New loft conversion

[Crumb]

Hello everybody!

We bought our bungalow with hipped roof 5 years ago and the space in the loft was what sold it to me. Fast forward to the present day we now have a staircase up to what will be the landing and shower room and a bedroom which is now complete. During the process which has been mainly on a DIY basis we've had some advice from our builder and carpenter, but haven't gone down the route of involving the council. My hubby is an engineer and we are pretty competent DIYers. I'm wondering now if we ought to contact the council at some stage to inform them about the work we've carried out. Hubby is inclined to wait until the whole upstairs is complete as he is concerned we might have to start taking walls down or taking up the floor in order to answer their questions. My concern is that we now technically have 4 bedrooms and I wonder if we ought to let our lender know, especially as we might one day want to borrow again off the back of the mortgage. Is anyone in a similar situation or can someone give me some advice? Thanks!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

My hubby is an engineer and we are pretty competent DIYers. I'm wondering now if we ought to contact the council at some stage to inform them about the work we've carried out. Hubby is inclined to wait until the whole upstairs is complete as he is concerned we might have to start taking walls down or taking up the floor in order to answer their questions.

I hope your hubby isn't a structural engineer? If so he's been very naive and really should've known better. Any builder with a brain would have told him this. Anyhoo you need to get Regularisation for the works done to date, to delay is madness, they will very likely need to see what structure has been added to ensure compliance. They will also very likely insist you reveal the structure should you continue and keep covering stuff up. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/1115313974838.html

Contact your local Authority Building control to get the ball rolling. You should probably inform your mortgage company too.

 

[noseall]

It won't matter to a building inspector whether it is complete or not.

Retrospective regularisation could be invasive and you must be prepared for it. How do you expect a b.c.o. to inspect joists and insulation without being able to see them?


Why did you not involve b'rgs from the outset?

 

[Crumb]

To answer your questions - no freddymercurystwin, my hubby isn't a structural engineer, although we did have a structural engineer round. He never did come back to us with his report and I never chased him up, but we did pick his brains about what was required. A 2.8m RSJ went in to support the stairs though.

As to why b'rgs were not involved - the room initially was just going to be a hobby room, it has Velux windows for which we were told we would not need planning permission. The joists in the loft are 4in and I think we were told they would need to be 6in. This would have meant losing head height and my hubby is rather tall, so we didn't want to raise the height of the floor.

There has been no movement or cracks in the downstairs ceilings. I think regularisation was the answer I was looking for, it was the question I was unsure of. Thanks both for your help.

 

[garyo]

If you're building it with knowingly under spec'd joists, then you're going to struggle to retrospectively regularlise it anyway. And as Freddie says, that's as well has having to rip apart the decor to reveal the structure.

Do you want to be able to sell it in future, or are you planning to live there for a few decades?

 

[Crumb]

We don't actually know if the joists are under-spec'd garyo and no, we are not planning to move in the near future.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

I think you've probably got the gist from the others that have posted that you should get the work regularised asap. Another party who might be interested in what you've done are your insurance company, if you've made significant alterations to your house and haven't got BR approval then your house insurance may be invalid, and you may also find that having valid buildings insurance is a condition of your mortgage - its certainly a condition of our mortgage and they also required us to let them know before we started work on our loft conversion.

A lot of people tend to carry out work on their homes without approval with the theory that 'no-one will ever find out' but it really could have serious implications.

 

[squarenut9]

I think you've probably got the gist from the others that have posted that you should get the work regularised asap. Another party who might be interested in what you've done are your insurance company, if you've made significant alterations to your house and haven't got BR approval then your house insurance may be invalid, and you may also find that having valid buildings insurance is a condition of your mortgage - its certainly a condition of our mortgage and they also required us to let them know before we started work on our loft conversion.

A lot of people tend to carry out work on their homes without approval with the theory that 'no-one will ever find out' but it really could have serious implications.

Hello all,

Not sure if any body is still checking this site. I am almost in the throws of starting a new loft conversion myself. Funnily enough I also have the same type of roof. I will obviously do the Bud Regs. What does regularistion mean??

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Hello all,

Not sure if any body is still checking this site. I am almost in the throws of starting a new loft conversion myself. Funnily enough I also have the same type of roof. I will obviously do the Bud Regs. What does regularistion mean??

Regularisation is getting approval after the work has been done and is not recommended. The inspectors can insist you expose structural elements etc to prove/confirm what has been carried out during the project. http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/en...proval/bregspresiteapprvl/bregsregularisation

In your case though it will not be necessary as you have not started yet.

 

[DevilDamo]

And the fact a Regularisation application costs more than a normal Full Plans/Building Notice application.