First time buyer seeking help on a potential purchase

mimimt

Hi Everyone, thank you in advance for any help offered or advice given

I'm considering putting an offer on a leasehold flat. There are a few things I'd like to do to the flat if I end up buying it. Haven't had much luck in the DIY section of the forum and would really appreciate any advice before I commit.

The current floorplan is below. The flat has GCH. The boiler is in the kitchen. A corner of the bedroom is partitioned to store the water tanks.

alexneil.co.uk/resources/27/2201/118/04844ddd2cc06cdab15cf0b12c391dd6.jpg

Sorry I'm a new user so cannot post links, so please add "http://" to the above.

I would like to put in a condensing boilder and remove the water tanks and do the plumbing etc. After removing the water tanks, I would also like to knock down the partition walls (which are not load-bearing) to open up the bedroom. I also want to move the bedroom door to the right to where the cupboard door is at the moment, so that a big wardrobe can be built against the hallway.

I know this will require freeholder's consent, but was wondering if anyone has obtained consent for similar alterations in the past? Also, is this something feasible considering the plubming work (not a plubmer so don't know if what I'm proposing is complex)?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

G_M

You would need freeholder consent to knowck down a wall. Assuming you are ight about the nn load-bearing nature, this should be forthcoming, though 'professional' freeholders might use the opportunity to charge you a nice fat fee...... Are the freeholders the flat-owners? Or some external profit-driven company?

No reason the plumbing should not be possible - you just have to run pipes to/from the relevant places. Whether the pipes can go under the floor, or will need to run along walls (perhaps bxed in) depends on the structure and budget.

ziggyman99

Little bit worrying... it looks like your going to do this work? Are you gas safe registered? You need to really carefully reconsider that. Any accidents as a result of what you have done could affect other flats. At best a big claim for damages, at worst a manslaughter charge.....Oh and your insurance would be null and void.

devotee

Looks straightforward, your freeholder should normally give you consent for this, but you would need a gas safe plumber to do the boiler change so you can get a relevant certificate.

firsttimetom

All that you describe sounds perfectly feasible, and I probably would do the same thing.

mimimt

Thanks a lot for all your advice.

Sorry for the confusion. These are the works I'd like to get done by the professionals. I won't be doing any myself.

Not sure who the freeholder is, but the entire development is managed by OM Property Management (previously known as Peverel OM ltd). I called them asking these questions but obviously they were unhelpful. Just did a search of them on the board and looks like they'll definitely charge a nice fat fee for it.

The EA told me that the walls are non load-bearing, but this obviously needs to be verified.

Btw, any idea the likely costs? I know this is a difficult question but a broad estimate would be great.

Thanks again

ziggyman99

As far as your plumbing is concerned, it all depends where you want the boiler, what boiler you want, is scaffolding needed to put the flue in, where you gas meter is, etc. Whatever you do I think some boxing in will be involved. One place and probably the best would be to put the boiler over the sink. This gives easy access to all the pipe work (gas?). You would obviously have to flue across the kitchen and box it in.