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[kazrich]

Hi can anyone help! am in process of selling house with attic room used as bedroom.
Long story but here goes. Our house was built in 1780 and used as granary. caonverted into houses sometime in the victorian era! When i bought it in 2000 it needed a light refurb. There were stairs to the attic room and it was all boarded out. The house was empty. My conveyancing solicitor at the time never bought anything to my attention. Decided to use as bedroom, as stairs were in safe positon and height all ok. The solicitor of our buyer is refusing to carry on without any planning permission on it. We did put a new velux in in 2000 and the council have written to us confirming that no planning was needed for that. The floor joists are the same as the first floor. What can i do i am at risk of losing our buyer and the house we want if this is not sorted asap. Planning permission was not bought in until what i though was 1948 so how can i prove something that was done before that time when it was not needed!!!!The person that owned the property before to our knowledge is 6 foot under!!!!!

:cry: Help please.

[rosebery]

You need to go and talk to the planing department and get them to rule on it. Tell them exactly what is going on and ask for advice.

Noone can second guess what they are going to say.

Hope that helps

Cheers

[kazrich]

thanks,

the sellers of the house we want are pushing for completion in 2 wks or they lose they house they want....
Will phone my solicitor first thing mon. Have heard of indemnity insurances. Will pay what ever needed if it means i dont lose the house we want, however when suggested to our buyer she said she had asked her soicitor this already and solicitor doesnt want to.... And to top it all her solicitor is now saying that we dont have full access to our drive and that we pay a £10 charge to go over a strip of land. WE DONT.......what is she on about!!!!! and then shes telling our buyer that she needs a land registry number for it?????? so confused now..... Even our neighbour who moved in in july last year doesnt understand. This old property is soooo confusing... buyer wants to get on but her solictor doesnt.. partner even started emptying the boxes i have packed......

[ALDA]

K'

PLANNING WILL HAVE TO RULE ON THE USE OF THE ROOM IF YOU ARE MARKETING/SELLING AS AN ADDITIONAL BEDROOM.

THIS MAY MEAN SOME WORKS WILL HAVE TO BE CARRIED OUT TO COMPLY WITH BUILDING REGS.

OR

YOU COULD DESCRIBE THE ROOM "A BOX ROOM" BUT SUFFER THE DE-VALUATION IN THE HOUSE PRICE THAT THIS WOULD BRING.

IT SOUNDS TO ME MORE LIKELY TO BE A "RUBBER STAMP EXERCISE" WITH SMALL OUTLAY FOR RETROSPECTIVE PLANNING PERMISSION.

REGARDS,

ALDA.

[ALDA]

RIGHTS OF WAY AND ACCESS OVER PROPERTIES, CODISILS AND COVENANTS WILL BE DEFINED IN THE PROPERTY DEEDS.

LAND REGISTERY HOLD INFORMATION ON THE LAND/PROPERTY BOUNDRIES AND RIGHTS OF WAY/ACCESS AND WHO OWNS WHAT ETC. ETC.

YOUR SOLICITOR IS DOING HER JOB (THOUROUGHLY)

ALDA.

[kazrich]

still trying to sell house.... Access is sorted ......

But in regards to 2nd floor bedroom - our buyers solicitor was saying our 200 year old property was converted in 1979 - turns out she was looking at a planning application made in 79 by another property in our terrace that wanted to convert to 2 dwellings.which they didnt do!!
Have done some research and found a relative of one of the previous owners in the 60's who can recall the lay out of the building and that an attic room existed with its own stairs and door.
Hoping he might write a letter to help..... The joists are the same size as first floor joists... we never had this trouble when buying property in 2000 so why should we have problems now when selling..... But because they were converted to houses so long ago it doesnt seem anyone can find anything about them...

lost as to what to do know.......

[ALDA]

K,

YOU COULD JUST SIT TIGHT BUT HAVE YOU NOT APPROACHED PLANNING/BUILDING CONTROL?

ULTIMATELY, THEY HOLD ALL THE CARDS!

IF THEY SAY ALL IS OK, THEN THERES NO PROBLEM!
(MIGHT JUST BE RUBBER STAMP EXERCISE).

IF ANY WORKS HAS TO BE CARRIED OUT TO COMPLY ,THEN THEY WILL TELL YOU AND THE NECESSARY PROCESSES WILL HAVE TO TAKE PLACE IN ORDER TO SELL YOUR PROPERTY .

IF YOU DO NOTHING, THEN THE BUYERS SOLICITORS (IF THEY PURSUE THE MATTER, EVEN AFTER ALL THAT HAS COME TO LIGHT) WILL EVENTUALLY REQUEST THAT YOU GO DOWN THIS ROAD ANY WAY TO RESOLVE THE MATTER.

SO YOU DO IT = QUICKER CHEAPER.
OR
THEY DO IT = TIME AND MONEY.

GET INVOLVED IF YOU WANT TO SELL SOON TOO.

I HOPE COMMON SENSE PREVAILS AMONGST THE SO CALLED PROFFESSIONALS FOR YOUR SAKES.

REGARDS,

ALDA.