Loft "bedroom" with stairs going up into the room with no door - easy to fix?

[LindaGN]

We are interested in a property that has had the loft converted into a games room. At present there is a staircase going straight up into the room without a door. We would want to use this room as a bedroom so would want a stud wall erected surrounding the staircase and a door leading into the bedroom. Has anyone done this? I assume we wouldn't need planning permission for something like this. Thanks

I think you would need building regs and you need to leave space for a landing outside the door

Everyone I know that has one like this has the door at the bottom of the stairs - would that be easier perhaps?

You won't need planning.

Does the loft have building regs sign-off at the moment? Sounds unlikely that it complies with fire regs without a door, but depends when the work was done perhaps.

Also depends if you're intending to bring the space up to building regs compliance level or not (assuming it's not at this moment)

As previous poster said, you need Building Regulations approval. These cover a great deal more than just a door to the stairs. Brief guide here: www.fmb.org.uk/find-a-builder/ultimate-guides-to-home-renovation/loft-conversions-the-ultimate-guide.html

Yes, check building regs, it might not be usable as a bedroom just "boarded out", hence why they haven't bothered with a door

Sounds like it's not a proper conversion. Are there steels in for support? At the top of the stairs building regs says you need 1 meter landing before a door. Putting a partition up is easy enough but you will need building regs as others have said.

Check it has building regs - was it sold as a bedroom up there? We're having new stairs put into a loft bedroom ATM and building regs had certain requirements about having a certain amount of landing between top step and bedroom door - presumably so you don't open the door in the middle of the night and plunge straight down the stairs!

Check your house insurance as well. If you use a loft as a bedroom when it doesn't pass building regs as a bedroom then your house insurance may be invalid.