We're about to buy a house, and _next_ _door_ the neighbour has "converted" his loft. He's a roofer, his father is a builder. I don't know them from Adam.
The conversion (and the loft!) isn't very tall - it's about 6ft tall along the very middle, but move 1 ft either way and you bang your head.
He's using it as his main bedroom - though he said that, if sold, the room couldn't be counted or listed as a bedroom because of the reduced head height, though it would probably be valued as one.
The bizarre thing is that in this 1973 terraced house, he claims not to have strengthened the roof, rafters, etc because "it was already strong enough". He's used kingspan+plaster board, added a velux window at the back, the stairs are accessed via a door, and the whole thing looks very nice. Other doors in the house are new, but I've no idea if they would survive a fire for 30 minutes.
The thing is, I would like to convert the loft of the house we're buying (next door!) in a similar way. I want a habitable room (not a loft). I don't care if it doesn't count as a bedroom due to the height, but I certainly _do_ care that it's safe (they'll be some records kept up there - they're heavy!), and wouldn't impair a future sale of the house.
I've searched this group for "loft conversion" stories, and found that some people seem fine with "attic rooms that aren't really bedrooms", while others find problems getting a mortgage due to rooms without building control approval.
So, two questions:
- how has the neighbour got away with it (or how does he think he'll get away with it when he comes to sell)?
- what should I do?
Cheers, David.