splitting a house into two flats,, help please

davidmcn

Georgebrocklebank wrote: »

what do you mean issues with the title?

Any problems with it. Multitude of things which might be wrong. Did you get a solicitor to check it at any point during your purchase? It may for example contain covenants prohibiting it from being subdivided.

Georgebrocklebank

Yes had a solicitor when I brought it & no there's nothing saying it can't be devided.
I just brought it as a 3 bed house.

Georgebrocklebank

It's been divided for 25 years.

eddddy

Georgebrocklebank wrote: »

So if I get a 125 year lease sorted & put the flat on the market what would stop people getting a mortgage on it?
Surly once people view it & as long as the survey was ok (is that not all I have to worry about?)

The mortgage lender will send a valuer. The valuer will decide whether the flat is mortgageable.

The question on the valuer's mind might be "if the property market cools down, and the borrower defaults on their mortgage - will this flat be saleable?"

In an extreme case, if the flat is badly converted/poor quality, the valuer might decide that it would be unsaleable in a 'cooled down' property market - and therefore value it at zero.

Georgebrocklebank wrote: »

I brought a house a couple of years ago at an auction (its a house turned into 2 flats).
It's been that way for the last 25 years as the same tennant came with the sale.
I want to sell the upstairs flat but leave him in the bottom one, is this possible?

So my immediate question is.... "Why didn't the bloke who sold it at auction sell one of the flats on a lease, and make lots of money?"

Was he just daft? Didn't anybody advise him to do that? Didn't anyone else at the auction spot that possibility? Or are there problems which make that route difficult or impossible?

I would suspect that there might be some problems.

Georgebrocklebank

He had the house repossesed. Stopped paying the mortague & the bank took it.

Georgebrocklebank

the top flat uses the back door & the bottom the front door.
All that has been done is a wall so you go straight up the stairs.
It looks good (in my opinion).

[Deleted User]

The problem is you have come on here asking advice over a complex matter. Said complex matter, if it goes in your favour could gain you tens of thousands of pounds (at least).

Surely its worth getting advice from a solicitor? We aren't legally trained for the most part. Some of us might just sound like we know what we are talking about.

I would strongly advise going to a solicitor.., even just for one appointment. Could save you and a poor buyer a lot of money.

I googled 'regulations when converting a house into flats' and got this to start with, plus others, so its a hint as to what should have been done and what (I assume) will need to be done/provided with proof of before the property can be sold legally

1) https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/planning-development-questions/11007-building-regulations-and-flat-conversions

2) https://www.visum.co.uk/Library/Post/fire-safety-standards-for-houses-converted-in

Any flat 'might' look good until there is a fire in one of them and the people living in them can't get out, or they suffer harm because of a lack of fire protection measures, for example. That's just one aspect of what a person needs to do and provide proof of having done before a flat in a conversion property is sold. I assume the lack of proof explains why this was sold as a 3 bed property rather than 2 flats.

Georgebrocklebank

Thanks for all your great advice!
Of course I'll be seeing a solicitor.
Will the lender want to see all fire/sound proof paper work?
There is none so I guess I'll have to get that all done first.

steampowered

If you want to retain the freehold of the property to retain ownership of bottom flat, I think you would need to create a long lease of the top flat, register that with the land registry and sell the flat as a leasehold property.

You would need to think about would be the freeholder and responsible for looking after the building and any common areas as the freeholder.

You would need to make sure that the long lease you put in place over the top flat is mortgageable and that it is correctly registered. The solicitor should be able to help you with the lease.

I don't think you need to worry too much about paperwork for other things. Lots of properties are old and have dodgy electrics (or whatever) but are still mortgageable.

eddddy

Georgebrocklebank wrote: »

Will the lender want to see all fire/sound proof paper work?
There is none so I guess I'll have to get that all done first.

You're out of your depth here.

As a starting point, I would do the following...

• See if you can find a local 'traditional' estate agent with RICS accreditation.
  
• Explain what you want to sell, and ask them to appraise the flat and see if it is saleable, and what you could sell it for.
  
• If they don't think it's saleable, they will tell you why

Hopefully, they will give you their advice and opinion - and they won't charge you.

Maybe get 2 or 3 other estate agents in for second opinions as well.

(Obviously, the EAs won't check the legal docs etc, you'll have to pay a solicitor to do that.)