Loft conversion - buying with no building regs certificate

[CLSB]

Hi all,

We have found a property that we love and may offer. However, there is one huge issue potentially stopping us. They have a loft conversion, which are not advertised as bedrooms, but is clearly used as habitable space for them. There is a staircase, a bathroom and 2 'storage' rooms. They say it does not meet building regulations due to height at the top of the stairs - though this owner did not do the conversion, it was the previous owner. I am also not sure if it meets the other building regulations, due to not knowing how it was converted.

I have tried googling, but seem to be getting mixed answers. However, one thing I have seen is that if it has a staircase, then it needs to meet building regulations for habitable space. Is this true?

Has anyone got a similar experience? I am aware that it can cause all sorts of issues with mortgages etc. We would naturally get a L3 survey done, if we did offer (and get accepted.)

Thanks in advance!

There are a load of regulations around turning a loft into an official bedroom. They can simply list it as loft space, even if it has stairs.
In our conversations with building control on the topic I was advised that with an older conversion you’d probably have to completely redo it to make it meet the standards to be classed as a bedroom as it’s unlikely the way it was built a decade ago would meet regulations in place now.
Treat it as ‘bonus space’ and if you need it to be a bedroom look at another house.

Agree that there are loads of building regs about loft conversions, and regulations change all the time. The main one we came up against is that there must be headroom of at least 2 metres on the staircase but there are other requirements such as minimum depth of insulation, and fire doors on all rooms on a path to the front door (assuming 2 storey house with a loft conversion)

Some of these are easy enough to fix such as buying fire doors to replace existing doors. Insulation and head height is not an easy fix and might involve major building work.

If you are not planning on using the rooms for sleeping in then there are no implications - until you come to sell again where the same issues will come into play with a loft which has no Building Regs. There may also be implications for your household insurance. Building Regs really aren't an optional extra, they are a pain in the arse at the time when the Inspector appears to be super picky with their tape measure but it's all about safety, especially in case of a fire. I would not be happy with anyone sleeping in a loft which didn't meet the standards.

Honestly? I'd walk away and find somewhere else.

If you want to use it as a bedroom then walk away.....its left space......Nice easy accessible, bright loft space....nothing more

Loft space

Our house has a loft room with paddle stairs which we have used as a bedroom for various teenage DC. I can’t get too exercised about building regs- Victorian houses where the loft space was already a bedroom wouldn’t meet the regs either and the house is cheaper if not regs.

The main problem you’d have is with your house insurance, as the room wouldn’t count as a bedroom. And again, selling it on you’d have to go through the same rigamarole again.
The builders for our loft conversion actually gouged the ceiling a bit at the top of the stairs to make the 2 metre height. No fire door at the top of the stairs though as we had one at the bottom.

This is a very common issue - we are in the process of having our loft converted (SW London) and we are having to have all the ceilings lowered on the first floor to give us enough head height for the ceiling height in the loft. I bet there are loads of illegal ones all over London - i know of one the next street over because the owner told me so!

Agree with everyone above - if you need it for a bedroom, then probably best to look elsewhere. If you are happy for it to just be storage / bonus space, then you are probably ok. Have they priced accordingly?

Hi CLSB, appreciate that this is an old thread - but can I ask how this was resolved? Did you buy the property?