Selling before or during building work next door?

jimmyjudas

Hi. Short version of this question: am I better off selling my flat while it looks over some scrub land, or during some flats being built on that land? (Waiting until after the building works not really an option.) It sounds like a stupid question, but would a buyer rather buy somewhere they know has 2 years of building work next door to come at some point in the future, or one that is in progress so they know it only has 1 year of noise and hassle left?

The long version: I've just bought a house and am planning on selling my old flat. I don't really have any interest in being a landlord, plus when I crunch the numbers I actually don't think I gain much compared to investing my money after you take into account the flat management fees, tax I'd have to pay, the amount I could rent it out for, hassle etc. The only advantage keeping the flat would have would be if its price was rising, which it doesn't seem to be.

So I'm going to sell it. Now the issue is that my flat used to look over the car park to a pub that was knocked down a couple of years ago, so it now looks over some scrub land which is going to hit the sale price. The good news is that the developer of the land has just put in for planning permission for a block of flats on the same footprint as the pub - it won't interfere with light to the flat, so all is good and I expect it to be approved.

Obviously the best plan would be to rent out the flat until the new flats have been built and then sell it when everything is sorted - the new block will only have four 2-bedroom flats so shouldn't get in the way too much of my older 2-bedroom flat. But I only have 2 years 8 months now to get the flat sold or I lose the ability to claim back the £9k stamp duty I paid on the new house. Which means that realistically, I'll need to get it on the market in 2 years' time, and as the work hasn't even started yet, I think it's pretty unlikely it'll be finished in 2 years.

So the question is, do I sell my flat now with the scrub land there, or in 2 years time when the building work will probably be in progress? As I said at the beginning, it sounds like a stupid question, but would a buyer rather buy somewhere they know has 2 years of building work next door to come at some point in the future, or one that is in progress so they know it only has 1 year of noise and hassle left?

VfM4meplse

Honestly I would just get it on the market asap. No point in going down the rental route if you don’t want to be a LL.

glasgowdan

I don't know any builders that drag a build out for 2 years. Or even 1. It's usually 6 months or less!

Mahsroh

If you have no desire to rent it out, just get it on the market now.


You'll always be second guessing what potential buyers are thinking re: the building work but one thing is certain....... If it's not on the market you will not get any offers at all. If it is on the market, there is a chance you will!

JP1978

You are trying to 2nd guess what prospective buyers look for or prefer - impossible.

Near us a pub was demolished about 3 years ago and for almost 2 years it was just scrub with fencing around it. Not sure at what stage the planning permission etc was sorted but once the builders started, four small 2 bed houses were built in its place in the space of 3 to 4 months.

Builders dont want to be paying their trades any longer than they have to, once work is started, they will push to get completed in minimal time to get their return on money back.

lotteryman

Why not try to contact the developer and ask what the completion time scale is.
Sometimes developers get planning permission and then sit on it for years or even sell it on with planning.
They usually have 3 years to 'break ground' before permission lapses but they can often use tactics to start the development to the satisfaction of the PA without actually starting.

davidmcn

As above, you've got no guarantee of if and when any development will start, so you could be twiddling your thumbs for quite a while.

I can point at consented development sites which stalled during the 2008 crash and have still had nothing done to them.

ciderboy2009

Do you actually know who the developer is?

If it's a large company then I agree with the posters above that it'll be quite quick once work starts.

However, if it's a smaller company then you could well find that the work is done bit by bit whenever the developer has some spare money - we've got a development like that near us which has taken 5 years so far to build about half a dozen flats & doesn't have a roof yet.

ProDave

My advice is sell now. Don't wait until there are a bunch of shiny new flats across the road sitting there to tempt your potential buyers away.

thelem

jimmyjudas wrote: »

But I only have 2 years 8 months now to get the flat sold or I lose the ability to claim back the £9k stamp duty I paid on the new house. Which means that realistically, I'll need to get it on the market in 2 years' time, and as the work hasn't even started yet, I think it's pretty unlikely it'll be finished in 2 years.

It's impossible to predict how long it will take the flat to sell. Before you market it you'll want to evict your tenants, which would take the best part of a year if they want to make it difficult. Once your flat is on the market it could take months to get an acceptable offer, more months of conveyancing and then fall through anyway and you're back on the market.

You'll also need to learn how to be a landlord (there are loads of rules and responsibilities).

Save yourself all that hassle and put it on the market now.

Annie35

There's that saying 'the best time to sell is now'.