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Original poster

House listed as 4 bed is actually 3 bed

123 replies

RanchRat · 12/04/2025 13:18

Have had our offer accepted on a 4 bed house. The survey came back yesterday with the info that there are no building regs for the 4th (attic) bedroom and it is not proertly insulated.
AIBU to balk at paying the 4 bed premum for a 3 bed property. The house next door (other half of the semi) and is a 3 bed is on the market for £50,000 less. I like the house but don't want to be out of pocket. WWYD.

OP posts:
Original poster
RanchRat · 12/04/2025 20:21

Thank you all for your comments. We are an elderly retired couple and not actually needing a fourth bedroom. We also don't need a mortgage. However, we would hesitate to devalue the home that we hope to leave to our children. The next door house has just been sold so we can't buy that. We are thinking of offering £25,000 less than the asking price to reflect the loss of the 4th bedroom and also the unusability of the 'garden office'. This feels like a fair offer but the Vendor has also had to buy somewhere, following a split from her husband, and there may just not be enough in the pot for them to take a reduction. I don't think this situation is the Vendor's fault. She was honest with the Surveyor about the lack of Regs. I suspect the Estate Agent encouraged her to think she could advertise it as a 4 bed property, but I am afraid they are setting her up to fail. Does £25,000 reduction seem reasonable? I don't want to rip the poor woman off, but at the same time, in these very difficult days, we all want to try to do the best for our children.

OP posts:
StripyPanda · 12/04/2025 20:27

either insist they get the correct certification from building regs (pronto) it may not even pass or change your offer to exactly what u think it’s worth… i think the estate agent has not done their due diligence either… pull out otherwise… i would also add your mortgage company will not lend you the amount for the house if the survey comes back as being anywhere under the agreed price (unless you have a massive deposit to put down)

StripyPanda · 12/04/2025 20:53

RanchRat · 12/04/2025 20:21

Thank you all for your comments. We are an elderly retired couple and not actually needing a fourth bedroom. We also don't need a mortgage. However, we would hesitate to devalue the home that we hope to leave to our children. The next door house has just been sold so we can't buy that. We are thinking of offering £25,000 less than the asking price to reflect the loss of the 4th bedroom and also the unusability of the 'garden office'. This feels like a fair offer but the Vendor has also had to buy somewhere, following a split from her husband, and there may just not be enough in the pot for them to take a reduction. I don't think this situation is the Vendor's fault. She was honest with the Surveyor about the lack of Regs. I suspect the Estate Agent encouraged her to think she could advertise it as a 4 bed property, but I am afraid they are setting her up to fail. Does £25,000 reduction seem reasonable? I don't want to rip the poor woman off, but at the same time, in these very difficult days, we all want to try to do the best for our children.

You could pay for a decent survey on the property which will give you the current market value? that way you could offer exactly what its currently worth? but it would cost a few thousand for a top notch survey??? i would defo be walking away

TizerorFizz · 12/04/2025 20:56

The vendor must be advised by the agent and this loft space isn’t an inhabitable bedroom. The agent has a legal responsibility.

If you want to give your DC hassle, this is one way to do it. Why are you helping out a divorcing couple you don’t know and not thinking of your family? This is an attic space. I bet there’s no fire doors, no structural calcs for the floor and we know there’s insufficient insulation not to mention a safe staircase to meet regulations. They didn’t get BR approval and are lying by saying it’s a bedroom. From what’s you say @RanchRat you are looking at something problematic. You could get a structural engineer to advise on structural integrity but I think they are tugging at your heart strings and ripping you off. If I was your dc, I’d be cross. It’s not worth £25,000. It’s barely worth £5,000. It’s simply a storage space and it’s not habitable. So why pay extra for that?

SwornToSilence · 12/04/2025 20:59

Doris86 · 12/04/2025 13:35

Good idea. Then convert the attic of that house instead. Total cost probably similar, and you could get it done properly.

Show quote history

It will cost more, extension / attic conversion hugely expensive, due to labour and materials

Notellinganyone · 12/04/2025 21:51

My first house was 4 beds - fourth room was in the attic. It had never been ‘converted’ as it was the original Victorian attic room so could be counted as a bedroom. Current house we have to call fourth bedroom a loft room as it was a recent conversion without building regs.

Kateb12 · 12/04/2025 22:22

Mydietstartstomorrow · 12/04/2025 18:17

No. It’s common knowledge that you should have building regulations to advertise it as an extra bedroom and if you have that it’s classed as a bedroom not “a nice attic”!. No grey area at all!

Show quote history

Think I've found someone with a nice attic 😅

Paperthin · 12/04/2025 22:36

TizerorFizz · 12/04/2025 20:56

The vendor must be advised by the agent and this loft space isn’t an inhabitable bedroom. The agent has a legal responsibility.

If you want to give your DC hassle, this is one way to do it. Why are you helping out a divorcing couple you don’t know and not thinking of your family? This is an attic space. I bet there’s no fire doors, no structural calcs for the floor and we know there’s insufficient insulation not to mention a safe staircase to meet regulations. They didn’t get BR approval and are lying by saying it’s a bedroom. From what’s you say @RanchRat you are looking at something problematic. You could get a structural engineer to advise on structural integrity but I think they are tugging at your heart strings and ripping you off. If I was your dc, I’d be cross. It’s not worth £25,000. It’s barely worth £5,000. It’s simply a storage space and it’s not habitable. So why pay extra for that?

I agree with all of this. The Agent legally cannot advertise it as a 4th bedroom.

Climbinghigher · 13/04/2025 03:29

Lassango · 12/04/2025 14:48

The problem is that the room still exists so the sellers are never going to accept the revised offer at the 3bed price. The buyer for that house will be somebody that does not need a bit of paper to tell them they can use that room to sleep in. It does not sound like that person is you.

Start looking at other properties.

Agree.

Just read update so editing post. Is the advertised cost a 4 bed cost? Or cheaper than a proper 4 bed nearby?

BooneyBeautiful · 13/04/2025 03:34

justneed · 12/04/2025 13:21

Don’t they have to get planning permission/building regs in retrospect if this is the case in order to sell?

As I understand it, the property can only be marketed as a three bed if the other room isn't up to building regs.

MadeForThis · 13/04/2025 04:48

Reduce the offer but be prepared to walk away.

bigboykitty · 13/04/2025 04:58

AquaPeer · 12/04/2025 14:03

The survey just says the insulation isn’t sufficient for building regs.
It’s up to the OP to find out whether it’s a 4th bedroom then decide whether she cares if it isn’t. She’s still free to purchase it if she wants.

Show quote history

This isn't correct. I bought a 4 bedroom house with an attic as one of the bedrooms. When it came to selling it, it had to be marketed as a 3 bedroom with 'attic hobby room' or something like that because it didn't meet building regs. It's false marketing to describe it inaccurately. Estate agents are very clear on this. It's not a case of buyer beware.

In any case, OP, the house is not as it was described. It wouldn't necessarily stop me buying it, but I would seek a reduction - not necessarily the full £50k. I slept in said attic room and it was very hot in summer and very cold in winter. It's very difficult to change things to meet current building regs and would sometimes involve removing and starting again, depending on the issues. Mine was insulation but also ceiling and door height on the staircase.

Neveranynamesleft · 13/04/2025 07:08

I can't understand why anyone would take a financial gamble on a property such as this, especially if it is to be passed on to any children. There must be other houses about that don't come with a potential issue.

SparklyGlitterballs · 13/04/2025 07:16

Stop worrying about the vendors situation OP. Yes, it's unfortunate that she's split up and is financially stretched, but that is not your problem and you shouldn't allow it to affect what you do next. You have to do what is right for you and your family.

TiredCatLady · 13/04/2025 08:14

Had this with a house we viewed last year - 1930s semi. Loft marketed as a fourth bedroom but when questioned the agents admitted it didn’t meet regs despite having been done recently. No shit Sherlock, it didn’t have skirting boards, there were visible wires and insufficient head height for most of the room. Owner had apparently left it in that state the entire time they’d lived there. It was a massive red flag and we walked away as it, amongst other issues with the house, would have cost a fortune to fix.

Iceboy80 · 13/04/2025 18:16

If its not to building regs the in shouldn't have been listed as a bedroom, should have been put down as office or playroom until regs put in place. The offer should be reduced by whatever amount it would be to out it to regs so if that's £10k then offer 15 less as its not like you instantly get the 10k as its in with the mortgage.

Or just don't buy it.

Dogsbreath7 · 13/04/2025 18:17

Don’t buy pull out. We bought a house with an attic room. It had consents but almost no insulation. Could only use it about 3 mths of the year- freezing or hot. Became a storage room. Undoing the work could cost more than starting again. Plus disruption.

laraitopbanana · 13/04/2025 18:22

Take the price of proper insulation out of original offer.

NewsdeskJC · 13/04/2025 18:24

Think about how many hours you worked for £25k.
Don't do it.
Offer what it is worth. Or find something else. What's for you won't pass you by.

CommonAsMucklowe · 13/04/2025 19:15

Very surprised the estate agent didn't notice or ask vendor about this fourth room. I was selling a 'three' bed years ago with a loft conversion as the third bed. No regs or fire door so estate agent told us it had to be listed as two bed.

saxonisthedrug · 13/04/2025 19:24

We had the exact same situation. Revised our offer, they agreed, then changed their mind and said they’d do the work to make it meet regs, then changed their mind again and wanted original price - then we pulled out. It was disappointing but we didn’t want to be a in a position down the line where we had to sell it on as a three bed at a loss after paying for a 4 bed.

Springdaffodils1 · 13/04/2025 19:40

I wouldn’t pay what you have agreed as the price is for a 4 bedroom house when it is actually a 3. The estate agents will have known this.

This exact scenario happened to us 12 years ago when we bought our current house. A 3 bedroom semi with the attic converted into an en-suite bedroom. It was left open with kind of a mezzanine so no door shutting it off from the stairs. When the mortgage company valued the property they valued it about 22 grand below what we had agreed. There was a certificate for building regs when it was converted about 20 years previous but now didn’t meet current building regs as it didn’t have a door and therefore a fire risk.

I was really hacked off that they had marketed it as a 4 bedroom house and stated that I would only pay as much as it was valued. They reluctantly agreed as they needed a quick sale to move to a different area for school catchment. We plan to use it as a bedroom once the kids need a bigger bedroom and then we’ll close it off to meet fire regs.

Perhaps ask to have it valued as a 3 bedroom with attic space and then make an amended offer based on the outcome of the survey.

GiveDogBone · 13/04/2025 19:41

Pull out. It’s too much hassle to fix. The vendor won’t be willing to sell at the price it’s worth. And let them sort the problem out.

HouseHouseHouse7 · 13/04/2025 19:45

The vendors’ onwards purchases are not your problem. The situation is messy. I’d withdraw unless I really loved the house and the street, in which case I’d reduce the offer. A plus point is that the woman appears to have integrity and probably wouldn’t mess you about once a deal has been agreed, although you can never tell I suppose.

yaysummerisover · 13/04/2025 19:47

Your paying got a 4 bed which it isn’t and can’t be sold as such without building regs. Estate agent should know better and it should be sold as a 3 bed with an attic room which it is . Renegotiate price or buy next door and pop a room up there