New apartment too small for a bed! Help!

K

Kitty

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All advice appreciated.

My brother got access to his new appartment this morning to snag it and discovered that the main bedroom does not have enough room to fit a double bed and allow for the wardrobe to open!

He bought off the plans, and this is the first time he actually got access to the appartment and take actual measurements.
The foreman was on site and while admitting the room was small, said that it conformed with the plans. Plans werent seen by brother other than brochure drawings which had some rider saying - not to scale etc

What to do?
Is there any hope at all of getting deposit back from builder? are there certain minimum sizes that must be complied with? If builder is not oblidged, is it likely that they might be interested in selling it to someone else at the new market rate, which is presumably higher than when they put depoist of 25k down in Arpil/May? Are they likely to show any good will?

Estate agent said to send them an email they would forward to builder, but didnt say what likely follow up would be. Cant get through to builder directly by phone.
Can anyone recommend a plan? or advise on their rights?
Brother & his wife (who was in tears this morning) would be happy to walk away from appartment altogether if they got deposit back and start back at scratch, but otherwise, I think they will have to move in and buy a dwarf sized bed!

Kitty
 
Re: New appartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Only advice I can offer is that you could get the door on the wardrobe changed to sliding ones. Perhaps approach the foreman with this solution and he might do so for you foc for goodwill. Did you buy direct from the builder or was there a selling agent ? You need to see if you can dig up the terms and conditions when your brother signed the deal but my immediate reaction would be to consult with your solicitor.
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

I'd see my solicitor. I presume the wardrobe is fitted and came with the property. Suggestion by OP is a good one, sliding doors. The least I'd expect in a bedroom would be to be able to fit in a decent size bed, even if I'd bought from plans.:(
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Speaking from experience in the London market, room sizes must comply to certain guidelines when submitting for planning. I can only assume it's the same in Ireland. Developers often change internal layouts after planning has been granted as building control is often less stringent. If I was in your position I'd check the approved plans at the local planning office to make sure the room size is as stated in those plans. If not it will give you more leverage with the developer in any negotiations.
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Is it a standard double bed or a larger king sized bed? Having said that, I believe there are standards on minimum room sizes. There's some documentation on the dept of environment site on Apartment size. I'll let you do the reading :)
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Thanks for all the replies.
They eventually got through to builders this afternoon who said if they received a letter from brother's solicitors, they would put it to the Board of Directors for consideration. They didnt say much more than that. So will follow up on that & keep fingers crossed!

Tiger, will check out those Regulations, thanks.
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Had a quick look at the links again. Apparently these are 2006 recommendations, the regulations go back to 1995.

However http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/doeipub.nsf/0/17407b65c95d10d280256f0f003db979/$FILE/0001-Apt%20areas%20text%20310506.doc (this) doc says on page 6
32. Minimum aggregate bedroom floor areas should be
·11.4m2 for one-bedroom apartments, up from 10.2m2 in the 1995 Guidelines;
·11.4 + 7.1m2 for two-bedroom/three-person apartments, up from 16.7m2;
Click to expand...
So my reading is that the "main" double room needs to be a min of 10.2 m2. They wouldn't have got planning for less than that.

(edit)
Did some quick calculations, a double bed is 4ft 6in by 6ft 3 in (or 1.37m by 1.90) = 2.6m2, so should only be taking up just over a quarter of the floor space!!
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

If possible check a couple of the neighbouring apts, if the problem is unique or particularly bad their position would be stronger. Builders are reluctant to give in to buyers if the problem is common to more than one property as they don't want to set a precedent.

Internal walls can sometimes be misplaced especially stud walls, these are sometimes put up by eye instead of by measuring them out. But it would have to be exceptionally bad for the builder to be persuaded to fix it.

Selling straightaway and switching to a new property will unfortunately mean they'd be paying more stamp duty as they'd not be first time buyers any more.
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

this may be of use, but a company called Hafflle do these really cool roller shutter style doors in a kinda metal finish, few different colours,

they could be fitted to the wardrobe, i suppose a derivation of slide doors.

or perhaps they could get the builder to reduce the depth of the wardrobe, not an ideal situation as can make it hard to store alot of clothes in it, but have seen it done, keep hanagars at an angle then to maxmise the room.

hope it helps
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Update: Brother had the surveyor measure exact size of appartment and compare with plans & contract size - & the main and the 2nd bedrooms are very slightly below the guidelines, while the 3rd bedroom, doesnt qualify at all as a bedroom at all according to the guidelines - says the surveyor. Brother is awaiting confirmation of this in writing and will then speak to solicitor.

Cheeky builders, had said previously, when brother & his wife put it to them that room wasnt right and that maybe they would compromise with moving radiator or refitting wardrobe, that in fact they had already been quite accomodating to them, as he had been "allowed" move his (refundable) €5,000 booking deposit from a more expensive appartment to this one. In actual fact, when he moved his refundable deposit to this flat, they actualy cut his 3 weeks "cooling off" period short, by the amount of time he had it on the first appartment! How's is that for "accomodating"?

As always, would be interested in any of your comments or observations - particularily on what next steps should be.

Kitty.
 
Re: New apartment too small for a bed! Help?!?

Seems it was sold to your bro as a 3 bed but in fact accroding to your surveyors measurments it should have beens old as a 2 bed "plus study" as they say these days.
If it was very much sold as a 3 bed you have legal comeback im sure.
 
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