Converting my house into 2 flats for ex partner and myself

AinhoaA

Hi all,
My partner and I have split up. Our options are:
1) Sell our 4 bedroom house
2) Extend and convert into 2 flats. I would stay in one with my kids and put it in my name , and the other one would be in his name and he would sell it

Is option 2 the better option financially? the house has a mortgage in both of our names.
How would be borrow the money for the conversion? is this a remortgage / home improvement loan? i guess this new loan would be in both of our names too, then we would need to undo all this somehow so each has their flat and their mortgage .
Any ideas how this whole thing would work? Who should I talk to? a financial advisor of some sort? should I forget about it and jus sell the house? my worry is that I won't be able to afford a 3 bed flat by myself this way round.

Many thanks for your comments

Ainhoa

marliepanda

Option 2 sounds like an absolute nightmare.

Your bank for a start might not agree to the split into two flats. They lent you money for a house, not two flats. You might not be able to afford the mortgage separately on the flats.

Also do you really want to live next door to your ex? Will that not be confusing for the children? I wouldnt want to live next door, what about when you get new partners.

Honestly financially and emotionally its got NO written all over it.

davidmcn

First things first - are you likely to be able to get planning permission to convert into two flats?

AlexMac

First- sympathies; this must be a difficult time, so you need to try to take the stress away.

Apart from the fact that option 2 sounds potentially emotionally painful, protracted and problematic (as you would end up doing the opposite of making a clean, civilised break, and be arguing for a year over planning applications, dealing with lawyers, specifications, builders' costs and who was responsible for what) it really depends on the market in your area.

We have friends who were considering the same thing- not due to separation, but to downsize. But luckily, their estate agent son pointed out that the value of a 4-bed house exceeded that of two flats in their area due to relative demand, so, as well as spending tens of thousands on the conversion and experiencing the usual dust and mess during it, they would actually slash thousands off the net value.

So

1-start by looking at relative sale prices of flats -v- houses in your postcose on zoopla or righmove, etc, Subject to it being financially viable...

2- ring the duty planning officer in your local council and ask if they have a view on the likelihood of this being agreed; or whether they want you to go through 3-6 months of spending money on drawings, pre-planning advice, planning application (with fees) and neighbour consultation before a Council decision (you'll have to do that anyway)

3- then seek three estimates from builders, ensuring you choose ones who have good references, and can satisfy all the usual certification requirements as regards the Council (or independent) building control, electrical and gas safety, without which you won't be able to sell the flat

4- sort the legalities of transferring ownership...possibly linked to the leagl bit of...

5- putting it on the market deal with estate agents and solicitors on the process of sale which can be stressful without all the other baggage...

But maybe on reflection, it might be cleaner to jump direct to 5...?

And meanwhile, take advice and support from friends, legal advice or anyone you trust more than us bunch of random bloggers- good luck.

AnotherJoe

No one here can possibly advise without knowing what it would cost to do the conversion and what the two flats would be like once it was done and how much it would cost. Or, how much the house would sell for now, how much flats would cost, how much equity there is in the property.

I do think it would be utterly utterly utterly foolhardy to get an additional loan as a couple and then look to "unwind" that later. That may not even be allowed anyway.

AinhoaA

yes I would be able to get planning permission, as many houses on the street are flats already
thanks

AinhoaA

Thank you all for the advice, yes it does sound very daunting, and it will cause unnecessary arguments, stress and tears. Selling a house is stressful enough as it is.
We will look into it properly by asking relevant questions to relevant people and we will make an informed decision, but it sounds like we don't need the stress.
Thanks again

jgh

AinhoaA wrote: »

Hi all,
My partner and I have split up. Our options are:
1) Sell our 4 bedroom house
2) Extend and convert into 2 flats. I would stay in one with my kids and put it in my name , and the other one would be in his name and he would sell it

We did option 2 fifteen years ago. Best decision we ever made. Each of us has an affordable 2-bed flat instead of selling up and trying to find two properties cheap enough to buy for the money obtained from selling one.

Building-wise it was easy - block up one door, open up another door, put a kitchen in the upstairs flat and a bathroom in the downstairs flat.

D_M_E

Another point to consider is why would you want to be financially tied to your ex after you go your separate ways?

You currently have a joint mortgage and are considering ANOTHER joint mortgage to pay for the conversion.

Joint means you are BOTH liable for the full ongoing mortgage payments, so if your ex is responsible for making the payments and at some stage stops the payments then the lender can chase YOU for any outstanding (missed) payments.

Far better to agree - and sign legal papers to that effect - to sell the current property and each take an agreed amount from the nett proceeds of the sale and move on.

bouicca21

Omg option 2 was my ex's solution too. Totally and utterly barmy.

martindow

AinhoaA wrote: »

yes I would be able to get planning permission, as many houses on the street are flats already
thanks

I wouldn't bank on this. The flats may have been granted permission years ago and policy could have changed. They may well be worried now that too many flats being created is changing the character of the area or causing parking problems and could be very likely to refuse such an application.