I'm thinking about buying the house next door

Bishop_Basher

And making one large home.
Has any one done it and what is the process?

ormus

my cousin bought the cottage next door many yrs ago, for his mother in law. the only thing he did was to make a single door between the two.
he sold it recently to purchase a canal boat. (MIL died).

all he had to do was to reinstate the wall.

pir

Something I would like to know about as well.

What happens if you want to do more than put a door between such as convert into one big house?

Take it planning permission is needed?

Bishop_Basher

pir wrote: »

Something I would like to know about as well.

What happens if you want to do more than put a door between such as convert into one big house?

Take it planning permission is needed?

Thats what I mean, its currently a pair of semis, which I want to make into a large detached house.

I assume the electric will have to be cut to one house and maybe the water?
Anyone?

Doozergirl

The house as one will be worth less than two houses. Very simple but unfortunate fact.

It will never be moneysaving or moneymaking to convert two houses into one. It will cost a great deal to do it properly, creating proper openings etc. Without considering whether you are going to end up with two heating systems, two electrical circuits etc. The house needs to be a bargain, or you entirely set on being there forever for it to be economically wise.

planning_officer

You don't need planning permission to convert two houses into one, as it is not 'development'. However, if you come to reinstate them back into 2 in the future, that will require planning permission, as that is 'development.

ormus

and that about says it all about the PP regulations in england/wales.

edgex

hmmm
i could understand doing it if the hall/stairs are where the houses are joined, but most semi's arnt that way round.
then dealing with the structural walls, the fireplaces & chimneys, new heating system, all new electrics.
then assume that for access between the 2 parts you lose a room downstairs & upstairs.
wheres the gain?


even if the place was empty, youd be better off buying it & doing it up, then either renting it out or selling it on.

andrew-b

I know of someone who did this with though from the outside it just looks like two properties still so you really wouldn't know. Not sure what they did inside though but i would think if you do merge them both into one building regs would likely come into it.
Then you've got things like two sets of meters to worry about and removing them doesn't come cheap. Not sure where you stand with council tax?

What the condition of the properties like though....sometimes it's easier to start from scratch than make the best of what is already there! I'd love to buy up next door and demolish the whole lot and start from scratch...but that's definitely not moneysaving and wouldn't be profitable for the particular location. Location is very important as who would want a big mansion if it's in the middle of an ex.council estate for example!

My parents live in a detached house as do their neighbours but have been approached by property developers in the past to buy up their houses presumably with the intention of knocking them down for redevelopment - the site would probably be big enough for a small cul-de-sac of at least 4 or 5 smaller properties which i'm sure would make it a very lucrative investment and worth more than the cost of the two properties alone - assuming they actually got planning permission which i'm doubtful they would!

Andy

allan673

Doozergirl wrote: »

The house as one will be worth less than two houses. Very simple but unfortunate fact.

It will never be moneysaving or moneymaking to convert two houses into one. It will cost a great deal to do it properly, creating proper openings etc. Without considering whether you are going to end up with two heating systems, two electrical circuits etc. The house needs to be a bargain, or you entirely set on being there forever for it to be economically wise.

very true, its not cost effective unless your loaded and moneys no object, and you love the area your in now. better off selling up and buying a bigger property imo.
again as quoted its worth more as 2 semis than 1 property.

planning_officer

ormus wrote: »

and that about says it all about the PP regulations in england/wales.

Eh? Makes perfect sense to me - there are obviously planning issues with converting one dwelling into two - more garden space needed, intensification of the site, more parking required etc. However there are no planning issues with converting two houses into one - less parking required, etc, so it is actually quite sensible!