Apartment converted from offices - anything to be aware of?

kingstreet

Any pubs or petrol stations nearby?

We had to admit defeat on a conversion in Solihull last month due to the proximity of both. That was a BTL purchase though.

lincroft1710

Emily_Joy said:

No problem - happy to share the floor plan!

That plan is either very badly out of scale or that living room measurement includes the kitchen!

ComicGeek

Emily_Joy said:

kingstreet said:

Any pubs or petrol stations nearby?

We had to admit defeat on a conversion in Solihull last month due to the proximity of both. That was a BTL purchase though.

But the apartment in question is in one of the most sought after locations outside London.

Where's that then? Hopefully none of the schemes I've worked on in the South-East recently...

Emily_Joy

@eddddy Many apologies - you are of course right and I was wrong. It is indeed in the H-shaped building here:

silvercar

lincroft1710 said:

Emily_Joy said:

No problem - happy to share the floor plan!

That plan is either very badly out of scale or that living room measurement includes the kitchen!

Shows the general problem with office to home conversions. The windows are all in the wrong place. Whereas people who don't spend much time in the kitchen may be prepared to put up with a kitchen without a window and bathrooms can be ventilated, the window on bedroom 2 is in a terrible position. Does it even open?

diystarter7

The layout - a typical 2 bed conversion in a 1960's ex office building often on the edge of twon, often built by the council, leased out and when business is down and no longer able to lease, sold to developer often as part HA rentals, part HA/OO's and the floors above 3rd often private

peterhjohnson

Emily_Joy said:

The estate agent claims the only reason the buyers have had difficulty with mortgage was because is an office conversion.

 So it seems highly unlikely that you will get a mortgage either but if you go along with this "Modern Method of Auction" you will lose thousands of pounds and not get the flat. Avoid!

fryedslyce

Is this the property?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124264799#/?channel=RES_BUY

Some more interesting inf about the development:

https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/3383728/doc_0_0.pdf

Ditzy_Mitzy

@Emily_Joy : you mentioned taking in a lodger at the flat, were you to buy it.  Is such a thing necessary to make the enterprise financially viable?  I only ask because there are potentially complications where that is concerned.  In order for the lodger to count as a lodger, rather than a de facto tenant, the landlord needs to be resident.  For that to happen, the residence where the room is let must be the landlord's 'main home'.  You have mentioned owning another house, which your husband lives in; unfortunately that will probably be considered your 'main home' for legal purposes, meaning that you cannot be a resident landlord elsewhere.  On that basis your 'lodger', should you have one, would become a tenant and gain all sorts of rights you may not want her or him to have.  You'd also have to pay tax, as the rent-a-room relief would not apply.  

Oh and the conversion flat seems like more trouble than it's worth.  Have you thought about renting a one bed of your own within commutable distance of the new job?  The whole business of trying to buy a flat adds many  layers of complexity.  

ComicGeek

fryedslyce said:

Is this the property?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/124264799#/?channel=RES_BUY

Some more interesting inf about the development:

https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/3383728/doc_0_0.pdf

If it's that development, then the EPCs show that the flats have electric heating and hot water - expensive at the moment.