Commercial to residential

brokennotbent

Has anyone experience in buying a commercial property and converting it to residential status? I was told by a self-styled "expert" that it's merely a case of paying a £175 application fee and hoping the application is approved. The "expert" in question is genuinely trying to help and I don't want to offend him but, it just seems a bit too easy? Surely it's not that simple?

Thrugelmir

Perhaps worth speaking to your local council planning department to sound out their views. As to what would or would not be acceptable. Before you start incurring expense.

davidmcn

brokennotbent wrote: »

Surely it's not that simple?

No, and if it were a situation where it was that easy, why hasn't anybody else done it already?

eddddy

Your contact may be referring to permitted development rights which now apply for change of use from some types of commercial property to residential use.

Here's a press release about it: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-more-homes-to-be-developed-in-planning-shake-up

Also, here's some info from a random LPA website (But the website appears to be out of date - it still says the measures are temporary) :

Office to Residential (B1(a) to C3)

Temporary permitted development rights currently apply in respect of the change of use of premises from a B1(a) office use to C3 residential use. This is subject to Prior Approval being sought in respect of flooding, contamination, highways and transport issues. For a property to benefit from C3 use, the use must begin by 30th May 2016


Storage/distribution to residential (B8 to C3)

Temporary permitted development rights also apply in respect of the change of use of premises from a B8 storage and distribution use under 500m2 to C3 residential use....


http://www2.redbridge.gov.uk/cms/planning_and_the_environment/planning/permitted_development_changes/change_of_use_prior_approval.aspx

metamatic

Will you need a mortgage for this property?

If so, you may find your options are more limited and more expensive, especially if the property does not currently have a bathroom or a kitchen.

lincroft1710

Some councils don't like village pubs being converted to solely residential premises, likewise certain neighbourhood shops. Also if the property in question is in a designated business use area permission to convert to residential may not be granted.

Pawsandmore

davidcmn - I want to thank you for your helpfulness, but I'm struggling to find any.
metamatic - kind of going off-topic, as is the norm on here!! But the answer is no.
lincroft1710- obviously any application can be rejected, but not got that far yet.
edddy- thank you for the link, TBH, still none the wiser.

lincroft1710

What is it you are actually trying to find out?

Your first hurdle is financing, which as metamatic has said may be a problem with some lenders, but certainly not all.

Your 2nd hurdle is change of use and I pointed out the occasions when this probably would not be allowed. However in virtually every other situation it probably would be allowed and even if not there is an appeals procedure.

3rd hurdle, configuring the conversion which an architect will easily do.

brokennotbent

As I said, financing isn't a problem as it won't be mortgaged. I can't gauge with my local council because, not found a property yet and it certainly won't be around here. I just simply added if it us a case if paying £175 and hoping it gets accepted.

Hoploz

If it can be done under PD as edddy suggests above then it would not go to a subjective planning procedure as under current temporary rules certain types of commercials can be converted without, depending on the classes.

So if that were the case, yes, you'd apply for a certificate of lawfulness which I imagine is where the £175 comes from.

Obviously if you located a property you might be interested in then you would make enquiries with the relevant planning department to investigate whether this option was appropriate in that particular instance before doing anything towards trying to buy the building.

Ozzuk

I successfully transferred a commercial property to residential a few years ago. You should talk to your planning officer but some issues we found: we had to 'offer' the property to the community first to see if they could make use of it; we had to prove the current business wasn't financially sustainable; business rates were payable on the property/business until we transferred to residential.

Our property was commercial holiday lets that we changed to residential (removed the empty weeks limitation). We also had a letter written from our neighbours stating how beneficial the change was to them.