A choice of two houses...

babyblade41

Cosmetically nicer but wouldn't entertain that drive way situation, so a no from me 

Albermarle

65M2 is small for a 3 bed house and you can see the bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen are all quite compact.
However with a big garden like that, a double storey extension should be possible, although not cheap.
Have any of the neighbours done anything like that ?

RHemmings

I think, for what it's worth, that the houses are quite similar and unless you have a big family probably both would work. 

For drivers, both are on smaller roads close to main roads. Even as a cyclist, that works for me as pretty much straight out and into town. But, not close enough for massive traffic at all hours. 

House No. 1. has a good sized kitchen diner which I assume is an extension. I'm sort of intrigued by that as if there's one flaw with the house I'm buying, it's that the kitchen is a bit small. I'm 99.99% sure that I will just adapt, but I looked at that extension and thought ... 'hmmmm.... options!'. I see that extension was done under Building Control Regulations, without planning permission. If I read the page right. 

House No. 1. Also has some massive trees next door. Which could be a plus or a minus depending on what you think of them. 

I agree with the comment about access for House No. 3. Looking on Google Maps, it does look tight indeed depending on who owns what. I think the house has a tiny bit more curb appeal (subjective), and the door and windows have been changed since the most recent GM streetview pictures were taken. The little bit of Bowler street that the house is on looks quite tight to access. Other people clearly are getting down there with cars, but I wonder if a moving van might have problems and I wonder how the rubbish is collected. Going back to the house access, if I was interested in that house I would most definitely be downloading the title plan and seeing who owns what. There is a nicer back garden, particularly for children. 

MFWannabe

babyblade41 said:

Cosmetically nicer but wouldn't entertain that drive way situation, so a no from me 

Definitely would rule it out for me 

Nardge

RHemmings said:

I agree with the comment about access for House No. 3. Looking on Google Maps, it does look tight indeed depending on who owns what. I think the house has a tiny bit more curb appeal (subjective), and the door and windows have been changed since the most recent GM streetview pictures were taken. The little bit of Bowler street that the house is on looks quite tight to access. Other people clearly are getting down there with cars, but I wonder if a moving van might have problems and I wonder how the rubbish is collected. Going back to the house access, if I was interested in that house I would most definitely be downloading the title plan and seeing who owns what. There is a nicer back garden, particularly for children. 

House No. 1. has a good sized kitchen diner which I assume is an extension. I'm sort of intrigued by that as if there's one flaw with the house I'm buying, it's that the kitchen is a bit small. I'm 99.99% sure that I will just adapt, but I looked at that extension and thought ... 'hmmmm.... options!'. I see that extension was done under Building Control Regulations, without planning permission. If I read the page right. 

Dear RHemmings,

Many thanks for sharing your thoughts and raising two pertinent timely points.

Querying in order of immediate importance...

1) House 1 - After reading the two comments preceding yours, establishing which house legally owned what part of the 'shared' off-road parking driveway struck me as essential knowledge. It was to be one of my follow-up questions, as I don't know how to go about it. Where can I find and download the "title plan"?

2) House 3 - How did you determine that the extension was a) "done under Building Control Regulations" b) "without planning permission"? Which page or website did you read?

As is obvious, I have little knowledge or experience in the topic of house-buying, so your answers will be very welcome!

I think I'll be phoning the agents to view both houses from tomorrow. 

Thanking you in advance,

Kind Regards.

 

zagubov

This webpage would be a good place to start
https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-property-and-land

FreeBear

Nardge said: 2) House 3 - How did you determine that the extension was a) "done under Building Control Regulations" b) "without planning permission"? Which page or website did you read?

Most (all ?) councils will have a planning portal where you can search for applications. The search can cover an area, a range of dates, or even a specific property. Some councils will only have records going back 15-20 years available, others go even further back. My local council lists a planning application from 1976 for *this property. No information beyond the date and the fact permission was granted.

If a property has obviously extended, but no planning application made, that would suggest the extension was done under permitted development rights - Your solicitor should be checking that the work was signed off by Building Control at a minimum. But as the solicitor will never visit the property, you should be informing him/her of any structural changes (extensions, loft conversions, removal of internal walls, etc) that should be investigated. if you do not know what to look for, your surveyor should be picking up on these.

Nardge

Good afternoon,

Many thanks for the guidance regarding both gov.uk and local council website resources.

I now have a copy of the boundaries for House 3, and the map does seem unfavourable.
The website did suggest the demarcated boundaries weren't definitive however? ("This title plan
shows the general position, not the exact line, of the boundaries. It may be subject to distortions in scale. Measurements scaled from this plan may not match measurements between the same points on the ground.")
It does seem most of the off-road parking, especially the 'bottle-neck', belongs to the neighbour.
Please find the boundaries map enclosed below.  

The house thus ticks all the right boxes for me bar this off-road parking situation! 
There can’t have been too many arguments since the property has been sold successfully a few times already?

I've thought to approach matters as follows:

Visit the house in person (obviously), paying close attention to the current vehicular set-up.
Ask the current owner(s) what the score has been with parking up until now?
Ask the neighbour how long they've lived there, what their position with parking has been, and will be in future?
Whether an amicable arrangement can be agreed or not, I could offer to purchase part of their front drive?
This would permit me to have the 'bottle-neck' resolved, should they move out and new neighbours move in.

In a hypothetical scenario where a given neighbour is very unaccommodating, could legal measures be taken to stop me driving over a tiny part of their drive (the 'bottle-neck') so as to access my personal patch? 

Thanking you in advance for your advice and reflections,

Kind Regards

Links for House 3 (BS):

Rightmove link:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142610549#/?channel=RES_BUY

Mellor estate agent link:

https://john-mellor.co.uk/property/bowler-street-levenshulme-m19-2tz/708691/

GDB2222

House 3 may have a right of way over part of the neighbour's driveway.

Nardge

GDB2222 said:

House 3 may have a right of way over part of the neighbour's driveway.

Right, and I can find out whether such a Right of Way definitely exists by buying the neighbours house's Title Plan??