Purchasing next door

nstar21

Hi, I am after a bit of advice about the property next door. It has been empty for 3 years, originally it was put on the market but about 18 months it was removed, I feel it was priced too high. I am thinking of trying to contact the owners as I would love it buy it and knock it through into my house. I currently have a mortgage on mine and wondered how I would go about getting a mortgage for next door. Would I have to have 2 mortgage or one? 

Thanks in advance for your advice.  

societys_child

Would I have to have 2 mortgage or one?

Would have thought you need 2 mortgages until it's knocked-though. 

Don't think you should knock-through though before you buy it . . .

AdrianC

What are you buying it for?
To knock the two into one? Then you'll need more finance than just the mortgage - you'll need specialist renovation/self-build finance.
To let out? You'll need a BtL mortgage. But... really... are you SURE this is wise...?

Comms69

Only do this if you never plan to move. Because you'll struggle to sell

nstar21

We want to knock it into one house. We love where we live but need more room so thought the ideal solution would be to buy next door and turn it into one house. 

davidmcn

societys_child said:

Would I have to have 2 mortgage or one?

Would have thought you need 2 mortgages until it's knocked-though. 

You wouldn't be entitled to knock through without consent from the lender(s). In practice you'd need more specialist lending, normal residential mortgages aren't going to work (until after the conversion is done).

nstar21

We’d get in touch with the owner to make him an offer before we did anything, but wasn’t sure of the mortgage side of things. Thanks

Slithery

I would have thought that the first thing to look into would be planning permission. If you won't be allowed to knock-through then there's no point in contacting the vendor in the first place...

greatcrested

You'd need a separate specialist mortgage to buy it. As it would be a 2nd property and not your main home (intially) a standard residential mortgage would not apply.

Don't forget 2nd property SDLT (extra 3%).

Before doing the work you'd need

* planning consent

* consent from both mortgage lenders

Once completed, you'd need to merge the Titles into one and re-mortgage (residential) on the 'new' property.

I suspect there are easier and cheaper ways to upsize....

davidmcn

greatcrested said:

* consent from both mortgage lenders

I doubt you'd manage it with different lenders - they won't want to end up with a mortgage over half a house.

bob_the_dinosaur

Are the houses the same size or is it a case of one is noticeably smaller than the other?
A lot depends on the market where you are.  Round here 3 bed houses are wanted more than anything for example