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Original poster

House Purchase - Inhabitable Garage Conversion

107 replies

Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 16:25

The house were in the process of buying has a part 'garage conversion' and was advertised as being a habitable room ie study/snug/bedroom etc.

The solicitor has already queried building regs with the sellers to which they said it didn't need them.

The survey has flagged up the alterations are unlikely to comply with current building regs and said it is inhabitable and referred to it as a store/outbuilding.

Has anyone encountered this at all?

I can only really see our options being 1) the sellers rectifying it and getting the work done and building reg sign off but doubt they would agree to this 2) Us getting quotes and getting the work done after completion 3) Walking away as we aren't getting what we thought we were/advertised

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:41

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 30/04/2024 17:57

‘Lintel support’ 🙀🙀🙀

what does that mean exactly?

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:42

Haveli · 30/04/2024 18:33

We had this and the seller got indemnity insurance.

Why did you go for the indemnity insurance route?

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:45

midgetastic · 30/04/2024 18:36

I think there are at least 3 different issues

  1. what happens if the council chase this up and demand changes to bring it up to standard

  2. is it structural sound - could it fall down around you ( that's the lintel question )

  3. is it really worth paying for it as a room when it's going to be freezing in the winter - is the property overpriced as a result and can you get a reduced price

I think we've pretty much said it's not worth what we've agreed now as it's not habitable and there are safety issues eg lintel support etc

I think we're going to see if we can get some quotes to bring it up to standard and knock it off the price and see what happens. Or we may walk away. It's a lot of hassle and inconvenience to us for something they haven't done correctly.

OP posts:
QuickDraining · 30/04/2024 21:48

Layman here, but isn't the whole, use is incidental to the house, thing - puts it in planning permission territory. Even change of use can do that. Sometimes these outbuildings are just skipped over.

sleepyscientist · 30/04/2024 21:49

If it's only a partial conversion and doesn't have two means of escape it won't pass. It's up to you how you use it. We have indemnity insurance on our house for a conservatory that doesn't meet regs and was never signed off, it's structurally sound and will be replaced by an extension eventually so it never bothered us, solicitor wasn't happy about it not having regs. I would ask a builder vs a surveyor ours loves to laugh at the reports and has saved us thousands over the years with what needs doing and what never needs doing!

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:49

marzipanlover81 · 30/04/2024 19:30

and was advertised as being a habitable room ie study/snug/bedroom etc.

lack of insulation and…. NO heating

plus small opening will be counter to fire regs

in short… this is basically still a garage without a car parked in it

I can’t think of anything less “snug” than a garage with inadequate insulation and no heating in January!

Edited

I think this is the point the surveyor is trying to make! We're going to have a follow up call in the next few days to get some more detail on it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:50

MaryFuckingFerguson · 30/04/2024 20:03

I’m a building control professional by trade and I wouldn’t be too bothered about an unauthorised garage conversion 😂 As long as they drop the price to reflect its status, I’d be fine.

What do you think a reasonable drop would be?

OP posts:
sleepyscientist · 30/04/2024 21:54

For the radiator issue you can get proper electric wall mounted radiators to solve the issue.....we have them in the supposed death trap conservatory along with the bioethanol fire

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:57

KievLoverTwo · 30/04/2024 21:33

The biggest problem here is that the EA has probably described this as a habitable room and the seller has let them when it has no heating (plus sign off), and that makes it untrue. Just because the vendor has a sofa in or or whatever in it does not mean it should go on the floor plans.

See also: dodgy loft conversions on floor plans that are NOT listed as a 4th bedroom because they have no sign off, they are either not described at all and just have photos or are described along the lines of occasional room or something very general, by estate agents who actually know what they are doing. They know there is no sign off, so they basically don’t include it as part of the sales spiel.

The problem isn’t just building regs, it’s misdescription. You are paying extra for an additional habitable room. Your bank believes that room to be habitable which is why they have agreed to the mortgage. In removing that space the bank no longer has the full value they were expecting from the house.

Your conveyancer may appear to work for you, but they actually work to protect mortgage lenders. THAT is why they are arguing the toss. If the floor plans say seven rooms and suddenly one is not habitable, they are not doing their proper due diligence for the bank, and could be held liable if one of those rooms is suddenly not seen to be a legally recognised room.

You need to lower your offer because the room is not actually a room. It’s a space that has been made to look nice and several people have turned a blind eye to this.

This is my point exactly, the EA has included it on the floor plan as a habitable room, it does currently have a sofa/bookshelves etc in there. The price will have been set with this additional room in mind when really it shouldn't as legally it isn't habitable.

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 22:00

sleepyscientist · 30/04/2024 21:49

If it's only a partial conversion and doesn't have two means of escape it won't pass. It's up to you how you use it. We have indemnity insurance on our house for a conservatory that doesn't meet regs and was never signed off, it's structurally sound and will be replaced by an extension eventually so it never bothered us, solicitor wasn't happy about it not having regs. I would ask a builder vs a surveyor ours loves to laugh at the reports and has saved us thousands over the years with what needs doing and what never needs doing!

Yeah it's got a main door and then narrower passageway and then a tiny window. It is like a snug/store than a habitable room really.

There is only one way to escape and I bet they'll say that route isn't up to regs. There's the lintel issue too. Plus no floor insulation and no heating. It's really just a garage still by the sounds of it 😅

OP posts:
KievLoverTwo · 30/04/2024 22:05

Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 21:57

This is my point exactly, the EA has included it on the floor plan as a habitable room, it does currently have a sofa/bookshelves etc in there. The price will have been set with this additional room in mind when really it shouldn't as legally it isn't habitable.

Show quote history

The vendor isn’t blameless either. It suits them to blame the builder for it not being official but ultimately they decided not to put heating in it.

Don’t be shocked, remember you were cheap, and now you pay the consequences.

Good for you for deciding not to indulge them.

Userxyd · 30/04/2024 22:13

We were trying to buy a similar place - all fell through as the survey found issues with the garage conversion, two bay windows and a damp roof! All papered over and the asking price reflective of a properly built house, which it wasn't. Vendor got very nasty as soon as we tried to renegotiate price and we had to leave it. Turns out we were the 6th attempted buyers!! He'd been on with 2/3 EAs and been nasty to all of them too so ended up on Purple Bricks where we liaised directly with him - he had all our personal financial info, employment details, the lot. Very unnerving. Beware of Purple Bricks cos you lose that professionalism and protection from going with an EA.
Plus if they've tried to market this garage as a habitable room, what else are they overselling? Sounds dodgy!

OMGitsnotgood · 30/04/2024 22:16

Mindymomo · 30/04/2024 17:08

We’ve converted our garage into a gym, it has an electric heater and lighting and a window. We’ve just changed the use, didn’t need planning permission as we’ve not altered the size, nor water pipes to it. It could be used as an office/bedroom.

That's interesting as friends had planning permission refused to change the purpose of their garage into a gym. I'd link to it if it wasn't outing!

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 22:17

Userxyd · 30/04/2024 22:13

We were trying to buy a similar place - all fell through as the survey found issues with the garage conversion, two bay windows and a damp roof! All papered over and the asking price reflective of a properly built house, which it wasn't. Vendor got very nasty as soon as we tried to renegotiate price and we had to leave it. Turns out we were the 6th attempted buyers!! He'd been on with 2/3 EAs and been nasty to all of them too so ended up on Purple Bricks where we liaised directly with him - he had all our personal financial info, employment details, the lot. Very unnerving. Beware of Purple Bricks cos you lose that professionalism and protection from going with an EA.
Plus if they've tried to market this garage as a habitable room, what else are they overselling? Sounds dodgy!

Exactly, I am wondering that too as it was a 4 bed, converted to a 3 bed and now back to 4 for selling....looks like they want as much ££££ as possible...they may get a shock when we're now not going to give it 😂

OP posts:
marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:21

so this just sounds like inaccurate marketing and nothing more

marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:22

are you going to walk op?

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 01/05/2024 08:26

marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:22

are you going to walk op?

We're liaising with our solicitor but will see if we can do the work ourselves and knock £££ off.
If they don't then we may walk away.

OP posts:
marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:28

Owlgirl14 · 01/05/2024 08:26

We're liaising with our solicitor but will see if we can do the work ourselves and knock £££ off.
If they don't then we may walk away.

Show quote history

if they don’t… you’re paying for a habitable room that isn’t!

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 01/05/2024 08:35

@marzipanlover81 Exactly and we're not prepared to do that as it should be valued less with one less habitable room. We have the survey results and valuation to back it up. Our solicitor seems quite good so waiting to hear what they say.

OP posts:
marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:36

so make the

“so if they don’t, we may walk away”
”so if they don’t, we will walk away”!

Alicewinn · 01/05/2024 08:43

I would gather quotes to convert it to building rags / habitable space, (£20-30?) then ask for a discount for same

BubbleTheTea · 01/05/2024 08:56

Basically you are looking at a full garage conversion and I would cost it as a complete rip out and redoing it yourselves. Building regs are the absolute minimum so consider going above and beyond especially on both floor and wall insulation. Don't scrimp as you will be paying for it all the years down the line in heating. My window openers also have to be escapable so 90 degree openers too.

Planning would cover change of use as depending on the age of the house there are clauses in the original documents to say it is a garage and needs permission to change it to a habitable room. Then buildings regs covers how well they did it and if it is up to standards.

I have no permitted development on my house, it is 25 years old, so everything we do has to go through planning but it is free if it would usually come under permitted development. For a garage conversion they are looking to see if you have adequate parking even if you never parked your car in the garage.

Mine has both planning permission and building regs for my garage conversion done 13 years ago.

My thoughts are they will never drop the price to reflect the cost to you and someone else will just buy it as is. Youtube has lots of garage conversion videos if you want to see what would be involved.

Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 01/05/2024 08:59

marzipanlover81 · 01/05/2024 08:36

so make the

“so if they don’t, we may walk away”
”so if they don’t, we will walk away”!

Yeah Definately, I've put all our options to the solicitor including walking away but our preference would be doing it ourselves so we know it's done right and how we'd like it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Owlgirl14 · 01/05/2024 09:00

Alicewinn · 01/05/2024 08:43

I would gather quotes to convert it to building rags / habitable space, (£20-30?) then ask for a discount for same

Yes this is our plan and we'd look to convert fully and to current building regs.

OP posts:
Soulstirring · 01/05/2024 09:02

Owlgirl14 · 30/04/2024 17:08

It's an integral garage I

Show quote history

We did this in 2015 and needed building reg sign off. The inspector came and checked midway through and at the end to certify insulation, fire hazards and other things I can’t recall. We removed the garage door and bricked it up, put a window in.

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