House advertised but c2 dwelling

wah007

Yeah, sorry, I forgot to mention I did pop the details into google and it pops up as a housing association.

Thanks for all the replies

pinklady21

You could try calling the HA and asking them about the history of the house? Are they the current owners selling it?

wah007

Yes, the current owner (seems to be a company) bought the house in 2006 and had permission approved to build a two storey side extension. By looking at old google street view images it seems that the owner had the extension built soon after permission was given.

In 2010 there's another planning application on the council's website where permission was given for it to be changed from C3 dwelling to C2 care home. I've looked at all the planning site plans/documents and before/after plans and there seems to have been no building alterations made after the 2010 permission was given to change its class into a care home.

The only things I've noticed that they've changed after the 2010 permission was given is that they had drop kerbs put in for the whole front length of the house (part of the 2010 application) and they've added concussive taps, smoke detectors, fire exit stickers, first aid stickers etc.

I've spoken to the estate agent and they've asked the vendor about this. The vendor is putting in a planning application to change it back to C3 and have said it will take around 10 weeks for a decision. I can't see the council objecting if no building alterations were made but I could be wrong.

The 2006 planning application has a person's name on it as the applicant and the 2010 planning application has the name of Cosmopolitan Housing Association Ltd as the applicant. I've checked land registry and the property was last sold in 2006.

pinklady21

Well if they changed the classification already, and are now selling it as a private house rather than a care home, why can't they apply to change it back prior to the sale concluding?
Isn't this likely to be an issue for any purchaser?

lincroft1710

davidmcn wrote: »

I think no matter how you're paying, you'd want the use changed first (unless you're competing against buyers who are happy with it) - so either get seller to do that before you progress any further, or you make the contract conditional on the seller (or you) obtaining consent for the change of use.

You can actually apply for Change of Use yourself before buying, there is no requirement for a planning permission application to be made by the owner of the subject property. There will of course be council's standard planning fee to pay

lincroft1710

wah007 wrote: »

Yes, the current owner (seems to be a company) bought the house in 2006 and had permission approved to build a two storey side extension. By looking at old google street view images it seems that the owner had the extension built soon after permission was given.

Then when the house is sold, it is likely that the Council Tax band will increase on account of this extension.

wah007

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Then when the house is sold, it is likely that the Council Tax band will increase on account of this extension.

Really, that's not good.

davidmcn

lincroft1710 wrote: »

You can actually apply for Change of Use yourself before buying

Hence the "(or you)" in my post. But if vendor is trying to sell it as a residential property I would expect them to be covering all costs in putting it into that state.

wah007

The only issue we now have is, we're selling to an investor and he has the money ready and is looking to complete and renovate as soon as possible. He could pull out and then that's it.

P.S. I've checked the tax band of the property on this website...

https://www.gov.uk/council-tax-bands

and there's no "improvement indicator" icon next to it. Does this mean that the tax band won't change if we buy it?

davidmcn

wah007 wrote: »

The only issue we now have is, we're selling to an investor and he has the money ready and is looking to complete and renovate as soon as possible. He could pull out and then that's it.

So you should probably buy something more straightforward.

Or live somewhere else while you sort this place out.