buying nextdoor to make into 1 house

bs0u0128

anyone done it and can advise?

silvercar

think it would need planning permission.

Doozergirl

Done the exact opposite! I would only do it out of real love for the building as they are almost certainly likely to be worth far more money as two seperate units than they would be as one.

You'll need to speak to the planning department, though I think this would probably be a formality. You will definately need a structural engineer to help you knock through safely in the right places and I would suggest an architect or architect's technician to help you get the layout correct.

beaker141

I would say it depends entirely on the style of house and area it is in.

Financially, I wouldnt have thought 2 standard semis, on a suburban street would ever be worth more together than seperate.


You would also struggle with the layout a little, I would have thought sell up and buy something that fits the bill ?

Saying that there are 2 semis on a lane not far from us, but that is an isolated pair, and they have spent a lot making a nice double fronted with feature middle fronted, such that when finished it will look like it was always just one large house.

bs0u0128

it would be the last 2 houses of a terraced row joined to make one bigger, but still semi detached house, layout would stay the same but for opening up the middle wall in places

silvercar

bs0u0128 wrote:

it would be the last 2 houses of a terraced row joined to make one bigger, but still semi detached house, layout would stay the same but for opening up the middle wall in places

Does that mean 2 staircases and 2 kitchens???

Big decision would be whether to make it separateable to be able to sell easily.

bs0u0128

yes the stairs would be opposing in the living rooms, and would keep the best of the 2 kitchens, and convert the other to a sitting room or downstairs cloak, with 4 bed 2 bathroom above

nearlyrich

I know someone who bought 2 that had been turned into one, put in stairs a bathroom and a kitchen and did some internal bricking up and decorating and doubled their money ( in a rising market).

You should officially get PP and observe building regs.

Doozergirl

See what the difference is between a (2 bed?) terrace and a 4 bed, 2 bath semi in your area! In mine, a 2 bed terrace will fetch around £145,000. A 4 bed, 2 bath semi - about £250k. I really can't see it making any financial sense at all - you're bascially planning to buy a second house at market value and then spend even more money potentially devaluing it.

Weigh it up. Get your house valued, add it together with the cost of the new house and the work required and see what kind of space that will buy you locally.

clutton_2

sometimes people can "over develope" a house for the street it is in - you can sometimes spend more money on improvments than you will ever recoup via a new higher valuation. Each streeet has its own "ceiling" price and no matter what you do to a property it will rarely exceed the ceiling at any one point in time.

Why do you want to do this ?

Also some mortgage companies do not like buying houses next door to each other.

bs0u0128

lol wow see the investment Vs buying for a home rising here lol it would be for a home purposes not investment