Kitchen Upstairs

[DinoTheTiger]

hi Guys,

i have a three bedroom house which i'm renting out, it has a kitchen upstairs. Unfortunatley i dont have planning permission for the kitchen being upstairs, will this pose a problem when i apply for a property license? :eek:


Background--> purchased house with 1 kitchen upstairs and 1 downstairs. upstairs kitchen was removed to get my mortgage from lender. upstairs kitchen was replaced and downstairs kitchen completely removed.

[MrShed]

Sorry I know virtually nothing about these kind of things, but isn't planning permission only required if it is something external? Like an extension or change of external wall materials etc? Whether a kitchen being upstairs is ok in HMO licensing is another question, and one which I have no idea about. But I am fairly sure that the lack of planning in this case is not an issue.

[SteveP]

Planning permission is not required for internal alterations, although if there was a change of use (from a sungle family dwelling to a HMO lets say) then this would have required planning permission.

More likely is that the works (or some aspects of them) may have required building regulations consent. If you didn't get it then it will pose a problem when you come to sell. However, you can apply to the local authority for Regularisation of the works.

[surreyLL]

I also recently put in a kitchen and bathroom on the top floor, and need to get a certificate of regularization for these.

Another problem I have is that the kitchen sits between the 2 tenants rooms at the top of the stairs, and because this is located in the escape route, I might have to get rid of it, because you're not supposed to have a kitchen in the escape route.

Do you know, if I put escape ladders in the rooms, would that get round this issue?

[SteveP]

Ladders cannot be used for a means of escape. Without seeing the property it is hard to say whether the location of the kitchen is a problem or not, but if you are saying that in order to escape one has to travel though a different room (whether it is a kitchen or not isn't relevant) before one gets to the protected route (generally a landing/corridor) than that is a problem. That is what the Building Regs refer to as an inner room and a bedroom cannot be an inner room. However, whether you need to comply with current regs depends upon when the work was done. To be honest your best bet is to either ask the local authority (particularly if it is a HMO) or pay for some advice from a chartered building surveyor.