Mixed use (or not)

hubertb

I am considering making an offer on a property. It is mixed use. It is a house and 2 large industrial units (former outhouses) attached.

The seller says it is not mixed use, just a house with a large garage (larger than the house).

If I apply for a normal, not mixed use, mortgage but then lease out the industrial units to companies will I be in trouble with bank? insurance companies? council?

How do I check if the industrial units are even legal to use as such? Or does it matter since the current owner has been using as industrial/commercial use for several decades?

Any other pitfalls of this type of property?

user1977

Buying anything which looks and smells like a commercial property is a non-starter with a standard residential mortgage, so I’m not sure it’s even worth thinking about subsequent steps.

hubertb

user1977 said:

Buying anything which looks and smells like a commercial property is a non-starter with a standard residential mortgage, so I’m not sure it’s even worth thinking about subsequent steps.

Thanks for this. At a stretch I could buy it for cash anyway so I am interested in answers to the non mortgage aspects of my question even if a mortgage is problematic. 

Any comments on insurance, council, permitted usage?

user1977

Mortgage, insurance and planning (assuming that’s the council-related query) are all different things. The council won’t know or care what sort of mortgage you have, but they would be interested in a planning breach. The insurers will expect you to tell them what the actual use and occupation of the units is.

gwynlas

If it is zoned as mixed use you might have an issue. If the outbuildings themselves can be emptied out by exchange then they are simply outbuildings under the same title. How you use them post purchase is up to you, perhaps they could be let as workshops. It need only be an issue if they generate lots of noise, smells or commercial waste.

SDLT_Geek

The stamp duty treatment (stamp duty land tax if in England) will vary depending on whether for these purposes the property counts as residential or as mixed property.  That will depend on whether the outbuildings are on the "garden and grounds" of the house.

hubertb

SDLT_Geek said:

The stamp duty treatment (stamp duty land tax if in England) will vary depending on whether for these purposes the property counts as residential or as mixed property.  That will depend on whether the outbuildings are on the "garden and grounds" of the house.

It is in a terrace. 3 different "door numbers" on a city street. But one title number for all three.

hubertb

gwynlas said:

If it is zoned as mixed use you might have an issue. If the outbuildings themselves can be emptied out by exchange then they are simply outbuildings under the same title. How you use them post purchase is up to you, perhaps they could be let as workshops. It need only be an issue if they generate lots of noise, smells or commercial waste.

Is it really true that how I use the out buildings post purchase is up to me? If the current owner is using the outbuildings for commercial use without permission would I need permission before leasing them out as workshops or is the fact that they are already long established for commercial use enough?

lincroft1710

If you are in any doubt about the permitted usage of the outbuildings then check with the council's planning department. If you use or rent them out for commercial usage, they will need to be assessed for Non Domestic Rates

user1977

hubertb said:

gwynlas said:

If it is zoned as mixed use you might have an issue. If the outbuildings themselves can be emptied out by exchange then they are simply outbuildings under the same title. How you use them post purchase is up to you, perhaps they could be let as workshops. It need only be an issue if they generate lots of noise, smells or commercial waste.

Is it really true that how I use the out buildings post purchase is up to me? If the current owner is using the outbuildings for commercial use without permission would I need permission before leasing them out as workshops or is the fact that they are already long established for commercial use enough?

If you're comfortable that they have been using it as such for several decades (what evidence have you seen of that?) then no, you wouldn't need planning permission to continue that use.