Empty shop below flat being turned into pizza takeaway!!!

ashli_2

DawnW wrote:

Is it really big?). You need to ask yourself 2 questions:
1. Is this where you want to live? You might not be able to sell it if not.
2. Is it a good investment, in a climate of rising interest rates? How much rent would it attract, if you were to let it out?

Oops, sorry Dawn, I didn't read through properly and I've just realised that I asked the same questions......great minds think alike! :beer:

cat79_2

The date for representations to be received (7th March) means the date that you have to submit any letters of support/objection to the proposal. I would ,as someone has already suggested, speak to the planning officer delaing with the case and go down to the planning office to have a look at the plans, to clarify what exactly is being proposed before you make a decision. The planning application should detail opening hours. Takeaways are not always given planning permission easily, they usually attract quite a lot of objections especially in/nearby residential areas. The applicant will have to submit a good case for requiring it, especially in a predom residential area and if there are already a good deal of takeaways in the area. In addition parking will be an issue as the planners will argue that people coming to collect their food will park on the street etc possible road safety issues.

In addition to all of the above the applicant will have to satify planning, environmental health and building standars that adequate ventilation systems will be put in place regarding the smells.

Please rest assured that its not the the case that an application goes in and its granted permission without question, councillors especially try to resist these types of development. Furthermore, if as you say the premises is currently a shop, and this application is for a change of use to a takeaway, depending on the percentage of shop units in the area, if the council feels losing a shop would be of detriment to the vitality of the area, the development would also be resisted. The planning dept and councillors do not want a dead shop frontage during the day and then neon lights at night.

If you have concerns you can object, and the reasons such as detrimental impact on reisdential amenity i,e noise smells etc, and if there is a large amount of takeaways nearby are all valid reasons. Unfortunately the value of your property is not a planning consideration. The owner/occupier of the property should have been notified of this development, so somebody knew about it, and it should have been picked up by your solicitor, though I am not sure of the timing of the application going in and the sale of the property.

If you like this property as much as you seem to find out what exactly the development is before making a decision, and whilst the planning officer cannot tell you for certain the outcome of the application they can give you indication of the likely decision, however yes this could be subject to an appeal.

Nevertheless I yes agree with all posts saying that living above a pizza takeaway will impact on you in terms of smells, noise and litter and yes it is likely to impact on the value of the property. Out of interest what is the premises at the moment? (or what kind of shop was it?)

movieman

On the plus side, maybe you can negotiate a discount price for the pizza, and delivery would be fast .

Personally though, I'd run a mile unless you're getting a big discount on the price relative to similar flats.

djm1972

Just as people will come on here and ask whether or not it's safe to live underneath electricity pylons; if you have to ask - to be honest it is already enough of a gremlin in your mind to mean that you would probably not be happy living there because of it - regardless of anybody else's viewpoint to try an persuade you otherwise.

I have just decided against one particular property for this very reason, despite others telling me it wouldn't be a problem or that it has already been accounted for in the asking price - it would still be there nagging at my mind, so for that reason I decided against it...

Jennifer_Jane

Sorry mate - walk away. Resale would be difficult, and agree with traffic, smells, people buying pizzas late night (binge drinkers etc?), and maybe rats?

seven-day-weekend

They will have applied for a Change of Use to a Hot Food Takeaway, which may or may not be granted.

Don't forget though, that even if this is refused, it or something similar may be granted some other time, or the shop could become (for example) a music shop (heavy rock), a sex shop or similar without a change of use.

roswell

Id say thats one of the risks of buying a property above a shop, if its not reflected in the price and your not happy with the pottential loss`s / difficulty selling walk away and mark this one down as a good learnign experiance.

it may not feel it at the moment but loosing the costs of seraches / mortgage approvals etc is better than being stuck in a place you cant stand. I know iv done it and im sure many others on here have walked away when the going has gone sour.

mossstar

When we met my dp was living above a KFC - no way on earth would I buy above a takeaway!

One room was 'the chicken room' and frankly whoever had that room may as well have just slept in a burger container.... yuk.

Honestly, when you come to market/sell a property ANY additional stress makes the experience so much worse. Don't do it.

x

callmelinda

I would walk away - it's a massive purchase and should it go wrong (this takeaway gets the go ahead / a different one does at a later date / a different kind of shop opens which isn't nice to live above), you could regret jumping in. It may have been a video shop last, but has it ever been a hot food outlet?

Think of any shop which may be allowed late opening or attract a congregation at night, off license etc. Plus there's the general parking and noise problems which can come to shops. This would be your home - it shouldn't (potentially) be a stressful place to be. I can't think what price you could get it for to warrant such worries.

I wouldn't want my financial future to be determined by the local people's wants and needs or the local officer in charge of such decisions... or having to object each time permission to do whatever with it was asked for. I would play safe with such a big decision and cut your losses even if the interior of the property is lovely! Have to also say, I'm surprised your solicitor didn't seem aware of the situation and would ask them why this was the case.

lynzpower

I agree with Alan- why on earth didnt your sol pick up on this earlier.

I think there are positives to living above commercial, you are seldom far from a pint of milk and you can have loud parties at night and not have anyone to complain at you below However, there ARE risks, one of my freinds in particular lives above copmmercial, used to be a bookshop, new owners bought it and got no PP whatsoever, flouted the regs galore and turned it into an open air fish market.

too many risks for me, Id cut my losses.