Buying a studio that may have been converted unlawfully - advice please!

juliamain

Hi,

I have seen a studio flat in an auction which I'm interested in. There are actually 3 similar flats next to each other in the same building in this auction. The legal docs have just come out for them, and on the lease the floor plan shows a large one bed that covers the floor area of the 3 studios. So at some point someone has divided the 1 bed into 3 x separate studios, don't know if this was the seller or someone previous to him.

All the studios have separate entrances off the communal freehold hallway. They are all completely self contained with their own kitchens and bathrooms.

I have searched the local authority's planning permission portal, but there is nothing relating to this divide up of the flats. Also, all 3 studio flats have the same land registry title number and the same lease in their legal docs, so I am guessing the new studios haven't been registered with the land registry...

I know you have to have planning permission to develop a freehold building into leasehold flats, so I am presuming the same has to be done for splitting a leasehold flat into further leasehold flats - am I right? If so, is it possible to apply for retrospective planning permission and is this a very costly thing? The freeholder is absent and bankrupt as of 2011 so I don't even know if permission was granted from him, or if it matters/is relevant.

They are very cheap and the yield on them is very good...would I be an idiot to buy one?!

carefullycautious

Well if the above, that you state is the case, then I would have presumed that you would be purchasing the whole of the lot ie the three studios ( which count as 1 )


Someone more experienced will correct me if I am wrong

davidmcn

juliamain wrote: »

is it possible to apply for retrospective planning permission

Yes, but if you only buy one studio there seem to be limits to what you can you do with your property if planning is refused...

Is it possible the conversion was done a long time ago?

juliamain

I think current owner bought the 1 bed in 2010. So the split up would have happened after that. The studios are all v modern inside, they don't look like they have had more than a few years rent out if that. Now you say it, buying all three really would be the only way to go as could just turn them back into a 1 bed when I need to sell further down the line...all the guide prices added together total much more than it's worth as a single 1 bed though. I might make an offer prior to auction for a 1-bed price for all three and see what happens.

carefullycautious

I think you are missing the fact that you are not buying one studio (as this whole conversion had no planning) but a one bedroom flat which happens to have been divided.


What is the actual wording of the auction catalogue.


The auction house cannot sell them separately as there was never any legal planning for them

davidmcn

carefullycautious wrote: »

The auction house cannot sell them separately as there was never any legal planning for them

Why would a lack of planning consent prevent the property from being auctioned? Such defects are precisely why many properties end up in auctions.

HouseBuyer77

The auction house can certainly sell something with no planning permission (even if a court order to tear it down has been given and the bulldozers and idling on the property boundary). I suspect the auction is for the lot, given there's no way to transfer the title of a part of it.

Definitely sounds like this place is trouble, that's generally why things end up at auction. Given it started life as a one bed flat the studios must be incredibly tiny. If the BTL market slows/collapses they could become very hard to shift.

AdrianC

juliamain wrote: »

I have seen a studio flat in an auction which I'm interested in.

They are very cheap

But they're in an auction that hasn't happened yet - you don't know what the sale price will be. You know what the guide price is - but that's just a known-to-be-low figure the auctioneer's come up with to draw potential bidders in.

and the yield on them is very good...would I be an idiot to buy one?!

Here's a thought for you... If they really ARE that cheap, and really DO offer that good a yield, how come nobody else is interested in them? None of the professionals that the auctioneer will undoubtedly have on speed dial? There is no such thing as a bargain at auction unless the auctioneer is massively incompetent, or you know something the rest of the market doesn't.

Given that you've started this thread, I'm sure you wouldn't see it as an insult if I were to say that last option was unlikely, would you?

dancingfairy

How much is it likely to cost in time, energy and money to get the title sorted?
Does the flat comply with building regulations for fire exits etc? If no, what are you going to do to get it up to standard? You can't rent out an unsafe property.
Will the council/ building control/ whoever refuse permission for these units? Will they take enforcement action ? ( hard to see how if different people own different flats but still).
Will you be able to get a mortgage on this place ( if you need one) and how easy will if be to sell on if people can't get a mortgage?
Personally it sounds too risky to me unless you have deep enough pockets to buy all 3 and are confident about getting the title split our and making sure it's all compliant.
Df

carefullycautious

davidmcn wrote: »

Why would a lack of planning consent prevent the property from being auctioned? Such defects are precisely why many properties end up in auctions.

Are we talking about the op buying the whole of the one bed flat that has been carved up into studios or the op buying along with others each of the studios within the one bed flat?

davidmcn

carefullycautious wrote: »

Are we talking about the op buying the whole of the one bed flat that has been carved up into studios or the op buying along with others each of the studios within the one bed flat?

Either, really - the lack of planning is the same issue either way, but obviously more of a practical problem to resolve if ownership has been carved up. Nothing unlawful about the auctioneers marketing something which involves a breach of planning.