Persuading next door's landlord to sell to me

DoctorSuguro

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes:

I own a flat. The flat next door to me is owned by a company which is, in turn, owned by some people who are all listed on Companies House as living hundreds of miles away. This firm owns multiple flats in my city and lets them out to people via a letting agency.

I would like to persuade these people to - not right now, but eventually - sell their flat to me. So that - subject to planning permission - I can create a door-shaped hole in the wall and join the two flat up.

I'm wondering if any of you have experience of buying houses that aren't actively being marketed, and if so, what did you do?

Thanks in advance.

Mr.Generous

A door shaped hole? That sounds like a plan. Or you could knock through with a porthole, or a secret passage behind a bookcase.



If you approach the landlord and ask about buying the price will undoubtedly be above the market price. You are trying to persued someone to sell when they are not currently trying to.



Have you considered building regs/planning permission, stamp duty, council tax banding, insurance premiums etc?


I'd be very wary, spend a pot of money making your huge flat worth much more than the others and risk a couple of poor tenants spoiling your block - it will be much harder to sell than 2 std flats.



Its a bit like the semi detached owners who always dream about buying next door and making 1 big house, for 99% it is only ever a dream. Once you cost the work its easier to move.

Mutton_Geoff

DoctorSuguro wrote: »

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but here goes:

I own a flat. The flat next door to me is owned by a company which is, in turn, owned by some people who are all listed on Companies House as living hundreds of miles away. This firm owns multiple flats in my city and lets them out to people via a letting agency.

I would like to persuade these people to - not right now, but eventually - sell their flat to me. So that - subject to planning permission - I can create a door-shaped hole in the wall and join the two flat up.

I'm wondering if any of you have experience of buying houses that aren't actively being marketed, and if so, what did you do?

Thanks in advance.

Technically you don't own it. You are a tenant. The freeholder may object. And I bet you can buy much more of a purpose built and decent property for 2x the value of your flats. What will you do with the extra kitchen and bathroom?


I think it's a non runner myself.

G_M

Your lease will not allow you to make structural changes. You might be able to 'subject to the freeholder's consent', but like everything in this plan, that too will cost money.


If you want a bigger place, move.

DoctorSuguro

Thanks for your reply. I'd thought of most of the things you pointed out but didn't think of stamp duty on a second home - there's an extra £4k down the drain. For context I'm in Scotland and next door is, I'd guess, worth £100~125k.

I'm not sure if the increase in insurance premium or tax band would be any worse than moving from a flat to a bigger flat, or even to a house, but those questions probably deserve threads of their own.

At this point I'm just curious to see what sort of price premium they offered when buying unmarketed property.

DoctorSuguro

UPDATE: Sorry, didn't spot the other replies til after I'd finished replying to the first!

As far as I can tell, I'm the freeholder of my flat and - it being a top floor flat in a Scottish tenement block - I also own the loft and roof above me.

The only burdens on the freehold date back to 1882, and restrict me from building, among other things,cracklinghouses or slaughterhouses or steam engine manufactory or place of amusement[...] in the back garden of my 6-flat block or the two other tenements that were built at the same time.

Thanks again for all your replies. Have to say I might have to get over my emotional attachment to this place and look at a terraced house in the same neighbourhood for my next move.

davidmcn

DoctorSuguro wrote: »

As far as I can tell, I'm the freeholder of my flat and - it being a top floor flat in a Scottish tenement block0

Ok, so ignore everyone else's comments about leases and freeholders, as they've assumed you're in England.

I also own the loft and roof above me.

Are you sure about the loft and roof?

In any event, for your plan to work you'll also need to own the wall between the two flats. Or is that the common property of everyone in the block?

Mr.Generous

DoctorSuguro wrote: »

UPDATE:
The only burdens on the freehold date back to 1882, and restrict me from building, among other things,cracklinghouses or slaughterhouses or steam engine manufactory or place of amusement[...] in the back garden of my 6-flat block or the two other tenements that were built at the same time..

Darn it, I was contemplating a crackling house for the garden of a flat in Scotland myself, just my luck. :rotfl:

onwards&upwards

Mr.Generous wrote: »

A door shaped hole? That sounds like a plan. Or you could knock through with a porthole, or a secret passage behind a bookcase.

Revolving fireplace.

lincroft1710

Persuading next door's landlord to sell to me

Offer them lots and lots of money