Can Mgmt co stop attic conversion?

Mrs C said:
I have been speaking to the engineer today to clear these questions up and he said he went through the lease and we do own the attic space.
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Is the engineer professionally qualified to advise on what you own and what you don't? Isn't this a job for a legal professional?


Planning does not address fire safety issues in huge detail. The fire safety certification process addresses that.
shesells said:
I also feel the engineer is not a disinterested party in all of this, independent legal advice may be prudent.
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I agree - I don't think Mrs C is getting independent, professional, dispassionate advice. The engineer may well be biased by his desire not to expose his own previous works.
 
a lot of people interpret a 'right of access' as ownership which is not the same thing as actually owning it. Happens all the time with balcony's where people insist they belong to them when in fact they are really part of the roof and the property of the company to which unit owners can enjoy if they want.

That false perception only persists until there is a fault or leak and then it generally and magically always becomes the OMC's property again!

As sheshells stated tampering with a roof that several people may rely on as a common entity doesn't seem right.

What happens if there is a leak say around a Velux window and several units are flooded/water damaged or a window falls open or is left open? Who takes the responsibility? The unit owner who owns the window? The OMC who let them install it? That's a nasty legal fight waiting to happen. If I was a downstairs unit I'd be pulling my lease and putting a stop to all this ASAP.
 
I understand where you are all coming from, but honestly if the management co give the go ahead we're doing it, we will never be able to sell so thats not an issue, regarding leaky roofs etc I know its a possible scenerio but one that would be very rare to cause flooding etc.. I would hope the building standards now would prevent that, we are stuck in this apartment (negative equity etc..) and have an expanding family so on a human level I cant see the real harm in what we're doing.....if insurer alters policy etc...
 

In case this hasn't been mentioned already - in addition to letters of no objection from neighbours &/other residents - I would get one from the Mgm Co. Telling you to get letters from neighbours is not the same as granting permission.
 

Totally understandable re space and saleability but those are totally separate and personal issues compared to the legalities.
 
My neighbour in a refurbished apartment duplex complex has converted his attic space without planning permission or approaching the management company. The conversion was done by a builder's labourer as a nixer. I am concerned about the fire hazards and and possible compromises to the structural integrity of the complex itself. Any comments welcome. In the event of the management company or the county council/ corporation insisting on the reconversion to attic space who pays the costs for such?
 
Given that it's an unauthorised development, any costs involved in fixing it are up to the owner who did it. The issue could be in getting him to pay.
 
If the roof isn't being altered (other than a velux to the side or rear) AND less than 50% of the floor area has a height clearance of at least 2.4m then it should be planning exempt, management company issues not withstanding.
 
michaelm said:
If the roof isn't being altered (other than a velux to the side or rear) AND less than 50% of the floor area has a height clearance of at least 2.4m then it should be planning exempt, management company issues not withstanding.
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they stated in the first post that they're putting a dormer window in, so the roof is being altered.
 
Indeed. My post was in response to PenicillinV's post on Friday which resurrected this thread . . the first post was three years ago.
 
Given that it's a duplex apartment complex, who owns the attic space? My understanding is that this space doesn't actually belong to the owner of the unit, and so they have no right to put in an attic conversion.
 
I hope its okay to join in on this discussion. We recently moved into a top floor apartment and found that our deeds outline a large portion of the attic area as belonging to us with the rest being designated for the holding of water tanks for the apartments below. There are two entrances to the attic, one from within our property via a folding stairwell and one outside in the corridor that links to the common space in the attic where the tanks are located. The previous owners were the developers of the block and designated this space as theirs to convert in the future. Our attic comes complete with two velux windows already installed to the front of the building (no other attic has this feature) but the rafters (trussed roof) are still in place and have never been removed. My understanding is that the previous owners passed away a long time ago without ever completing the project. The boundary on our deeds also defines the balcony within our boarder of ownership (we are also the only apartment in the complex with a balcony).
We would like to move forwards with the completion of the conversion and are considering to apply for planning to add another window on to the side of the building which would end up being directly above our balcony and maybe one to the back to allow more light in to an ensuite we plan to install. The whole attic is completely sealed via brickwork from any other apartment in the complex but our manangement company is adamant that we cannot convert because they don't like the idea of it. Our plan is to bring up the issue at the next A.G.M. and offer a decent monetary donation to the residency for the inconvinience any works might induce and perhaps to pay a larger sum towrds the annual management costs going forward.
I suppose my concern is that, are we fighting a losing battle with the managment if they simply oppose our idea or should we just go ahead with PP and let the system decide who has the right to determine the outcome? We will of course have all of the works carried out as per official outlines.
 

I don't see any big deal with what you're doing. You need to love bomb your neighbours.
 
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