Purchasing above/next to restaurant

brizza

Hello there, some advice from the great and good, if I may be so bold...

After searching for the last 18 months, we have finally found a property in our ideal area which meets our criteria for size and layout.

However, it is above/next to an Italian restaurant/pizza delivery place. There are shared walls with the kitchen area and food storage facilities out the back.

I would be interested if anyone has any thoughts as to what impact the proximity of the restaurant may have on our ability to get a mortgage on it? We're first time buyers and will be taking a 90% mortgage, albeit for a fair amount less than the maximum we could get.

Also, if anyone has any advice having bought (or rented) in a similar situation, they would be greatly appreciated. I think we have been through all the worst case scenarios in our head and are comfortable with them, but I'm sure there'll be other angles we may not have considered.

Thanks

Nan_Dingle

Have you thought about insurance with the increased risk?

G_M

I don't see why the mortgage should be a problem.

Personally I would avoid, but that is personal choice.

As a student I lived above a KFC for a while - the access across the rear yard was between barrels of used oil (often leaking) and the place stank (though we did get free chips!)

How late is it open? Is there a kitchen ventilation fan? Is it close to your property? Will you hear it? Get smells coming in? Will there be delivery bikes late at night? Noisy customers?

.......

Fire_Fox

Does it smell late at night? Is it frequented by drunken students on Thursday through Sunday? Are the waste management facilities adequate for the full week and is there a vermin issue? Will the noise of the delivery mopeds start to annoy you after a while? When do the delivery vans and refuse collectors come, social or unsocial hours? Is there a hard wired smoke alarm system and are the flat conversions new enough to have modern fire resistant floors/ walls/ doors?

picklepick

Also consider, when you come to sell and move on, any potential buyer will also be asking these questions and it will put a lot of people off. Consider aswell that it might not always be an italian take out.

Emmylou_2

I currently rent a flat above a chip shop. We live here because it is CHEAP, and in the location we want.

The extractor fan drives us wild - you can't really hear it, but OMG can you feel it - we sometimes cheer when it's turned off at night. There's always a slight smell of cooking, which makes me hungry (!), people stand outside our front door chatting loudly while they're waiting for the food to be cooked, and they don't seem to be able to be able to shut the door quietly.

But, as I said, it's cheap, and it's where we need to be for now. I absolutely wouldn't buy somewhere next to a hot food outlet.

paddyrg

If it's a takeaway, it probably services the post-pub crowd.
If it services the post-pub crowd, you have drunk people hanging around
If drunk people hang around they will typically be 1) loud and 2) have full bladders 3) feel a bit sickly
If drunk people have full bladders, you may be the beneficiary of their excess liquids. If sickly, you may get a free 'pavement pizza' to hop over in the morning.

V_Chic_Chick

I'm not sure I'd go for it, due to
- potential vermin problems. Even if it doesn't have any problems now, then there's nothing to stop a change of management where the new manager is sloppy.
- drunken idiots outside at 2am can make an awful lot of noise (and bodily fluids, and litter)
- if they currently play music, or have permission to do so, then I wouldn't like to be you. I spent two months living three floors above a nightclub . . . never again!

There must be somewhere better out there . . .

go_cat

Think carefully :
Re sale value will be affected
The smell you may tolerate for a while, after that it will drive you mad.
Ditto above for noise
Have you considered vehicles pulling up at all hours, in front of your flat,
Could be an area for antisocial behaviour
Deliveries - what time do they come to the restaurant ?
It will be classed as a higher risk for insurance Purposes.

Addiscomber

I used to work with someone who lived above a fish and chip shop, and her clothes always smelt of the cooking. Are you sure that you can cope with that possibility?

[Deleted User]

A definite no ! I'm coming to the end of an 18 month tenancy.I rented this particular flat cos it's close to my 11 yr old son after the divorce.After two months I noticed the lack of soundproofing in the building...I thought...I can live with that.The constant closing of doors...I could live with that.The smell of damp ...so..open windows...I can live with that etc.
It has driven me absolutely nuts.The noise has got louder...I can't get rid of the smell.....if I had bought the place I would be giving it away cos I don't think anyone would be interested in buying it.IMO...stay well clear.
PS...Rats...and plenty of them you'll see too !