Buying a house with a basement flat.

ACE_77

Hi. Apologies if this has been answered before but I didn't know if we were any different.
Went to visit a house today we are interested in buying. The house had a self contained basement flat attached to it (currently vacant) which was not for sale. The flat had it's own access/entrance and address - No 11 for the flat and 11a for the house. The guy selling the house also owned the flat and offered us the complete detached building for a very good price - to a value our mortgage company would lend us. Ideally I would like control of the entire building but initially I am unsure what to do with the flat - join it to the house or leave vacant with the option of my elderly mother to move in in the near future. Obviously the third option is to rent. Do I need approval from my lender for either/all these options or do I tell them about the property.
Personally I think the flat may struggle to rent because of its location and other factors (hence the cheap price) but I don't want to be put on a higher rate from the lender because of it and then it struggle to rent.

We've fallen in love with the main house and would like the complete control of everything but if we do decide to rent we don't want to be penalised with a higher rate we might not be able to afford.

Thank you in advance

ACE_77

moneyistooshorttomention

Personally, I'd buy the whole kit and caboodle and decide afterwards - after buying it and after safely getting the mortgage for it.

The flat sounds like a good option for your mother to live in to me - assuming you're okay about having your mother living so close.

I doubt you'll be thinking of renting it out anyway by the sound of it come the time.

HappyMJ

ACE_77 wrote: »

Hi. Apologies if this has been answered before but I didn't know if we were any different.
Went to visit a house today we are interested in buying. The house had a self contained basement flat attached to it (currently vacant) which was not for sale. The flat had it's own access/entrance and address - No 11 for the flat and 11a for the house. The guy selling the house also owned the flat and offered us the complete detached building for a very good price - to a value our mortgage company would lend us. Ideally I would like control of the entire building but initially I am unsure what to do with the flat - join it to the house or leave vacant with the option of my elderly mother to move in in the near future. Obviously the third option is to rent. Do I need approval from my lender for either/all these options or do I tell them about the property.
Personally I think the flat may struggle to rent because of its location and other factors (hence the cheap price) but I don't want to be put on a higher rate from the lender because of it and then it struggle to rent.

We've fallen in love with the main house and would like the complete control of everything but if we do decide to rent we don't want to be penalised with a higher rate we might not be able to afford.

Thank you in advance

ACE_77

If the property is on 2 titles which it must be if you only the house is on offer then you can buy the bit you are living in on a standard mortgage with good discount rates and the flat on a BTL mortgage with the slightly higher rate. You'll have two mortgages. Then you can rent it out without any problem at all.

If you combine the flat and house into one property and get the council tax changed via the VOA to cover the whole building you can refinance the whole lot into one standard mortgage at discount rates. You might find the combined value is less than a house and flat though so you'll need plenty of equity to succeed.