When I am selling my house, if I have a bedroom in the loft, are there rules about counting it as a bedroom?

Question

I know that there can be building or other regulations which prevent counting a loft bedroom. Do these include stairways, size, or anything else?

Answer 1

If there is a permanent stairway leading to it, it has proper walls, ceiling, flooring and windows (adequate natural lighting), then it is a bedroom.

If any of these things are missing, ie pull-down ladder for access, no or little windows (skylights), incomplete walls, ceiling or floor, then it is still a loft regardless of whether you use it as a bedroom or not.

Answer 2

I've done a loft conversion, turning the attic space into a bedroom and a shower room. I did my own drawings for building control and they passed.
You must have a proper staircase, with a firedoor on it - top or bottom. And a fire escape. I used the special velux one that opens right up, as well as swivelling.
When you are selling your house you can say that you have a floored loft - then when people come to view it they'll see the potential bedroom and if they want they can apply for retrospective planning permission. You just cant state that it's a bedroom in the advert for your house.

Answer 3

The new rules concerning sale of a house in UK are not expected to be in place for some time yet. There simply are not enough inspectors to deal with the situation.

For the present, we are told that only houses with four or more bedrooms will require the new 'MoT'.

So, if you have four bedrooms and want to avoid this problem, why not simply turn your 'loft' bedroom into a study.

Presto, you now have only three bedrooms.

If you are not happy with the idea of calling it a study, just call it a 'box room' and fill it with the usual household junk.

Anything to avoid this barbaric tax on the people's money.

Answer 4

As long as there is enough room for a bed it is considered a bedroom. There might be certain rules in the law that if a room is bigger than 2m x 2m it is a bedroom. Best research that!

Answer 5

In the US, it's normally counted as a bedroom if it has a closet. These aren't hard and fast rules in most jurisdictions. Local convention normally determines what's counted as a bedroom and what isn't.

Answer 6

In order for you to 'officially' count it as a bedroom it must have a permanent staircase, and (I think) also a fire escape eg. through the window if it's on 2nd floor or higher.

Answer 7

I know where I'm at it is only considered a bedroom if it has a closet.

Answer 8

There was something in the news recently about the laws on extensions changing. I know that they haven't yet, but it may be worth asking your local planning office.