Buying a house with attic conversion without planning

BarraOG

Hi,

I'm interested in buying a house where an attic conversion has been done without planning permission. This involves a bedroom and en suite bathroom, with four velux windows in total. The house is being sold by a venture capitalist, who is also selling a bunch of other properties.

We have sold our previous home and are in a position to buy this property without needing a mortgage. The estate agent claims that it would be very difficult to get a mortgage for this house and that it has been priced accordingly.

We are going to get an engineer to have a look at the house and we are also going to talk to a solicitor regarding retrospective planning permission.

What advice might you offer us? Will it be difficult/expensive to get planning permission? How long time would it take?

Cheers!

Barry

Gumbo

Are all the Velux to the rear?
If so I wouldn't personally be too worried about planning.

I would check for the following :

Structural integrity/stability of the new attic floor.
Condition of the stairs leading to the attic. See if it complies with TGD Part B for loft conversions. If it doesn't work out how much is required to bring it up to standard and see if it can be used as a bargaining chip.

893bet

Planning permission might be no issue.....however the installed conversion will prob be no where near the required level of building regulations do even if you get planning then the resale value won't increase accordingly.

CreepingDeath

BarraOG wrote: »

I'm interested in buying a house where an attic conversion has been done without planning permission.

You may only need planning permission if you want it to be classified as a bedroom. If it's structurally sound, and you're happy to accept it legally as a "storage area" you might be okay.

We're in the process of buying a house that has an attic conversion but doesn't have the required headroom to be classified as a bedroom.
For us, it doesn't matter.
I'll use it as an office/storage and it can never be classified as a 5th bedroom.

However, structurally, you will want your surveyor to check that it has been converted properly. I've seen and rejected houses where they didn't reinforce the attic correctly and you could see the problems on the floor below with cracked ceilings/sagging joists. Not good.


FYI: Just to mention that Velux windows without planning permission should be at the back.... if they're at the front, that could well be an issue, and I imagine the local council "could"
force you to remove them. Your solicitor should advise you on this, and you should heed their advice.

BarraOG

Thanks for your replies! What do you make of the estate agents claims that it would be very difficult to get a mortgage for this house and that it has been priced accordingly.

moleyv

BarraOG wrote:

Thanks for your replies! What do you make of the estate agents claims that it would be very difficult to get a mortgage for this house and that it has been priced accordingly.

Mortgages usually require it to be planning compliant.

BarraOG

Thanks again for your replies!

I'm still really confused about something. All the velux windows are to the back of the house facing onto the garden. The upstairs room and bathroom were added when the house was built as an "after thought" and were not part of the planning. Therefore retrospective planning permission is required. But why hasn't the venture capitalist who is selling the house applied for this planning? Surely if the planning is approved the house will be worth tens of thousand more since it means that people can get a mortgage for it and that will in turn increase competition. Is it because the process of getting retrospective planning permission takes a long time?

I can pay for the house with cash but I don't want to buy something that I won't be able to sell. In your opinion, will I be easily able to make this house planning compliant if I buy it?, with a view to being able to sell it in the future if required.

I will be meeting my solicitor next week and won't be making any offer for the house until I hear what he has to say.

Gumbo

BarraOG wrote: »

Thanks again for your replies!

I'm still really confused about something. All the velux windows are to the back of the house facing onto the garden. The upstairs room and bathroom were added when the house was built as an "after thought" and were not part of the planning. Therefore retrospective planning permission is required. But why hasn't the venture capitalist who is selling the house applied for this planning? Surely if the planning is approved the house will be worth tens of thousand more since it means that people can get a mortgage for it and that will in turn increase competition. Is it because the process of getting retrospective planning permission takes a long time?

I can pay for the house with cash but I don't want to buy something that I won't be able to sell. In your opinion, will I be easily able to make this house planning compliant if I buy it?, with a view to being able to sell it in the future if required.

I will be meeting my solicitor next week and won't be making any offer for the house until I hear what he has to say.

Probably because the planning process will take 3 months at a minimum and the seller needs cash ASAP and that's if it needs planning in the first place.

893bet

Having planning permission is one issue.

Is the conversion done according to the regs (very very doubtful). This is the issue. Get an engineers report to assess it. Then use his report as a bargaining chip. You are a cash buyer so you have the power.