Lexsure e-ROT

Building Regulations · Report on Title scenario

The loft was converted and there is no building regulations certificate

It stops the room counting. Without building regulations sign-off, a converted loft is not a habitable room for valuation or marketing purposes, whatever it is being used for — so a house advertised with three bedrooms and an unsigned-off loft is a two-bedroom house with a large room in the roof. The safety question sits behind that one, and the indemnity policy a seller usually offers answers neither.

From the e-ROT archive

This scenario is drawn from Report on Title material dealing with this specific circumstance.

Lexsure Report on Title paragraph: Loft Conversion (Lack of Building Regs) · See the wording

Which describes you?

I’ve already bought the property I have found out since completing that the loft was never signed off. Check what this could mean →WhenIBought.com I’m a conveyancer I need Report on Title wording for this situation. View professional options →

Why the room stops counting

A loft conversion needs building regulations approval, and the approval is what makes the result a habitable room. Without it the space is, in valuation terms, a loft — insulated, boarded, carpeted and furnished, but still a loft.

That has a price consequence you can measure. If the property was marketed and valued as having an extra bedroom, part of what you are paying for is a room that is not formally a room. It will be a loft again when you come to sell, and your buyer's solicitor will ask the same question.

Already bought, and the loft was never signed off?

If you have found out since completing that the conversion has no building regulations approval, what was reported to you during the purchase is a reasonable place to start.

Find out what should have been explained → WhenIBought.com

The three routes, and what each one costs

<b>Leave it.</b> The conversion stays unapproved, the valuation should reflect that, and you take the position on knowingly. This is only sensible where the price already reflects it and the survey is reassuring.

<b>Ask the seller to regularise it.</b> The local authority is approached and the work is inspected and signed off retrospectively. This is the only route that actually resolves the problem — but once the council has been told, there is no going back to the indemnity route, and the seller may face work they did not expect.

<b>Ask for an indemnity policy.</b> The cheapest and quickest route, and the most commonly taken. It is also the one that changes least: see the next section.

What the indemnity policy actually does

It covers financial loss if the local authority takes enforcement action. That is all it covers. It does not make the conversion compliant, it does not make it a habitable room, and it does not make it safe.

There is one hard rule about it that catches people out: a policy can only be put in place while the council has not been told. Approach the council first and the insurance route closes.

If you want to know whether the conversion is sound, that is a question for a surveyor, and it is a different question from the one the policy answers.

From the e-ROT archive

Report on Title paragraph

Loft Conversion (Lack of Building Regs)

Archive Lexsure e-ROTScope Loft conversion, no approvalWord count 112Published November 2023

The loft conversion would have required Building Regulations and without this it cannot be classed as a habitable room in terms of the marketing and valuation of the Property. If it has been included in the value of this property that is not valid as it has not been signed off as a habitable room. The same would apply if you resold the property. Also, the other issue is that as it does not have building regulations it may not have been converted to the correct standards and may not be safe. If it is not safe there is still a possibility, though highly unlikely that the council could bring enforcement action. …

Historic wording — DO NOT USE on a current transaction. This paragraph was published in November 2023 and is shown to illustrate how the issue has been reported, not as current wording. It is reproduced exactly. The enforcement position it describes in general terms should not be relied on without checking the current one.

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