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Sale agreed on our house - Attic conversion holding things up

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    #32
    drunkmonkey
    Registered Users Posts: 28,192 ✭✭✭✭drunkmonkey


    4ensic15 wrote: »
    Planning permission is given by local authorities, not banks. The agent who sold it was acting on behalf of a bank who contracted out of any liability. There is zero channce of any plans, notes or sign off turning up. This is the adult world.

    I'm suggesting if it was a local agent they might know more about the house. Town managers used to be able to sign off on items, without pulling the plans in the la your not going to know, it's worth investigating, ours turned up a load that nobody was away of.


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    #33
    astrofool
    Registered Users Posts: 16,666 ✭✭✭✭astrofool


    You'll need an architect to sign off that the conversion of the attic to a storage room/study is structurally sound. This should satisfy the bank, and allow them to get a mortgage.

    nuac/Claw Hammer are behaving as if it's a 3rd level bedroom, where fire doors(with closers, that everyone removes...) are required throughout the house, roof height regulations (which most attics can't reach without adding a dormer), fixed smoke alarm, steepness of the stairs and there must be a window accessible for firemen to allow escape in the event of fire (among other items). Depending on the construction method, steel beams may not be required, however, the roof would have to be braced appropriately if the older supporting beams were cut.


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    #34
    Del2005
    Registered Users Posts: 18,990 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    astrofool wrote: »
    You'll need an architect to sign off that the conversion of the attic to a storage room/study is structurally sound. This should satisfy the bank, and allow them to get a mortgage.

    nuac/Claw Hammer are behaving as if it's a 3rd level bedroom, where fire doors(with closers, that everyone removes...) are required throughout the house, roof height regulations (which most attics can't reach without adding a dormer), fixed smoke alarm, steepness of the stairs and there must be a window accessible for firemen to allow escape in the event of fire (among other items). Depending on the construction method, steel beams may not be required, however, the roof would have to be braced appropriately if the older supporting beams were cut.

    It is a 3rd level bedroom it's just that it doesn't comply with any of the regulations so it can't be sold as a bedroom.


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    #35
    Lumen
    Registered Users Posts: 31,074 ✭✭✭✭Lumen


    Del2005 wrote: »
    It is a 3rd level bedroom it's just that it doesn't comply with any of the regulations so it can't be sold as a bedroom.
    What is the regulatory comeback from advertising it for sale as a bedroom? Almost zero. At worst the EA might get a slap on the wrist from the PSRA. Big deal.

    More to the point it can't be used as a bedroom. Doing so is unsafe and a breach of planning regulations, which could bring enforcement proceedings. As could the front velux.

    At least that's the theory. But the reality in that in all likelihood there will be no enforcement and nobody will do anything about these sort of breaches until someone dies, and then there will be a load of handwringing and then more of absolutely nothing.

    Look at the Stardust case. 48 people died and the only person prosecuted was Christy Moore, for writing a song about it.


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    #36
    astrofool
    Registered Users Posts: 16,666 ✭✭✭✭astrofool


    Lumen wrote: »
    What is the regulatory comeback from advertising it for sale as a bedroom? Almost zero. At worst the EA might get a slap on the wrist from the PSRA. Big deal.

    It's very rare to see an attic room advertised as a bedroom, and the EA would rarely say as such either, because by law it isn't a bedroom, and is not compliant with the fire regulations of when it was built.


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    #37
    4ensic15
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    Lumen wrote: »
    What is the regulatory comeback from advertising it for sale as a bedroom? Almost zero. At worst the EA might get a slap on the wrist from the PSRA. Big deal.

    .

    It is not just the regulatory comeback. If the room is advertised as a bedroom and the owner can't produce planning compliance documentation after signing the contract there could be a court action. It is also a waste of time advertising something as a bedroom and then issuing a contract saying it is not. The purchaser is going to be rightly annoyed after paying for a survey and paying a booking deposit to discover the master bedroom isn't a bedroom at all and their bank won't give the mortgage.


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