Council will not accept area of loft flat where roof slopes – Help?

Council will not accept area of loft flat where roof slopes – Help?

8:52 AM, 13th April 2016, About 8 years ago 13

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I have an HMO for 8 people and did a loft extension which added a flat within the shared property. It was originally 2 bedrooms and open plan living/small kitchen, but building regs insisted I shouldn’t have a kitchen in the open area, so sacrificed one of the bedrooms and made it a kitchen, so the flat has one bedroom, kitchen, living/diner and bathroom, I have a couple moved in already.loft

However the council HMO dept came to inspect, and unknown to me in the bedroom (which is very large easily accommodate a double bed, desk etc) told me they will not count the areas where the roof slopes into the size of the bedroom, hence the area they counted would make it too small. So they said the room must not be occupied.

I am trying if I can reconfigure the design of the loft, change bedroom or move a partition wall if possible, but what would be my position with existing tenants? I still have 12 months of the AST to run. Can the council insist on me vacating the loft flat immediately? Or would they wait until I can rectify the room size?

If I was unable to rectify the space configuration, what are the consequences of trying to terminate the contract?

Sandy


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MoodyMolls

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9:30 AM, 16th April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Sandy Down" at "15/04/2016 - 18:04":

Hi

What did you rename to?

David Mensah

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11:30 AM, 16th April 2016, About 8 years ago

by adding the loft, did you change from C4 HMO (up to 6 peopel) to a Sui Generis HMO? If so, did you need planning permission for this? My guess would be yes because adding a loft space could be viewed as a "material change of use"?

Sandy Down

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16:19 PM, 16th April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Alison King" at "16/04/2016 - 00:15":

The building reg inspector assured me this is regulation everywhere, but I told him In London almost all flats and houses are open plan I didn't understand it,, but he said its because it the loft, if its 3rd floor you need other means of escape ... or sprinkler system.

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