House Value After Extension

BlackEdelweiss

We recently put a 25m2 extension on the rear of our 3 bed semi. It is all one large sitting room with almost floor to ceiling windows on all walls. Our son moved his bedroom into our old sitting room so we now basically have a 4 bed semi.
Can we now price this house to sell as a 4 bed or is is still classed as a 3 bed with an extra room downstairs? What value would the extension have put onto the house, is it just the build cost?

kkelliher

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

We recently put a 25m2 extension on the rear of our 3 bed semi. It is all one large sitting room with almost floor to ceiling windows on all walls. Our son moved his bedroom into our old sitting room so we now basically have a 4 bed semi.
Can we now price this house to sell as a 4 bed or is is still classed as a 3 bed with an extra room downstairs? What value would the extension have put onto the house, is it just the build cost?

The property is a 3 bedroom as you dont have planning permission for a 4th bedroom. to market it as a 4 bedroom you would have to get planning for this. Otherwise it will come up in the legal side of a sale.

In relation to value, at present it may just help you sell the property ahead of neighbouring ones but it may not add much to the bottom line (you might be able to get €10-20k if you were very lucky). Unfortunatly in Ireland little value is given to the actual condition of properties as their value is mainly based on number of bedrooms and similar properties in the area.

sydthebeat

kkelliher wrote: »

The property is a 3 bedroom as you dont have planning permission for a 4th bedroom. to market it as a 4 bedroom you would have to get planning for this. Otherwise it will come up in the legal side of a sale.
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thats a new one on me.

In my experience once the rooms comply to the regulations under which they are used ie bedrooms must have escape windows etc, then they can be called what they want.

I have never heard of any system that prescribes planning permission as the only way to change the description of a house for sale.

kkelliher

sydthebeat wrote: »

thats a new one on me.

In my experience once the rooms comply to the regulations under which they are used ie bedrooms must have escape windows etc, then they can be called what they want.

I have never heard of any system that prescribes planning permission as the only way to change the description of a house for sale.

Syd, I have had this issue with two client's previously and I have been told by two sets of solicitors that you legally cannot sell a property as a 4 bedroom property which legally has planning for 3. To change a property use from a living room to a bedroom requires planning according to the advice given on both occassions.

I believe this is solely a legal issue at the point of a sale and it is up to the purchasing solicitor/Buyer as to their stance on the siiue. Thgey can decide to complete the sale as is but it does cause an issue with title.

I am not a solicitor but this is the clear advice that was given to my clients on two separate occasions.

BryanF

K, +1 with syd on this, I'd be having this out with that solicitor

BryanF

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

We recently put a 25m2 extension on the rear of our 3 bed semi. It is all one large sitting room with almost floor to ceiling windows on all walls. Our son moved his bedroom into our old sitting room so we now basically have a 4 bed semi.
Can we now price this house to sell as a 4 bed or is is still classed as a 3 bed with an extra room downstairs? What value would the extension have put onto the house, is it just the build cost?

ask the arch who did the drawings for the ext for his/her opinion on the fourth bed compliance with building regulations. then get an estate agent round to offer an opinion on increased value

sydthebeat

kkelliher wrote: »

Syd, I have had this issue with two client's previously and I have been told by two sets of solicitors that you legally cannot sell a property as a 4 bedroom property which legally has planning for 3. To change a property use from a living room to a bedroom requires planning according to the advice given on both occassions.

I believe this is solely a legal issue at the point of a sale and it is up to the purchasing solicitor/Buyer as to their stance on the siiue. Thgey can decide to complete the sale as is but it does cause an issue with title.

I am not a solicitor but this is the clear advice that was given to my clients on two separate occasions.

sorry kkelliher but that advice given is simply incorrect. There is no planning permission required to change the use of a domestic living room to use as a bedroom.

Their logic falls down when exempted development is considered, as in the OPs case.

I can understand that there may be reservations if someone tried to sell a 3 bed semi as a 4 bed house by saying the only living room was a bedroom, but the market would decide whether or not that was applicable.

Im no expert on this, but i have never heard of any legal system which defines the description of how a house can be sold apart from the building regulations.

muffler

There is nothing in the Planning Acts that states that permission is required to change a living room to a bedroom. However I can see where solicitors may take issue with the property description especially in a case where the house has not been extended. But its sheer folly for any solicitor to suggest that PP is required to change the use of a room in these circumstances.

BlackEdelweiss

I had an estate agent up to give a valuation and he said it is now classified as a 4 bedroom house.

Ecobluff

I'm not sure what the position for urban dwellings served by a mains sewer is but for dwellings served by an on-site wastewater treatment system it is my understanding that you would require planning permission to increase the number of bedrooms in a dwelling. The bedroom type and number is used to calculate the potential occupancy of the house and hence the maximum potential wastewater load. If you increase the occupancy you have to ensure there is adequate provision to treat the resulting extra wastewater.
Generally speaking most systems have no additional capacity and hence you would have to alter the wastewater treatment system to cater for the extra bedrooms. Any change to the system would most definitely require planning

ted1

BlackEdelweiss wrote: »

I had an estate agent up to give a valuation and he said it is now classified as a 4 bedroom house.

In all fairness an estate agent will generally say anything. It doesn't have to be factual. There only a salesman. I wouldn't take his word as gospel.

BlackEdelweiss

At the end of the day it is all down to what somebody is willing to pay for it. I could put the same price down whether I say it is a 3 or 4 bed house but I will only get what somebody is going to pay for it. It is not worth selling at the minute anyway. The EA said sell now or wait 6 or 7 years.