Does my old loft conversion need planning permission?

[caramel]

I am trying to sell my house in London at the minute, the buyers checked for planning permission for a loft conversion and it appears that there isn't any - this was missed when we bought the house and we know that the work was done at least 10 years ago. We suspect that the work was actually done much longer ago than that, perhaps when permission was not required (as next door has a similar conversion with no record of planning permission either) - how can I find out what the legislation was in the past? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, I just need a starting point! Any advice on how we could determine exactly when the conversion was done would be great too.
Many thanks in advance for your help.

[JustinN]

Normally, converting a loft in a house for residential use does not amount to a "material change of use", so planning permission would not be required: the use of the building is, after all, still residential

However, converting any area (loft, garage, conservatory, etc) to living accommodation does require compliance with the Building Regulations. If there is no record of this, it may be that Building Regulations consent was not obtained, or it may be that the council's records going back 10+ years are not as good as they should be.

Either way, the legal risk (of enforcement action) can be insured against by buying an inexpensive indemnity insurance policy.

This will not cover the practical risks, however: difficult to negotiate stairs, inadequate insulation, etc. I would therefore recommend any buyer to check that the physical aspects are satisfactory to them. As the seller, you should only need to be concerned with the legal aspects

[nelson]

I come across this problem quite often. I agree with the other post that a building regulations completion certificate is perhaps going to be more of an issue to a purchaser although the indemnity insurance will help to overcome this. Many valuers will not consider a loft conversion as a habitable room unless there is building regulations.
Regarding planning this is easier to resolve by applying forva certificate of lawfulness. If you can prove a minimum of 4 years use as a loft conversion the council Lose any rights if enforcement action and have to issue the certificate. The onous of proof is on you, an affidavit
May be needed. The application will take two months before the council issue a decision.
The fee is only £150 which is a small price to pay to get it resolved. Some councils may require plans.
I hope this helps.

[Richard Webster]

Regarding planning this is easier to resolve by applying forva certificate of lawfulness. If you can prove a minimum of 4 years use as a loft conversion the council Lose any rights if enforcement action and have to issue the certificate. The onous of proof is on you, an affidavit
May be needed. The application will take two months before the council issue a decision.
The fee is only £150 which is a small price to pay to get it resolved. Some councils may require plans.
I hope this helps.

Don't understand this. A loft is part of a house and the use is residential. After the loft becomes a room it is still part of a house and the use has not changed therefore no planning permission is needed. You can go for a certificate of lawful use if you want but why waste money?

That's like saying that if you change a dining room into a bedroom you need planning permission for that and therefore it only becomes lawful if it has been used as a bedroom for 4 years....

If there are external building works such as the provision of dormers then this could require permission, but the change of use point is a non-point.

[olij]

Hi,
I have a very similar question to the original post.

We moved into my present house four years ago. The house was marketed and sold as a three bed property, as the loft had been converted to a bedroom.
The previous owners stated that their daughter had used it as her bedroom for approx 10 years.
Who ever did the work had basically created a box out of the loft and installed two roof windows, the floor joists have not been re inforced.
The standard of work is fine.
There is no paper work related to builiding regs or planning permsiion, I think they just went ahead and got it done.

My question is, we want to now use this room as a bedroom, but i want to make sure the floor is strong enough( i think it is, as it is used for storage and has a drum kit in there).

How do i do this?, do i just pick a structural suryevor at random?
Worse case scenario, if i'm told you need to have the joists re inforced and it will cost X, do I have any recourse against the previous owners, as the house was sold as a three bed property?

[JustinN]

Getting advice from a structural engineer is probably better than from a surveyor - a surveyor would probably advise you to involve a structural engineer anyway, so you may as well go direct

No, I do not think you have any claim against the previous owners: you knoew, when you bought, that the conversion work was probably not Building Regulations compliant, so caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) applies

[olij]

Thanks Justin.

Do you know if you have to reinforce the floor joists when converting a loft?
I guesss it is advisable, however a friend of mine converted his loft into a games room and had a full size pool table up there.
My loft conversion seems fine, as mentioned it is used for storage and we do go in there.

What is the best way to find structural engineer ? i don't really want to pick one from the yellow pages.

[JustinN]

I wouldn't know whether reinforcement is needed - I'm a solicitor, not a structural engineer ;-)

To find a structural engineer, I'd ask a local surveyor. To find a local surveyor I'd ask a local conveyancing solicitor

[olij]

Hi Justin, need your advice please.
I realise buyer beware applies re my loft conversion and it is the buyer who should ensure builiding regs have been signed off/complied with. However my question is do i have any redress against the surveyor/solicitor who acted for me/my mortgage co in the purchase?
Surely this is what they are paid to do? I would imagine this is one of the first questions they should ask upon seeing a loft conversion?

[olij]

forgot to add, we are thinking of selling and it would see min order to sell as a three bed,we would need to get builiding regs sign off to do this.