So i believe this is. Common in terrace houses down south and the solution is to get indemnity insurance

Run a mile or good oportunity for a growing family ( ie kiddys not millions of miles away but still a couple of years )

House im looking at is a country cottage built in 1900 and the roof and extension were done 30 years ago so pre 1984 regs introduction !

Home report shows nowt – does suggest its a 3 bed though when infact its a 1 bed with 2 attic rooms with new to replace old fire Escapes – thinking lower offer to reflect

Structural report to see if rsjs and uprated floors have. Been put in. – anything else that would worry you!

What would you Budget for a basic loft conversion to building regs( if starting from nowt And size is 30ft by 12ft split into 2 rooms ) including uprating the floor
(ill obviously have a quote done before but just looking for a quick rough figure )

It’s not a problem until you go to sell it.

Likely to be raised not long before settlement by the purchasers solicitor thus delaying the sale and leaving you hanging for months until you get the paper work sorted or price lowered.

But I think you can sometimes get approval ofter the work is done if it complies. Not a thing to gamble with as a house is a major asset.

(Opinion based on listening to my wife’s rants – she’s a lawyer, and doesn’t understand why people don’t sort this out while they have the time)

Lower the offer and explain why.
Because what you are actually buying is a one bedroom house, with a very nice loft/storage space.

Fire regs are probably the biggest issue – having an enclosed/protected stairway up to atic.

You CANNOT get retrospective approval under building regs for something that was built pre-1985, so it IS a 1bed house. Allow £30,000 to do it properly & DON’T buy it as a 3 bed cos it’s not.

Just keep in mind depending on the building foot print u will loose a lot of space, install a proper fires stair case and u might loose a room of the existing house.

Actually,if the work was carried out pre 1996 the Local Authority shouldn’t accept a Regularisation Application.Not in scotland are you?

As above I’d make an offer on it being a 1bed house with attic storage

Just purchased an older terraced house with the loft conversion.
Our solicitor asked for the building regs certificate and the owner couldn’t provide.The owner argued it was only storage but a friendly guy from the local council came to have a look and said they would class it as a living area.The owner had fitted a window,carpets and tv point so couldn’t really argue against it.
The staircase was too steep and there was no hard wired fire alarm.Also the ceiling had been boarded and plastered but no external air vents had been fitted to the roof to get air to the roof trusses.
The council guy said there was a possibility of the roof woodwork trapping damp because of the boarding and no vents.
As we were not going to use it as a room(i couldn’t stand upright in it)to take it out of building regs scope the council guy advised that the boarding be removed to reveal the roof woodwork and it would be better for the roof as well.
We could not have taken out indemnity insurance as the owner contacted the council and told them of the problem,which is not allowed by the insurance providers in the very unlikely event the council prosecute.
Ultimately the boarding was removed,and the council guy looked at the floor together with the chimney breast removal and said all was fine,so the sale went through.

Walked away .

Tape measure said it couldnt be done propper!

Shame as a lovely location but it was over priced for a 1 bed with no scope for development