Buying other side of semi detached house

d10

Hello,
Would be grateful for advice re buying the other side of a semidetached house. We currently own our house which is semidetached and were wondering how it would work if we decided to buy our neighbours side of the house..It is up for sale and we would love to have a bigger house and stay in the same area!
Thanks for your ideas in advance!

ps does this mean we pay double the council tax?

Old_Git

can you borrow the dosh to buy it .

d10

Yes we can..

BlackButterfly737

I'm not an expert, but I think that you would have to pay council tax on both properties. I don't believe this would be any different to buying a second home in another area.

If however, you converted the two properties into a single detached house then I guess you would only pay council tax on the single property, but this would probably be at a higher council tax band. Check with your local planning office.

According to propertyfinder website:

"Two houses into one Although creating two houses on a plot or subdividing a house into flats requires planning permission, the reverse situation does not. To combine a pair of semi-detached houses into one detached house does not need planning permission. This can be very helpful in some areas where large houses are in short supply. Current planning policies are seeking to maximise densities on land in urban areas and large plots can be difficult to achieve in these circumstances. Combining two approved dwellings into one can be a solution - although be aware that to revert back two dwellings would require permission."

http://blogs.propertyfinder.com/news/2007/08/20_things_you_can_do_without_p.html

I hope all goes well with whatever you decide to do.

d10

BlackButterfly737 wrote: »

I'm not an expert, but I think that you would have to pay council tax on both properties. I don't believe this would be any different to buying a second home in another area.

If however, you converted the two properties into a single detached house then I guess you would only pay council tax on the single property, but this would probably be at a higher council tax band. Check with your local planning office.

According to propertyfinder website:

"Two houses into one Although creating two houses on a plot or subdividing a house into flats requires planning permission, the reverse situation does not. To combine a pair of semi-detached houses into one detached house does not need planning permission. This can be very helpful in some areas where large houses are in short supply. Current planning policies are seeking to maximise densities on land in urban areas and large plots can be difficult to achieve in these circumstances. Combining two approved dwellings into one can be a solution - although be aware that to revert back two dwellings would require permission."

http://blogs.propertyfinder.com/news/2007/08/20_things_you_can_do_without_p.html

I hope all goes well with whatever you decide to do.

Thanks very much for the information! I will look into the link and see how it goes - cheers!

maggie21

You would need to do a lot of internal work to make this one house. You won't want one small kitchen for a big house & you'll not want a house of two halves. Moving around internal walls can be just as expensive as an extension.

You'll also need to have the one house rewired, or pay two lots of standing charges for electric & gas. You may want to get a larger gas boiler to cope with one big house. Will you still want two staircases?

We wanted to do the same, but have decided it will be easier just to move. We like our house as it is, so didn't see any point moving it all around to accomodate the extra space.

BlackButterfly737

Also, check out this similar post on this website.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=15696975

beingjdc

If you turn it into a bigger house, then it is in your interests to get it reassessed for Council Tax - it's not directly proportionate, so the council tax on one big house is almost always less than double the tax on two medium-sized houses.

poppysarah

Lots of complications and need permission from planning too I think to reduce two houses to one. In the same way as you'd need permission to turn it back into two.

mummytofour

I personally dont think it would be worth the money. But it does depend on the area I guess. All properties have a celling and I would be suprised if a house with 6 beds in a normal type residential area would be worth double that of the 3 bed. In addition you should think ahead to if you want to re-sell one day and how easy it would be to sell your big house?

I guess I would say think ahead and weigh up the money involved.

vwornoutmum

Think the rules on council tax are if there is access to both sides of the house through internal door it's one property so one council tax.