Working Lunch interview in attic office
 

I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?
How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

On 17 Nov 2004 16:07:32 -0800, (Conrad Edwards)
wrote:

I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

I'm not sure that you can have degrees of 'illegal' - seems to me that
something is or it isn't, although I suppose one measure is 'how
likely is the person to get caught?'


How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

It shouldn't be used as a habitable room for sure, and this would be
that.

However, it would be very difficult to detect unless he had done
structural modifications like the guy who pulled out roof timbers and
caused the roof to sag.

In practical terms there are three ways that I can think of that he
might be detected.

- There's a fire and he gets toasted because he can't escape

- Somebody finds out that he's running a business and reports him the
the local authority. This may be contrary to a covenant or planning
condition of when the place was built and they decide to investigate.

- He wants to sell the house - although then he could probably remove
his little den.



--

..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

"Conrad Edwards" wrote in message
m...
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

It's not
How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

It will be classed as occasional use/storage, which doesn't require any
planning regs.

Andy Hall wrote in
:

In practical terms there are three ways that I can think of that
he might be detected.

- There's a fire and he gets toasted because he can't escape

- Somebody finds out that he's running a business and reports
him the the local authority. This may be contrary to a
covenant or planning condition of when the place was built and
they decide to investigate.

- He wants to sell the house - although then he could probably
remove his little den.


Maybe having it featured on TV could also be a bit of a giveaway? :-)

On Thu, 18 Nov 2004 00:20:18 UTC, Andy Hall wrote:

In practical terms there are three ways that I can think of that he
might be detected.

- There's a fire and he gets toasted because he can't escape

- Somebody finds out that he's running a business and reports him the
the local authority. This may be contrary to a covenant or planning
condition of when the place was built and they decide to investigate.

- He wants to sell the house - although then he could probably remove
his little den.

- He gets seen on TV...!

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!

In article ,
Andy Hall writes:
In practical terms there are three ways that I can think of that he
might be detected.

- There's a fire and he gets toasted because he can't escape

- Somebody finds out that he's running a business and reports him the
the local authority. This may be contrary to a covenant or planning
condition of when the place was built and they decide to investigate.

- He wants to sell the house - although then he could probably remove
his little den.

- He decides to feature it on a television program so everyone knows
he's done it ;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article , Conrad
Edwards writes
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?
How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?
As long as it safe - as much as you want. The ladder is no worse than
ships ladders & safer than wooden stairs.

The storage of glues and paints maybe another question.
--
Zaax
http://www.ukgatsos.com

In message , Conrad
Edwards writes
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

Punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered IIRC

How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

Prolly of limited use for repairing commercial vehicles

--
geoff

"Conrad Edwards" wrote in message
m...
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

Can you have degrees of illegality? It is almost certainly a breach of the
planning regulations, but IME it is certainly not an uncommon practice. I
used to have quite a large customer who ran his business from his attic and
who had employees working there.

How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

He will probably get around to fitting permanent stairs, when he gets fed up
with the ladder. However, I have a couple of storage areas accessed by loft
ladders in my factories. the only things the Factory Inspectors were
concerned about was that they were firmly fixed and that there were adequate
guard rails, with toe boards, where there was a fall hazard.

Colin Bignell

"Dave Jones" wrote in message ...
"Conrad Edwards" wrote in message
m...
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

It's not

I don't know about illegality in the criminal sense but it almost
certainly contravenes building regs and maybe planning depending upon
the nature of the business.

How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

It will be classed as occasional use/storage, which doesn't require any
planning regs.

It will be classed as what it is *actually* being used for, ie running
a business and therefore contravenes the rules. I suggest you talk to
your local BCO if you don't understand this. Some will be down on you
if you do even the slightest to make it habitable like install
flooring and lighting. Others may be more forgiving depending on the
actual use.

MBQ

Andy Hall wrote in message . ..
On 17 Nov 2004 16:07:32 -0800, (Conrad Edwards)
wrote:

I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning his
modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in his attic
which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder.
How illegal is this?

I'm not sure that you can have degrees of 'illegal' - seems to me that
something is or it isn't, although I suppose one measure is 'how
likely is the person to get caught?'


How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

It shouldn't be used as a habitable room for sure, and this would be
that.

However, it would be very difficult to detect unless he had done
structural modifications like the guy who pulled out roof timbers and
caused the roof to sag.

In practical terms there are three ways that I can think of that he
might be detected.

- There's a fire and he gets toasted because he can't escape

- Somebody finds out that he's running a business and reports him the
the local authority. This may be contrary to a covenant or planning
condition of when the place was built and they decide to investigate.

- He wants to sell the house - although then he could probably remove
his little den.

I thought habital meant sleeping up there. How would you differentiate
between this guy working up there in an office and the plumber fitting
a new water tank. Surely you don't have to install a fixed staircase
to have a new tank fitted.
I am in the process of building a model railway and the council
weren't intersted, as far as they were concerned it was storage. As
soon as you put a velux in though it is an entirely diffrent matter.

Kevin

In article ,
Conrad Edwards wrote:
I was watching 'Working Lunch' where it featured a guy turning
his modelling hobby into a business. The business was based in
his attic which was accessed solely by a pull-down ladder. How
illegal is this? How much use can you put an attic to that only
has a pull-down ladder as access?

I would suspect that the real people he has to worry about
is his house insurers. Running a business from home
without getting agreement (in writing) could give them a
lovely get out excuse if ever the money-flow looks like
it might have to reverse direction.

--
Tony Williams.

raden wrote in message ...
In message , Conrad
Edwards writes

How much use can you put an attic to that only has a pull-down ladder
as access?

Prolly of limited use for repairing commercial vehicles

heh!

I thought it was the alteration work that was subject to law, not the
use afterwards. IOW if you buy a non reg compliant house its not a
crime to sleep in the loft, even if its not the best thing to do.

TN