The fact an Attic Conversion is a great way of gaining extra space in your home without extending outward must be a deal too good to pass up. Also, a loft conversion is a sure way of adding a few extra €€ to the value of your home. And the fact you have a real chance of achieving all that without obtaining planning permission makes it an even more tantalising prospect.
If we are speaking generally, Irish homeowners who want to make any drastic changes to the outside of their homes will need to obtain planning permission from their local planning authorities before starting work. However, thankfully, most loft conversions don’t fall into the category of a “drastic” change. Works on the attic fall under permitted development rule. This invariably means you can make certain changes to your home without the need to apply for planning permission – subject to a few limitations, of course.
Limitations? Yes! You won’t have free reign though. There are many reasons why you may want to go beyond these limitations when converting your attic, especially when your objective is to make it a habitable zone. Then, planning permission may be required.
Attic Conversion: Need Permission or No Need Permission?
For us, it doesn’t matter. As long as what you desire is to convert your attic into a useful space, we are happy to help you achieve that in the best and easiest way possible. In this article, we explain everything you need to know about the attic, attic conversions, and developing your attic with or without planning permission – from concept to completion.
Why Do Homeowners Want a Loft Conversion?
Perhaps, you are still wondering why anyone would want to live on the roof of the house! There are many benefits to having your attic converted. Generally, it comes down to two major benefits;
· It affords you an extra space that you otherwise wouldn’t have.
· Your home becomes more valuable should you decide to sell.
Surely, you have good ideas about what to do with extra spaces and good bargaining power in the real estate market.
Here are some common motivations why people want any extra space they can get:
· A Home Office: when buying a house, it is unlikely that you factor in a home office somewhere in there. Because of the high cost of homes, most would be thankful if they can squeeze in a chair and a desk around a small corner to serve as their office zone. Most people would have to get creative if they want a cosier home office space. Converting the attic into a living space is one of the cheapest and straightforward routes to take if you're interested in more space.
· Bedrooms For The Youngsters: as the kids grow bigger and their belongings increase dramatically, having two or more youngsters in one room will no longer be practical. With a few tweaks to the attic, you get a good enough room space almost out of nothing.
· Family/General Room: You may not need to convert the loft to a home office or bedroom, yet, but it can still serve a general purpose for the family. Maybe a study area because of its secluded location or just a cool place for hangouts/game room.
Attic Conversion – Without Planning Permission
The majority of attic conversions are exempt from third-party approvals such as planning permissions because they are converted provided that it's a "non-habitable space". Also, such developmental works are largely internal and do not interfere with the overall appearance of the house. I.e. once there are no alterations to the side or front of your house or roof. The other caveat is that any new windows to the attic conversion are to the rear of the roof / attic space.
What Does “Habitable Space” Mean?
Not all roofs are suitable candidates for a “habitable” attic conversion. Most houses are simply not built with enough height in the roof for them to qualify as habitable space.
The relevant sections of the Irish Building Regulations state that you must have a minimum ceiling height of 2.4m for 50% of the floor area which is above 1.5m high.
The first requirement is the height of the roof. You can check the height in the middle of the attic if it’s high enough for you to stand and move around comfortably
What is The Verdict Regarding Your Attic Conversion?
Surely, there are a lot of Irish homeowners who have had their attic converted. However, with very few exceptions, attic conversions are carried out as non-habitable “storage rooms”. Hence, you need not apply for planning permissions because the roof is not raised and most of the work is internal. And the overall appearance of the house is not altered, apart from providing Velux ceiling roof windows in the rear tilt of the roof, which is exempt from development.
You may have to consult with your architect and structural engineer to ensure that you're within permitted development rights and all building regulations are adhered to if you propose to use your attic as a habitable storage space.
Attic Conversions – With Planning Permission
First of all, if you want your loft room to have “habitable status”, then you will have to apply for planning permission. Hence, you can technically call your otherwise 3-bedroom home a 4-bedroom apartment, and your real estate agent can list it as such should you decide to sell.
Having said that, there’s not a lot of drawbacks involved with obtaining planning permission before developing your attic. Perhaps, the cost of the application and the time it takes to get approval can be a sticking point for most. But one of the major advantages is that your architect would then have enough freedom to significantly cater to your needs for requiring the extra space.
In most cases, you will invariably end up with a better, larger, and more useful room if you have planning permission before developing the attic.
For your loft conversion, you will need planning permission if the development includes any of the following:
· Raising the roof height so that there is enough headroom (50% of the floor area needs to be 2.4m high (just under 8 feet) to qualify) to achieve “habitable status”
· Installing a dormer to the front side or rear roof of your house, which invariably alters the shape or height of the roof and the appearance of the house.
· Adding extensions that exceed the highest point of the roof of the house.
· Using construction materials that are different in appearance from the existing house.
· Constructing balconies, verandas and other raised platforms.
· Converting hip end roofs to gable to create more headroom and room space. Also, adding extensions other than hip-to-gable ones, and not setting them as far back as possible.
If you’re unsure, or better still, wants to be sure you’re on the safe side, solicit the advice of an architect or a structural engineer to help you ascertain everything.
Loft Conversion in a Conservation Area
Depending on the conservation area you live in, the regulations regarding home improvements can be stricter than others. If you have lived in a conservation area for some time, you are probably most likely aware of the rules and regulations that can affect obvious home improvements. If you are just moving in such an area, it is important that you preserve the charm that drew you to the area in the first place. Most development, even when permitted, will conform to the existing environment. Hence, sought the opinion of the local council before any work is undertaken.
Applying For Planning Permission
If you are considering a project which needs planning permission, think about using the services of an architect They will be responsible for drawing up the plans you will need to submit as part of the application for planning permission. Also, they may be open to handling the planning process for you from start to finish.
How do you begin the application process?
You can get in touch with JEArchitecture to assist you in designing and submitting your planning application. Will we ensure that the planning application is up to required standards with quality designs, intuitive presentation, and comprehensive technical content. We then make sense of that with clear reasoning as to why you should be granted planning permission to undertake your desired loft development projects.
How Long Does it Take to Get a Response?
When applying for planning permission, the process generally takes eight weeks for the initial decision to be made, this can be extended if the local authority asks for additional information. Once a decision is made a further and final decision is made 4 weeks after this, so the total time being 12 week's minimum.
Do I Need An Architect or Professional Builder To Convert My Loft?
The short and straightforward answer to that question is YES, its not the most complex piece of building work, But nothing is that simple and straightforward. While you can possibly be the designer and builder in charge of your loft conversion, there’s a lot of reasons why an architect is always strongly recommended and a professional builder is definitely required.
First, apart from the fact that a professional will probably do a better job, they can also give you expert advice and help you with the application of planning permission should the need arises.
Secondly, irrespective of whether you desire to claim habitable status for your loft room or not, several very significant building regulations must be adhered to for your safety.
Besides, for you to obtain a pass mark here, a professional investigator will have to examine the property to be sure everything is in order. Employing the services of an architect will ensure that your home is in full compliance with standard building regulations.
Attic Conversion Building Regulations
As a basic guide, here are some building regulations that you may have to fulfil before you can start using your converted loft as more than just a storage unit. Again, a lot of these regulations are subject to change and interpretation by the local authority where your home is. Hence, ensure you the ear of a structural engineer to help you ascertain whether you’re within building regulations.
· Load-bearing Walls: converting your attic means you will have to introduce new loads together with the existing ones the walls and other structures are supporting. Generally, you will have to reinforce the existing structure to support any new loads. If new floor joists are needed for the conversion, they will have to be supported by an existing wall or structure that goes all the way down to the foundation of the house.
· Floor joists And Beams: to support the weight of a loft conversion, your existing ceiling joists will most likely have to be replaced by new larger ones. Similarly, new floor joists that are larger will have to be installed to support the new load.
· Removing Rafters: there are some occasions where you will have to cut open an existing rafter to allow for roof windows. Hence, you may have to move or relocate collar timbers and struts someplace else and reinforce the roof with timbers in other places to support the new windows.
Again, it is advisable to solicit the expertise of a structural engineer when making alterations to the roof structure of a building.
· Insulation: normally, the roof of your home is already insulated at ceiling level – which is now going to be your attic floor. So, there's new insulation to be made for the attic roof at the rafter level. Most times, there’s usually fibreglass quilt insulation already in place. They can be left alone because they help slow down the heat emanating from the rooms below and also serves as sound proofing.
Any new insulation that must be done at the rafter level must comply with part L of the Irish Building Regulations.
Sounds Insulation: for rooms that are required to have habitable status, sound insulation must exist between two of such rooms. Hence, you don’t only have to sound proof your loft room and the rooms below, but you may also have to sound proof the walls between your loft and your neighbours' loft. This can simply be achieved by upgrading the existing party walls.
· Access and Staircases: whether you’re going to be using your loft conversion as a storage unit or a habitable bedroom, how you gain access to it must is one of the things to.
Loft ladders are acceptable if you are only using your loft as a storage unit or for repair purposes. If your loft conversion is habitable, then, you will have to install a staircase that can act as a fire escape route. Sometimes, installing a new staircase can take up almost half of the attic available space.
· Natural Lighting: natural light is crucial if you're going to make your loft conversion conducive and comfortable to live in. Thankfully, there are many options to get natural light into your attic rooms.
Opting for a dormer window can get you natural light as well as ventilation. You get a couple of additional floor space too. Also, you may turn to the various types of roof lights, ridge roof lights systems, frameless light, and balcony roof lights systems depending on the features of your attic.
· Fire Safety: generally, building regulations are stricter if you're converting the attic in an existing two-storey building compare to a single storey house.
Generally speaking, you will need to provide a fire protected stairway that can serve as an escape route if there’s a fire incident. Provide smoke alarms within the stairways at each level. Also, some of the doors need to be upgraded to self-closing fire doors. And each attic room must have a window and a roof light for escape and rescue. The window has to be wide enough, some 40-45 centimetres to insure safe escape or ingress.
Mandatory fire safety requirements are contained in Part B of the Building Regulations in order . You should consult your structural engineer to ensure you're in total compliance with these regulations for your safety and protection. All of which will make an attic conversion with habitable status a costly affair given the additional work required to make it comply with building regulations.
Conclusion
As a basic guide take that if it’s a straight forward attic conversion with no windows to the front and the attic is to be classed as ‘non habitable storage space’, then it can be classed as exempted development and will not require planning permission. Anything else will require planning permission such as a dormer attic conversion, conversion with windows to the front elevation, conversion with hip converted to gable or conversion which is to be a habitable room and therefore it makes sense to talk to a professional. JEArchitetcure specialise in attic planning, see atticplanning.ie and can give you the advice and service you need. Contact us now for a quote.
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