House Purchase - Inhabitable Garage Conversion

[Owlgirl14]

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

If you love it, get a quote for the work and reduce your offer based on this

If you don't love it, walk away

the house next door to us has a loft conversion over the adjacent garage. So there is a door through on the house to a large loft room, with windows, and bigger than a standard double bedroom.

It does not meet building regs for a bedroom.
So when the house was sold they had to list it as a 3 bed with an extra storage/office space, and they were not allowed to list it as a 4 bed. It significantly reduces the value of the house as it sells as a 3 bed not a 4 bed.

BUT the room is perfectly fine and safe. It make a fab bedroom, so buyers get a 4 bed house for the price of a 3 bed.

I think that is the route you have to go down, negotiate the price to make it reflect the fact that this room is NOT a bedroom/living room, but a store room/extra space.
This will be the same for every buyer who gets a s survey done, and now that they have been made aware, I think the EA has to chaneg the details to reflect that.

Then the question is what do YOU wnat to use the room for, and is it safe for you to do so, or will it need more work, and are you willing to do that work

Yes that's the other thing the solicitor is checking to see if there is any clause in the deeds etc that the garage can't be used as living space.

I have a feeling they won't want to budge on price and if so we'll walk away. But then legally they wouldn't be able to market it as it is and the price would be adjusted to reflect that anyway.

I guess it depends what money they need and how desperate they are to move. We're looking for our forever home so there's no rush on our part.

We love the location and other things, we just needed this extra room for space for little one. And we weren't considering any houses that didn't have it so it's a real blow. We'd still go ahead if we can do the work ourself but lower the price. Just not sure they will go for it. It does need quite a bit if modernising too, new kitchen, windows, shower room etc which we appreciated and could do in time. But now it just seems a lot and more inconvenience.

Thank you, this is my point exactly legally it isn't a habitable space and has been sold on the basis that it is. The valuation also took this into account.

We'd do the work if they agreed so it's done properly just not sure they will accept.

What did the surveyor value the house as (presume this was for a mortgage) . Work from that. You seem to be getting caught up in their motivations and what you think they'll do to respond. What do you want to use the room for and it is suitable for that, what would it cost to make it use able for that. Ultimately walk away and find another house if you aren't happy and then let them do what they want. This isn't an unusual situation.

We have an integral double garage and quite a few of our neighbours had it converted to an extra room. I know they did have to have a new waterproof membrane, then insulation on the floor, wall insulation, plasterboard and skimming over. The room already has electrics and water as has a sink at one end. Then the garage door taken out and a brick wall with a double glazed window put in. The entrance is internally through the hall so might need a lintel. I've thought of doing ours as garage is just used to store DH many bloody tools.

But OP what difference does it make? If the room is safe and isn’t freezing/defective then who cares? The council isn’t going to prosecute (and anyway you could get indemnity insurance against this! and a surveyor/builder can check the lintel if you’re really worried about it but otherwise what difference does it make to you?

there is no need whatsoever to bring it up to todays building standards. Are you also going to bring the rest of the house up to todays building standards?

Uninhabitable in what way, is it about to collapse or something?

Or are you muddling up what is termed a habitable room, ie a living room or bedroom with a room that could be used for a particular purpose if you want it to.

a too small doorway will render a room uninhabitable

fire safety

uninhabitable doesn’t mean it’s on the brink of collapsing

it can be as minor as too narrow doorway to meet min fire safety regs

Yes that was my point

I think the OP is confused by habitable, inhabitable and uninhabitable.

but in the Op’s situation it doesn’t sound like it’s habitable from a both a building reg perspective AND a comfort perspective

I suspect the same. The OP doesn't understand that inhabitable means the same as habitable. Inhabitable literally means suitable to live in.

If it said "Uninhabitable" that would be different.

Totally. Habitable and Inhabitable mean exactly the same. Uninhabitable is the opposite of both of them.
Uninhabitable = bad
Inhabitable or habitable = good

I can’t tell if the OP is misquoting (saying she was told it was inhabitable when she was actually told it was uninhabitable) or if she’s totally misunderstood what she’s been told and is assuming inhabitable is a bad thing. So confusing!

If they are mentioning it as a store then they haven't done anything wrong, lots of garages have internal partitions for storage, laundry, gym etc no planning required. If they have put in a window then they need building control sign off, quite different

This is not correct. Nor is the post upthread about having 2 exits.

You need a door that either leads to the hall and a final exit, or a window that meets the criteria for means of escape.

According to building regulations, the minimum width for an internal doorway is 750mm when approach is head-on from a corridor of 900mm. Or 775mm clear opening width when the approach is not head-on, from a corridor of 1050mm.

this room will likely only have one exit and it will be via this doorway

But that doesn’t mean the room is uninhabitable if it doesn’t meet those widths. It just means that if you built it today you’d have to put in a wider doorway. Loads of doors in my house are narrower than this.

My point is… this will be the only exit in all likelihood and unless this conversion occurred decades ago… only exit door width minim read have been around from decades! So uninhabitable from a building reg perspective

and the fact it is unheated and no insulation renders it uninhabitable from a comfort level

The part M requirements re door widths are for new dwellings and only in certain categories. A standard width door is all you need. No-one will be looking at your door widths. Trust me.

Apologies for confusing everyone. I have been told:

The alterations are unlikely to comply with current building regs due to issues already mentioned. If we wish to use this area as habitable accommodation then instruct a building contractor to quote for the works which should comply with prevailing building regs.

Then under permanent building structures it states the former garage has been divided into two stores. The internal store hasn't been regarded as habitable accommodation.

The property was marketed as having that room as a bedroom/snug/office etc but the surveyor has classed it as a store and shouldn't be used for those purposes unless we bring it up to current building regs.

The owners didn't get building reg sign off at the time, which is what's creating this problem. We could ask them to get retrospective sign off but it would most likely require them to do some work to it to bring it up to standard.

The alterations only need to meet the regs for the time why were done, so if completed 10 years, then the regs 10 years ago will apply.

If you wish the "room" to meet today's regulations that is a cost you must pick up not the vendors.

There are 3 issues at play here:

1. How the description was on the EA details - there is always a disclaimer for any errors though and it up to people to do due diligence
2. The regulations and sign off for when the alterations were made - were any required, if yes it appears sign off was not obtained for whatever reason. It does not mean the regulations were not adhered to though
3. The information you are being given and your requirement for the alterations to meet the current building regs

Item 2 and 3 are the key factors here, the room may be fine for the regs at the time it was altered, it is not unsafe and is fine to be used, therefore the description from the EA may have been correct. You are choosing to insist the room meets todays regulations, and if they do not to want a reduction in price. Unfortunatley I think you are asking for something, if I was the vendor I would not agree too. If you wish to have everything to meet todays regs that must be at your cost. As an example, many fuse boxes will not meet the regs today, but when installed will have met the part p electrical requirements at the time. They are still safe but do not meet current standards.

Unless you buy a brand new house no house will fully meet todays regulations.