Buying a flat underneath commercial property

Snakey

Hi all, wonder if anyone has any advice/experience to share with me?

I'm trying to buy in central London and having to compromise big time on my "wish list" to get somewhere in my price range. As a result I'm considering a property on the lower ground floor. It has a lovely outside space, own entrance, and a reasonable amount of natural light considering.

What are people's thoughts about it being in a mixed use building? It's a private dentist, only open Monday - Friday, and I initially saw this as a good thing because it means I don't have to worry about noisy neighbours (or about accidentally being one myself). But am I going to find it hard to get a mortgage? And what happens if it changes hands and becomes an all-night kebab shop (is this possible? Could I stop it)? Is there anything else that I am not thinking of that might cause me a problem?

Thanks for reading! Any thoughts much appreciated.

tim123456789

Assuming that this is the only residental part of the building

you will have no right to:

an RTM or to buy the freehold.

So you need to be sure that the management of the block is up to scratch as you have no way of changing it.

tim

Snakey

Thanks Tim. There are flats in the remainder of the building above the dentist. Although come to think of it when I asked whether I had share of freehold the estate agent looked at me as if that was a silly question, and perhaps that was why. It's about a 125 year lease I think.

Given that I have no access to the main building/communal areas, what are the issues to watch for re: quality of building management? Is it that they might overcharge for unnecessary services?

olly300

One advantage you have is that as it's fitted out with dental equipment i.e. dental chairs because of the price of them, when the current dentist wants to leave they are more likely to sell the lease to another dentist.

The lease will determine what you pay for.

You may have to pay for the communal areas the other flats have access to that you don't i.e. cleaning of stairs.

Unfortunately it's a case of talking to the vendors directly. The EA will know nothing about the lease make up, and while the EA may know the service charge they won't know what it covers.

Toothsmith

Just one thing to think about: Dental practices have a lot of water sloshing about inside them.

There are many sinks, there are patient toilets and wash basins, there are the suction units, there are all the machines that clean and disinfect the instruments.

Water leaks are not unheard of!

I've been in my surgery for nearly 20 years and I've had 6. 3 were minor, or found very quickly, 3 have required quite major floor/ceiling work and redecoration to put right.

I would be especially careful to make sure that the dental practice's insurance policy would cover any damage to your property and pi sessions in the event of a water leak up there.

Mistral001

Have you viewed the flat when the dentist is using a drill? The sound of those drills can penetrate even the most solid of floors I should think.

tim123456789

Snakey wrote: »

Is it that they might overcharge for unnecessary services?

The more usual scam is to charge for services that are of questionable necessity.

Much harder for you to challenge.

BTW, there's no reason why you can't own (in full or part) the freehold. Just that you might not be able to enforce a purchase. The limit here is 25% commercial, so if there are two other flats you might be able to and three probably will (depending upon actual unit sizes, of course)

agrinnall

Mistral001 wrote: »

Have you viewed the flat when the dentist is using a drill? The sound of those drills can penetrate even the most solid of floors I should think.

I used to live in a flat underneath a dentist (in fact, my dentist, and I'm still going there over 20 years later) and I never heard a sound from upstairs - although it was pretty solidly built.