting in a window. Behind the garage door internally it looks to have been boarded up and there is a big custom built shelving unit in front. There are spot lights in the ceiling and laminate on the floor. There is an electric radiator on the wall.

Our searches came back today and the work is not recorded in the building reg searches which accords with what the seller wrote in the property information pack. The only things mentioned for building regs was the fensa window certificates.

What is the correct position? Should they have obtained building regs? It seems to me that by not replacing the garage door they have disguised the fact of the conversion. I obviously want to know that the room has been insulated properly and the wiring is safe.

We are getting a structural survey done at the end of the month. Is that something the surgery would pick up? Is there anything I should ask the surveyor to pay attention to?

What are next steps?

Thanks

Yes it should have building regs for all the reasons you have specified and yes you can convert the back of the garage and retain a "storage" area behind the original door. Lots of people do this with up and over garage doors and build a wall behind the final open position of the door for a room behind.

It may also need planning as it is a change of use but this will be in the deeds. Depending on the age of the house it can be specified in the deeds that it is to remain a garage and not to be converted, this is especially true of link detached houses where the garages for each house are actually connected to the next detached house.

Even if people do not park their car in a garage planning have to consider the removal of a parking space and will look at what other off road parking there is due to the potential impact on the highways side.

I would be asking why they didn't get building regs, I believe mine was less than £400 for it. Have a look and see on planning using the map facility if anyone else has had a garage conversion application in.

I would save the survey money and walk away now. Yes you have already spent money on searches and fees etc but this is not going to end well. The reason there is no building regs approval will be because the minimum standard required for approval was something the current owners didn't wish to do - either because it was too expensive or because meeting the standard would have knock-on effects e.g. reducing the size of the internal space due to thicker walls. There are buyers out there who are happy to buy a substandard property because they share the current owners attitude that the rules are just a lot of red-tape pushed by jobsworths. If you actually care about your home being safely wired, adequately insulated and constructed from appropriate materials for structural stability and fire safety, then you want building regs approval and you will not get it with this property.

The estate agents will try to convince you to accept an indemnity policy for the work - this is an insurance product which will pay out for the space to be converted back to being a garage in the event that the local authority find out (without being told) that the unapproved work was done. That's totally useless imo.

Your OP suggests that you are hoping that the current owners ensured that all the work and materials were fully compliant with building regulations standards, they just didn't apply for approval at the time. That is a fantasy. Take off the rose tinted specs.

I’d be looking for other properties. If they’ve cut corners on this, what else have they cut corners on.

Thank you for your replies. As silly as it may sound we still want to go ahead with the purchase. we had wanted to swap the defunct garage door for a window anyway but obviously had hoped we wouldn't need to rip out and redo the rest of the area (although we were planning to reconfigure the utility area in due course). Is this issue something I could reasonably ask for money off the purchase price for? What would I need to have done to rectify it so I can work out the likely cost? Would I need to rip out all the studwork and strip down to the foundations and start again?

should I ask for it to be inspected by the council first or would that just put them on notice of a breach? would that be a bad thing?

the rest of the house is lovely and its clear they have kept it well. the owner has lived there 30 years

I don't think this is a big deal OP and I would still buy. Its not structural so I wouldn't be bothered me if it was an extension with no building regs, I'd get indemnity insurance

Absolutely don’t notify the Council, that might prevent you getting indemnity insurance. I agree it’s unlikely to be a big deal and building regs have changed over the years. I’ve bought a house with a utility extension without building regs, just get your surveyor to look over it and you might need a separate electrical check. The deeds won’t tell you whether or not they needed planning but I’d say it would be unlikely. How long ago was the work done?

Is this issue something I could reasonably ask for money off the purchase price for?

Are they stating it is a room on the particulars? Then technically it is an illegal room as they do not have planning nor building regs. Ask your solicitor about an indemnity policy and what this would cover as you wish to go ahead. I would too, it isn't structural.

@Newnewnew1179 I am convinced that on my estate where permitted development rights have been removed there is a condition that gets removed and is mentioned on the planning, something like removal of condition 4 to form habitable room. Mine doesn't have it but my house is a stand alone property that isn't in line with any others like on a normal road. So planning has to be sought for two reasons, one because they have removed the permitted development right but two because you can do a garage conversion with just building regs in some instances. However here they do not want everyone to be able to do that hence the extra condition in the deeds that it remain a garage. I think it is to do with the impact on highways and parking on the roads.

This is what you pay your solicitor for. They should mentioning all this in the enquiries. It may be perfectly possible the garage was converted and the owners ignorant of building regs required (I made an archway in a supporting wall, did have an rsj put in, but had no clue what building control was about).
Your surveyor will certainly point out what was required and if there is evidence that building regs were adhered to, though they cannot see through wall obviously.
Not a deal breaker for me, but I'd want to know now if there were future financial implications.

There might be a condition on the original planning consent about non conversion of the garage and there might be a resulting covenant in the deeds but a covenant won’t mean you need planning consent - it’s a private law matter. Anyway agree this is what your paying your solicitor for so I’d take their advice

We bought a house with a similar thing. It’s a rental property.
We did take out an indemnity, didn’t ask the council about it and, AFAIR, had a separate electrical supply put in with its own fuse board.
We intend to apply for retrospective planning permission, have the garage door removed and the wall bricked up and a window put in