Loft Conversion

What on earth is a habitable room??

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 3.18 PM

Hi all, I'm wanting to deepen the floor cavity in the loft for insulation and board the space out fully. The space is used very regularly to get to sports equipment and other things but only a small area is currently boarded limiting its potential vastly. I also want to put in a much better loft ladder in because the loft contents are so regularly accessed. However, the space is so good that I'm tempting to turn it into an artist's studio for my partner. It would simply have a few tables up there for her to complete some projects. If I was to do this, does it then constitute a 'habitable' room, and thus need something more than a loft ladder - no matter how fancy, and then mains powered alarms and fire doors down stairs... and a many tens of thousands price tag? Am I literally only allowed to put Christmas decorations up there and spend allocated amounts of time of less than a few minutes per visit before checking that the house isn't burning down and I'm not in danger? finally, If what ever I put up there means it is not a habitable space, does it need building regs?