Loft conversion without building regs

[CareBear17]

I’m in Scotland if this is worth knowing.

We are needing a loft conversion done asap because we really don’t have enough space with baby #3 due in feb.

We have found a very reputable company who will do without building regs but meet the standards/we will have the same guarantee as work they do to meet building regs, have all the paperwork etc.

However, is going down this route likely to cause issues for our mortgage or home insurance? I’m so lost googling

It will just be what the homeowner has described it as when the schedule was prepared

@Tomorrowisanewday ah interesting when some have beds in them 😂 I was always curious if it had something to do with the work they’d done

A proper useable room in The loft may require strengthened floors and needs doors and windows to meet health and safety regulations. The stairs up need to be a certain width and not too steep. All those things cost more so some people will get a cheap job done which would not pass regulations. You may need a certain head height too.

it will cause problems in future as even a forever home needs to sell at some stage. We left our forever home 12 years ago when my DH lost his job and we had to downsize seriously to get through the next five years with two kids at uni.

@CareBear17 The best place to look is the Planning Portal. A habitable loft conversion has a staircase of the correct width, headroom and a fire resistant door. Others doors need to be fire resistant too. I have attached the info.

Why would you not get building regs if they are building it to the current standards? People choose not to get building regs because they can't fit a proper stair case in or can't make it compliant for fire safety. Neither of which I would be prepared to live with.

It costs £2k to board a loft room and call it a hobby room

even if you put a bed in that does not make a bedroom

Out of interest, is the price the builder is charging you similar to what others are charging subject to a small discount eg they aren’t charging £10k when others are charging £100k?

ok. So you’ve wasted everyone’s time because your husband hasn’t understood the conversation.

@Namechangedforthis25 yes similar to what others are charging us.

@Windercar not actually 100% sure if this is the case or not. We have come to that conclusion based on the research we’ve done tonight but the conversation with the company still doesn’t make complete sense. We are going to phone them again and clarify. It’s not exactly wasting time when this has given me some useful information

What did they actually say, op? Your husband seems to have gotten himself into a right old muddle. It's not actually that complicated?

@CareBear17 Clarify that the work will pass building regs. Find out if that’s actually possible with position of staircase etc. If they have not done a survey they, nor anyone else, cannot possibly know if a conversion will meet regulations! Look at the regulations! Then make sure you get them if at all possible.

No, get the building regs or it may invalidate your insurance for one and be a pain when you come to sell.

I had my garage converted (less work than attic room) and insisted the builders get building regs. Well they said of course they would and I paid for then to get them. They strung me along throughout the work and lied. At the end of the works I had no BR certificate and the builders hadn't even applied for it. They then went into solvency and changed their names.
I had to then go and apply and pay again for retrospective BRs which thankfully passed but it caused me a lot if stress.

I suggest you don't leave it up to the builders but apply for them yourself. I'll never trust anyone to do that again.

And BTW, my conversion wasn't classed as a bedroom. It still needed building regs. I'd be very surprised if yours didn't bedroom or not.

Similar, north england

wasng an issue when I sold a house with non-reg loft conversion. Just couldn’t officially call it a bedroom though it was

@Sittingonasale our local council actually recommends you have the architect apply for yo because they know the process. There’s a lot of loft conversion specialist companies that work with their own architects so think we would need to go down this route but I’ll be making sure to have proof before they start.

what a headache for you!

This. No decent company would advise this. Being a big company does NOT make them reputable, and reviews are laughably easy to fake.

Building regs are there to protect you and your family.

Surely new baby can sleep in your room for the time it takes to get regs done properly.

@MintJulia new baby will sleep in our room. DS and DD were both in my room for the majority of the first year. It’s more the space for everyone’s stuff etc. because DS & DD share already. I don’t actually need the work done before the baby arrives because we can use our dining room for the first little bit for some of the overspill stuff we have and move it upstairs later. I just want the work started

This company are a trusted trader by a council area local to us so it’s all utterly baffling tbh. Hence why we wondered if we had it wrong but it also definitely sounds like they were talking about proceeding without. We are going to speak to them this week re building warrants to try to make sense of it all. Though we also have another company coming out too.

There’s no way I’d do this without building regs. If nothing else it’ll make it difficult to sell and loose more money than you’ve saved.

we did a Lott conversion in 2014 - it required planning permission a long side building regs.

importing things are the reenforcement of the joists and flooring.

if you’re going to do it do it right or save a few quid and regret if later.

Personally don’t trust schemes like trusted trader, checkatrade or trust pilot. All are effective paid into marketing schemes.

id want references or personal recommendations

In Scotland, we have just completed an extension. The process for getting building warrant approval took 8 days and planning permission was 7 weeks. The architect did most of the work. The council came and inspected before work started and while work was ongoing and I am currently waiting final inspection.
We were advised that it would make it very difficult to sell without the necessary paperwork. In addition it could invalidate our house insurance as they need to be informed if building work was ongoing and would ask about it.

@Ihaveausername 8 days! that’s amazing! I was expecting the full 20 days. Where’s ours are you if you don’t mind me asking.

Also good to know re planning permission because when I go back to work after maternity leave we’ll be extending onto our kitchen and adding another bathroom.

@somewhereovertherain we also have personal recommendations hence where we found them so honestly i’m utterly confused by how it sounds.

Ours is definitely covered under permitted development so is just a building warrant needed which we are going to get. I wanted to know the implications if we didn’t.

@CareBear17 legally you need building regs. They are there to protect you and your family. You will not be able to sell your house without them. Your home insurance will be void without them. A building contractors third party liability will also be void. No decent building contractor would undertake work outside of building regs.

Building regs aren't even that expensive.

@CareBear17 Grenfell Tower is what happens when people cheat building regs.

We thought ours would be as well but architect advised us otherwise

Don’t do it without regs, you're breaking the law. The council could prosecute you. You’re also potentially invalidating your insurance.

It’s not just having a bed in a loft room that makes it a conversion. It’s any habitable use - so an office, playroom etc would also require building regs.

Its about personal risk

How much do you and DH know about building works?

Simple questions
If an all-in architect plan is done is the employee of the building company going to put your needs above that of their employer?

If an employee is doing supervision of the works are they going to insist on the best possible job for the lowest cost? Insist that their employer pulls out poor workmanship and replaces it at their employers cost?

The company could be very good but building work standard is down to the individual team members working on your house.

If you can not spot a problem why would you not want the option of independent oversight which is put in place to protect you?