Buying Two Terraced Houses to make into one house

Grizebeck

diggingdude said:

Best people to ask are the council. They do it when they need to house large families. But if there is a housing shortage in the area they may be reluctant to lose a property 

Its nothing at all to do with the council in regards to " permission "

hannahcolobus

I think it must depend on the council then as some definitely refuse? I worked in a house recently that had done it but the council had refused permissions and they had to continue paying two council tax etc. Still had two front doors and was two separate addresses. They’d capped the gas/elec in one of the houses so as far as I could tell it was just council tax and water bills that they had to pay double on. 

theoretica

Would you be looking to combine two council taxes into one? 

Google tells me a few councils do think it is their business, based on a planning permission technicality around 'a' dwelling house.  But only where there is a real shortage of housing.

Grizebeck

theoretica said:

Would you be looking to combine two council taxes into one? 

Google tells me a few councils do think it is their business, based on a planning permission technicality around 'a' dwelling house.  But only where there is a real shortage of housing.

Yes it be a revaluation

Grizebeck

It will probably be a non starter due to ceiling price and overall cost

Section62

Grizebeck said:

diggingdude said:

Best people to ask are the council. They do it when they need to house large families. But if there is a housing shortage in the area they may be reluctant to lose a property 

Its nothing at all to do with the council in regards to " permission "

It could be, depending on the exact circumstances.

E.g. if the original planning consent(s) were conditioned in such a way that the properties have to remain separate dwellings, or perhaps more obviously in cases where one or more of the properties are listed.

Potentially it could be an issue for more recent developments which were consented on the basis of achieving a minimum dwelling density per hectare.  Combining properties into one would have the effect of reducing the development density, which is something the local planning authority may take a negative view of.

user1977

I would have thought any changes to the frontage are also likely to need planning consent, unless you were going to e.g. retain two front doors.

jrawle

It seems crazy to buy two adjacent houses from the outset intending to knock them into one. For the same money, you could probably buy a bigger and better detached house. I can see why someone who has lived in their house a long time may want to buy next door if it comes up for sale, as a poster above has done, but that's quite different from buying two together as per the original question.

allconnected

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but bear in mind you’ll be paying the higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax when you buy two properties even though you’ll end up with one, an extra cost to think about.

Grizebeck

allconnected said:

Not sure if it has been mentioned, but bear in mind you’ll be paying the higher rate of Stamp Duty Land Tax when you buy two properties even though you’ll end up with one, an extra cost to think about.

This is true !
It doesnt weigh up financialy i know