Buying a 'Coach House' - Pro's & Con's

A_Nice_Englishman

I'm currently renting what estate agents call a coach house. It is a two bedroom flat built above four garages, one of which belongs to the flat. The other three belong to neighbouring properties.

There are quite a lot of these either being built or recently built locally and I am quite tempted to buy one.

Does anyone see any pros or cons in this type oif property?

UK007BullDog

The lenders might have an issue with it. The only way to find out is to ask a local independant whole of market broker, who can find out for you.

Anything not mainstream or unusual will be classed as a higher risk, i.e. higher interest rates = higher mortgage.

A_Nice_Englishman

I should have mentioned that I would be buying outright so lenders' attitude would not be a problem for me. However it might affect the resale value or make selling difficult so thanks for mentioning it UK007Bulldog.

kit

Coach houses are really popular here and sell for more than flats do. People prefer them as you have no one above or below you.

I have never know it difficult to get a mortgage on one as they are just standard leasehold properties really.

carrie78

We looked at this style. Not sure if your neighbours have to take out seperate insurance or if it is included in yours. To cover if they drive their car through the bottom of you house. In the ones we looked at we would have been responsible for their spaces and they effectivley leased them from you - although no money would be paid.


Thanks
Carrie

tomstickland

Coach houses are very popular round here too (South West, Gloucester). Quite expensive for what they are, it's not unusual to see them listed for 110K-125K whereas similar sized flats are 90-110K.

JennyB

I think there may be some people who are less keen on buying such a property. When I was looking at buying a flat a couple of years ago neither of us were very keen on coach houses because we felt that they were really just a flat above some garages which we didn't really like the idea of - a bit like a flat above a shop. However, I'm sure that the number of people who are put off aren't so great as to cause any problems with resale so it's probably not a con as such. As you're living in one you're in a great position to know what it's like so if nothing has put you off then that must be a good sign

tomstickland

It is just a flat above some garages, but that's the nub of it.
+No neighbours above or below, so less noise.
+Many have their own garden
+Most have a garage
+Some are detached, so it's almost a detached house.

-Garages below, so some noise when people park cars or work in their garage.
-More expensive to heat than a flat in a block of flats
-Not ground floor if that bothers you
-I do wonder if it's good for health to be living above motor vehicles though, what with HC emissions etc. Naah, probably pretty small thing that.

Generally though, I think coach houses are a good idea.