Buying part of a property and converting into a house.

oysterpearl

Hi,

Me and my partner are first time buyers. My nan lives in Kent, and has a house on about 3 acres of land. On the land, there is an outbuilding. It has been offered to us, that we convert this outbuilding into a house, and live there. It is big enough for a 1 bedroom house. We would like to section part of the ground to create a garden, and create it as a new address etc. I would imagine we would need planning permission etc, but does anyone know if this is possible, as the building has been standing for 60 years.

Many thanks

Cannon_Fodder

Speak to the local planning office for an unofficial initial reaction, or even an official one if they'll give it, before you spend any money on architects plans, details etc.

Does nan have a mortgage? Her lender would not want to reduce the value of the plot - you'd probably have to pay something for it.

oysterpearl

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Speak to the local planning office for an unofficial initial reaction, or even an official one if they'll give it, before you spend any money on architects plans, details etc.

Does nan have a mortgage? Her lender would not want to reduce the value of the plot - you'd probably have to pay something for it.

There's no mortgage on the property. We would be directly buying it from them.

G_M

Go in to the council offices and speak to the Planners.

olias

If the planners will not commit to saying one way or another, then you can always apply initially for outline planning permission (think it costs about £150, which is not too much to spend). If it is passed, then you can then start going down the route of having plans drawn up etc and applying for detailed planning permission.

Don't forget, conversions can cost considerably more than new builds and also depending on where the outbuilding is in relation to road it could cost a lot to get services connected. If the property is rural, there may be no mains drainage and you will have to look at a septic tank system which can take up a large area of land as they have to be a certain distance from any building or boundry and require large soakaways.

Olias