Offer accepted! But is third bedroom actually a third bedroom?

[Catnipdelight]

Last night found a property (at last) that ticked all our boxes and had an offer accepted (£5k over asking). There were seven offers yesterday after 20 viewings (madness).

We have stretched our budget for this place as we really love it... but DP has just raised a potential issue. The smallest bedroom has a vaulted ceiling which actually only has a skylight, no windows.

Can this actually be classed as a bedroom? I don't want to get to the mortgage valuation and find it is only classed as a 2 bed, mainly because we won't have the money to bridge the gap. I still love the property, it's more a technicality that means we are paying over the odds for what is on paper a 2 bed.

The agent and listing had it as a 3 bed so I wouldn't even have queried it but DP has had experience of all the regs with bedrooms after having his own issues with a conversion he did.

Do we raise it now, or risk the undervaluation and hope they are prepared to reduce the price a bit?

You can request the surveyor looks at specifics if you pay for more than a basic mortgage valuation.

@LIZS

You can request the surveyor looks at specifics if you pay for more than a basic mortgage valuation.

Yes, you usually get the option, at your own cost, to upgrade the mortgage co survey to a fuller survey (there are three types).

But you don't always. The last house I bought with a mortgage Santander did the valuation without even telling us so there was no option to "upgrade". In these cases you obviously commission your own surveyor (I chose not to bother on that house).

My previous house the mortgage co offered me that, I didn't take them up on it and commissioned my own surveyor.

My daughter only has a skylight window. It's part of the design of our new build. Definitely a bedroom.

I don’t see the problem. My third bedroom is exactly the same as this and all went through no problem. The bedroom door goes on to the landing so that is the fire escape route.

@VanGoghsDog You've just contradicted yourself?

"You don't get to choose how the mortgage company carries out their valuation."

"Yes, you usually get the option, at your own cost, to upgrade the mortgage co survey to a fuller survey (there are three types)."

I've decided now to withdraw, I don't want to pay over the odds for a 3-bed in the area, which should be listed as a two-bed and a study. I don't want to have this problem when I come to sell.

[quote Catnipdelight]@VanGoghsDog You've just contradicted yourself?

"You don't get to choose how the mortgage company carries out their valuation."

"Yes, you usually get the option, at your own cost, to upgrade the mortgage co survey to a fuller survey (there are three types)."[/quote]
That's not a contradiction is it. You don't get to choose how they do THEIR valuation but they MIGHT give you an option to upgrade and have a survey (not choose how they do their bit).

If they choose to do a desktop valuation and not engage a surveyor then you wouldn't get an option to tell them how to do it.

"You don't get to choose how they do THEIR valuation but they MIGHT give you an option to upgrade and have a survey (not choose how they do their bit)."

@VanGoghsDog Sorry but you're incorrect, not sure why you're so convinced I have to just let them do whatever they like.

I've just checked and Halifax, who my AIP is with, do let me choose between three levels. Level 1, they decide if it's an in person visit.
Level two: A surveyor will visit to assess the inside and outside of the property. And level three, I need to book an in-depth survey myself.

Anyway, all I'm trying to say is that there's no way I would buy this as a three-bed without confirmation from a surveyor that it meets building regs standards as a three bed.

I have to pay a fee to the estate agent now to mark it as under offer,

Never heard of this before! Is this a new requirement/scam by estate agents? Thye must be rolling in t with the property market so buoyant.

Op i thibk youre wise to wifhdraw however disappointing jt is.
A house by me, in an area where houses are up for only hours and have a huge bidding war, has been uo for months. The reason is its uo for a four bed, where its really a three bed wkth a large dressing room attached
You cant get to the other room without accessing a bedroom. I know this is different to yours but I think people are pht off with these things when buying.

In Ireland a buyer has to pay a booking deposit to the EA - usually a few thousand in order to go Sale Agreed (SSTC). It's fully refundable though - they have to refund the full amount if you withdraw for any reason.

There is some dated advice on this thread.
Some years ago, loft bedrooms were required to have an escape window. This was usually a skylight set low enough in the roof to be accessible for jumping out of in case of a fire.
This is no longer the case.
Building regs now consider that any floor 4.5m or move above external ground levels cannot be safely escaped from via a window, because the risk of falling to your death is too great. These days, any loft bedroom needs a safe fire escape which is usually through the house. That's why we have fire doors, interlinked smoke alarms and/or sprinklers.
If this loft bedroom doesn't have safe window escape, it should have a safe internal escape.
The only exclusion is if it was created pre-building control. If that was the case I would be looking to install hard wired interlinked smoke alarms as a minimum, but not pulling out of the sale. If it was created more recently then it should have the safe escape and a building control sign off to prove this.

@wineymummy

There is some dated advice on this thread. Some years ago, loft bedrooms were required to have an escape window. This was usually a skylight set low enough in the roof to be accessible for jumping out of in case of a fire. This is no longer the case. Building regs now consider that any floor 4.5m or move above external ground levels cannot be safely escaped from via a window, because the risk of falling to your death is too great. These days, any loft bedroom needs a safe fire escape which is usually through the house. That's why we have fire doors, interlinked smoke alarms and/or sprinklers. If this loft bedroom doesn't have safe window escape, it should have a safe internal escape. The only exclusion is if it was created pre-building control. If that was the case I would be looking to install hard wired interlinked smoke alarms as a minimum, but not pulling out of the sale. If it was created more recently then it should have the safe escape and a building control sign off to prove this.

Thanks for the intell @wineymummy this is great to know.

Incidentally, for anyone interested -- I have pushed back on the EA and asked for confirmation of the bedroom adhering to regs. Apparently, the skylight is for making the bedroom habitable from a natural light perspective, and its fire escape route would be a window on a landing opposite where the stairs are.

I have asked for this in writing!

The vendors should be able to very simply provide you with the building reg sign off doc

If they don’t - it’s because they don’t have sign off

I don’t think this is “absolute rubbish” as my partner has just lived through this process. They do indeed care whether a bedroom can be classed as a bedroom. It has a significant impact on the value of the property

It can have an impact, but what you “call” the room is irrelevant. And it isn’t rubbish that there is no process for Building Control to “sign off” a home which has no warrantable work done to it.

He converted it into a two bed but until it has building regulation sign off, it’s classed as a one bed.

Yes, because he did renovation works. It was written right there in my post. “Except if you are doing works which require a warrant”

it is not classified as a habitable room without br sign off, whether that is now or ten years ago, therefore makes a potential difference to mortgage valuation. You can use a non habitable room however you choose but it is not officially a bedroom or living room without.

Exactly. The valuation given by the surveyor will be based on the accommodation they see, not purely what is written on a bit of paper somewhere or not. If it meets the criteria they have, they will value it as they see fit.