Buying the basement below my house

oliverashford

Hi.

I'm looking for any advice anyone might have on purchasing a basement from the freeholder. Here is the situation:

• I own the ground floor flat and garden.
• There are two flats above - both owned by the occupants
• There is a deserted/derelict basement under the house which I want to buy
• Freeholder is a company
• Have approached Freeholder asking for price, they said make an offer
• With freeholder's permission have had a survey carried out

The survey has given us an idea of potential value, work needed, local value per square foot etc. Here is where I am stuck:

• One third of the basement is in ok condition (bone dry, floor needs dropping, walls tanking and partition walls putting up)
• The other two thirds is currently inaccessible, almost full to the ceiling with rubble and mud (lots of work to be done)
• Should I buy the whole basement, do the front then at a later date the back? Or just the front?
• Do I have to declare usage? Storage or Living space?
• How much control would the freeholder have over what I do? Can they clock whatever I do on a whim? Should part of the purchase be agreement of potential plans?
• Do I need lawyers to ensure I don't inadvertently leave myself stuck with a dark hole I can't do anything with?

Some people I have spoken to have just emailed and offered £3K - done, then they develop. Some have mentioned more involved processes...

Any advice, example agreements etc would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

G_M

My advice would be that if you do buy it, then you bite the bullet and get the whole place cleared out and renovated.

No real point doing 1/3rd and just using it for storage.

And it's a big job to take on. Have you costed it fully?

Can you afford a purchase price the freeholder might accept + the renovation costs? If yes, make an offer.

Yes you need a solicitor. There may be an existing lease, whih you'll need to check, or a new lease may need to be granted.

either way, it is the terms of the lease which will dictate what you can, or can't, do there.

What DO you plan to use it for? Living accomodation or storage?

Another consideration is Building Regulations: any major work will need signing of by the Building Control dept at the council.

Planning consent may or may not also be needed.

eddddy

What you describe sounds like a very big job. Just one example:

oliverashford wrote: »

floor needs dropping

So you want to excavate the floor? Have you consulted a structural engineer yet? If it's an old house, the foundations may not be very deep. If you excavate, you might undermine the foundations.

You will need the freeholder's consent. The freeholder will probably want their own structural engineer to check your structural engineer's assessment. You will have to pay both structural engineers.

I would suggest that you roll everything up into one negotiation - i.e. you offer £x for the lease of the seller and consent to convert.


If I were your freeholder, I would assess the 'profit' you would make on the project, and aim to get a big chunk of it...

e.g. if your flat was currently worth £200k
And the building work would cost £30k
And the flat would be worth £300k afterwards...

... I would start off by asking £70k for a leasehold (i.e. 100% of the profit), but being prepared to negotiate downwards.