To buy or not to buy - house next door to knock into 1

Stigofthedump_2

We may have the opportunity to purchase the delapidated house next door (we're one of a pair of semis).
We love where we live but would rather not move so wonder if this is potentially a good idea - our main objective will be to have a larger home and garden we can live in for many years to come and not for 'profit' as long as we dont suffer an enormous loss financially and make the house unsellable - I do realise that often 2 are worth more than one.
We live in a small rural road in village with 3 x pairs of ex and current local authority semis (we are one of middle pair) and further down road 4 other large village 'posh' homes with large gardens.

I want to understand the advantages and potential pitfalls before we make any decisions. Specifically what sort of mortgage would we need - could we do this with a further advance on our own property (we should have enough equity) Anything else we should think of?
Thank you

Noctu

Dilapidated houses are often bought by developers who do them up cheaply then let them out and are less than scrupulous about who moves in... Just a thought (this happened to us). No idea about any of the other practicalities, sorry!

dimbo61

If you do buy the house next door then you can decide who lives in the property.
As for the idea of knocking two properties into one ??? Well if you plan on staying long term and need the space that the 2 properties will offer.
Now if you plan the property so that its is still easy to convert back to 2 properties if you want to by keeping the two sides.

tim123456789

dimbo61 wrote: »

If you do buy the house next door then you can decide who lives in the property.
As for the idea of knocking two properties into one ??? Well if you plan on staying long term and need the space that the 2 properties will offer.
Now if you plan the property so that its is still easy to convert back to 2 properties if you want to by keeping the two sides.

assuming that the planners will let you, of course

Stigofthedump_2

Noctu wrote: »

Dilapidated houses are often bought by developers who do them up cheaply then let them out and are less than scrupulous about who moves in... Just a thought (this happened to us). No idea about any of the other practicalities, sorry!

We are hoping to get in before the developers even know it's available - it's only been empty couple weeks - old lady died - we've been led to believe the housing association will want to sell rather than refurbish so we plan to make them and offer to savwe them the time fo marketing etc

rosyw

Years ago we bought "next door" and converted to one large house. We had the advantage that the two had originally been built as one large house and later divided. If you do go ahead, and assuming you can get planning, you'll need to think very carefully about how to make it work, it needs to feel as like one house. Ours was fairly easy to do as we knew the exact layout of the original and could reinstate it, but with a pair of semi's getting it right is more difficult. There are plenty that have been converted that just don't work due to the layout. You also need to take into account that you'll probably need a rewire, new heating system, etc., as the utilities work on the principle of ONE supply per property, so the expense of getting it all sorted can quickly escalate.

wondernick

you don't actually mention why you need the extra space (kids? elderly parents?).

surely an option to at least consider is buying it and renovating it as a separe semi (negating a lot of the practical problems above) and living in it as two houses?

cattie

wondernick wrote: »

you don't actually mention why you need the extra space (kids? elderly parents?).

surely an option to at least consider is buying it and renovating it as a separe semi (negating a lot of the practical problems above) and living in it as two houses?

I really don't see the point in this as then you have 2 lots of council tax to pay and gas & electricity bills could be higher than with 1 property, with 2 extra lots of standing charges to pay. Then you have the additional problems of trying to get one phone line/broadband for 2 completely different properties & 2 lots of tv licences.

roger196

Have a chat with the local authority planners and the people in building regs ( two separate bodies) about converting into one. They may even know someone who has succesfully done this.
Draw up trial plans for where each new room will be, where services run, which walls are load bearing. Can staircase be moved etc.
If your existing house needs rewiring, new central heating etc, this would be the time to get the low done.
Do you want to be able to sell as two homes in the future or as one.
One house will attract one lot of council tax, whereas two houses attract two lots. Search for the criteria that la's use in deciding at what point the house becomes one property.
Finally good luck.
Roger

barnaby-bear

cattie wrote: »

I really don't see the point in this as then you have 2 lots of council tax to pay and gas & electricity bills could be higher than with 1 property, with 2 extra lots of standing charges to pay. Then you have the additional problems of trying to get one phone line/broadband for 2 completely different properties & 2 lots of tv licences.

Because getting planning to make 1 back to 2 can be very difficult; increasing the number of households, pressure on services etc.... if there is a natural divide in the household e.g. grandparents / adult children - two separate households with a big shared garden/ each others lofts/garages to fill with junk might work well...

Johnandabby

Be aware that converting two properties into one triggers compulsory insulation and window upgrades under Building Regulations in BOTH properties. Worth thinking about the potential costs of this, along with any heating, wiring etc. If you're interested, look at Material Change of Use requirements under Part L1B of the Building Regulations - often missed by architects etc until the Building Control Officer asks for it!