A Grand Design

kriss_boy

Ive found a massive 13th century church comprised of 4 cojoining buildings/wings.

Its only 80K as only a small part of it is in use (bedroom, bathroom, kitchen etc.) The rest presumably is a mess!

Its surrounded by a cemetry (approx half acre) and is owned by our local council. The last burial is 1850. And so the public have right of access.

While the estate agents have advertised it as having potential for development into 5 apartments, theyve also stated its "beyond rennovation" and is registered as "building under construction". What do these terms mean!

Im a first time buyer and 80K is affordable.

But how likely is it that councils sell these plots? Any ideas of price?

Im desperate to buy this but i do need backing/support from my parents so id like to be clued up before I present it to them. My mum and I visited it but she shot down (bad pun) the notion of the council selling the land!

thesaint

Complications too numerous to list. I will cut to the chase, walk away now.

dmg24

So you've just watched Grand Designs?

If a building is beyond renovation you will be very unlikely to get a mortgage on it.

Get real.

Troubleatmill_2

Walk away.

This is a bottomless money pit.

If you have £500K to spend on it ... then go for it.
It you don't... then you have had a lucky escape :-)


Best
Troubleatmill

benood

Sounds fab but everyone else is probably right, listed building prob grade 1?, have a chat with a friendly local architect and local planners, perhaps negotiate an option to buy subject to planning, end up walking away relieved. Don't believe anything the EA says.

Doozergirl

Are you saying that the building is for sale but the land around it isn't? I wouldn't take too much of a gamble on getting the land, but of course you can speak to the council and see what they say to you.

If you're a FTB, have you even undertaken a renovation before? It's fine to have dreams but you should start small, especially if you're going to be risking any other people's money as well as your own. If £80,000k is realistic, is £280,000k or £380,000k as if something is beyond renovation, it's going to cost a small fortune to rebuild (being beyond renovation) sympathetically.

If I had the confidence necessary to rebuild, tbh, I wouldn't need to ask here for the advice Anything like that is an absolute money pit and it would be almost impossible to put a budget on it.

kriss_boy

I just watched Grand designs tonight, what a nightmare that was!!! ugly thing!!

The property has been on sale for a couple of months which implies it may be listed and/or the council owned land isnt for sale.

Part of the building is habitable... so as the owner Id be under no pressure to rennovate the rest right?!?! so whats the harm in purchasing it to live in with the bonus of possibly being able to buy the land in the future?

I have experience rennovating houses with my family. We are currently building an extension on my brothers house.

Yes I apprecaite its hardly a church but the building looks sturdy. So if it is structurally sound then most of the work could be done by myself and my dad and bro....

kriss_boy

Heres a pic and the description.

Im not niave. I know how much things cost and I know some developers could spend £200,000 to convert it fully.

But I have the skills and means to get materials cheap enough to just do a bit at a time with absolutely no rush, nor necessity to complete the whole thing. (its twice as big as what you see in the pic!)

Ive contacted the council to find out what the deal with the land is. So im waiting on word back.

If the land was included i think we can all agree it would be on at £250,000! not £80,000! So my point is surely this at least has potential?

kriss_boy

My line of thinking is why spend 80K for a shoddy flat in a crap area?

When the only downside to purchasing this instead.. is that it will possibly be harder to sell!!!

Id be under no obligation to restore the rest of the property and im a FTB on a budget! So if the habitable part of the building is sound.. then its a decent prospect.

Ive had a nosey around the grounds. The roof on the occupied bit is newer. The disused wings of the poperty need new roofs and gutters. But there are no cracks indicating subsidence. im viewing it later this week!

Im just intersted to know if anyones bought land like this before...

lynzpower

well the interesting thing for me will be the land itself.

I would expect its highly unlikely that you would be able to rebuild in the traditional sense as there is some legislation about not moving graves.

I wouodl like to know what is the ground rent on it, and is there any chancel indemnitiy issues ie- you have to maintain it back to its useful condition

Why is the owner selling?

lynzpower

actually you want to read whats said

1 its beyond renovation. I would expect you are looking at replacing all rooves. Think about how much thius actually costs. My church seemed to be saving up for the wohle of my childhood for repair to a roof, not even a replacement. i agree with another poster I bet its not mortgageable. Personally, Id take the print offs from the agent to your broker and ask them .

2., its a church. It may be listed, or conserved in some way. Certainly your graves cant be moved or disturbed. therefore the cost of your tradespeople will be significantly higher. I dont want to speak out of turn here, but your dad building an extendion is simply NOT the same as renovating a church. Its just not.

dooz is the job too big for you & Mr Doozer???!! :eek: never thought Id see the day!