Planning permission for new flats next door to house I've offered on

1sttimebuy3r

Hi all,

I need some advice as I'm new to the house buying game. We've had an offer accepted on a house we really like. Haven't paid anything yet but the mortgage is being arranged and I'm just about to instruct a solicitor. It's near a big housing estate which is due for redevelopment. The redevelopment is happening over the next 10 years and the plans look great, giving mixed tenure occupancy of social tenants and private ownership. It looks like it will improve the area although I'm aware there will be HGVs coming and going.

After doing some more research today I've realised that the plans involve knocking down a row of council houses next door to the house we want and replacing them with a block of 'approx 30' flats. I can't find out how many stories they intend to build but it will be at least 3. I intend to call the developers to try and find out. It looks like they would have a driveway going to the flats' car park running alongside our boundary fence. The flats would be due west of our house so no risk of blocking sunlight. The work for the flats is set to begin in 2022. We are not sure we will still be living there by this date; we will more likely be there until around 2020 although maybe longer. So my question is:

Will the flats affect our house price when built?
Would the flats' planning permission make it harder to sell the house? I presume it would be hard to sell in the period when they were actually building the flats.

The house had been on the market a while (10 months) which The EA told me was because they had set the price quite high because they were letting the house out so in no rush to sell. Now I'm starting to wonder if this was part of the reason too...
Any advice gratefully received, thanks.

Davesnave

No one likes an 'unknown' in development terms at the bottom of the garden, and until work starts, it's never possible to be 100% sure exactly what will be built. Plans can, and do, change.

So it's not whether the flats proposed will affect the price 8 or more years in the future, but what effect the planning is having now which you should consider carefully.

I had a 3 storey property built next to a bungalow I was preparing for sale, but in the early days of planning, that large house was an 'open space.' I was mortified at first, but that property added value to mine, as a private garden next door was much better than a green space, open to all and sundry.

So you may be a winner or a loser long term if you buy this house, but without much more background and research it would be unwise to guess which....and it would still be a guess.

gazter

youve found out why they are selling...

Cash-Cows

Don't ring the developer, info could be unreliable. Look at the actual plans at the council.

I_have_spoken

Walk away .

comeandgo

Who do you think will stay in the flats? The private or the social tenants? I think that is why it has taken so long to get this property sold. A block of flats overlooking a house, of course the price will drop. I would never consider buying there but if you think you could maybe it's a point in trying to get the price reduced now?

1sttimebuy3r

I'm suffering from the problem that we really like the house so it's hard to be dispassionate. It is far nicer than all the others we viewed. I know it's dangerous to be invested like this but I'm worried we won't find another we like so much for the price.

So are you saying that just the fact that the planning application exists will make the house hard to sell? I guess that makes sense seeing as I am having doubts myself now.

ManuelG

1sttimebuy3r wrote: »

but I'm worried we won't find another we like so much for the price.

It could of course be the compromise you have to make, for that very reason.

Personally I'd be more wary when it was just planning permission than after it's built, as I'd always be imagining the worst so yep, it'd put me off. At least once they're built you *know* what you're dealing with!

1sttimebuy3r

The flats are being built because they are the best-located part of the estate, nearest to amenities. Which I presume will make the higher value so they would be keen to sell privately. At least 50% would be privately owned but it's hard to say beyond that as I don't think the plans have even been finalised as it is so many years away.

Old_Git

flat are rarely owner occupiers .Are they going to be joined on to your house

1sttimebuy3r

Not joined on. The house is semi detached and there's an alleyway into the garden. The flats plot would begin the other side of the alleyway. Now according to the plan I saw it looked like they would use the space beside our house to put in a car park or ata least access to a car park. But I realise now that I can't assume this.