Should I buy house with a garage under a coach house?

propertyrental

silvercar said:

eddddy said:

So it's a fairly standard set-up - you'd be buying a freehold house with a leasehold garage.

(The estate agent who sent you the note you quoted sounds like they might not have a good understanding about property.)


The lease for the garage will almost certainly say that you can only use it to garage a car. But if the freeholder  - i.e. the owner of the coach house - is happy to 'turn a blind eye' and ignore what you do, you can use it as an office.

But the freeholder (owner of the coach house) could change their mind at any time, and probably tell you to stop using it as an office.

If the owner of the coach house is happy with it, I would get it documented rather than turn a blind eye. And get it documented before you plug in your electric car 

unless of course the electricity supply comes off the coach house in which case.... shhhhh!

eddddy

silvercar said:

eddddy said:

So it's a fairly standard set-up - you'd be buying a freehold house with a leasehold garage.

(The estate agent who sent you the note you quoted sounds like they might not have a good understanding about property.)


The lease for the garage will almost certainly say that you can only use it to garage a car. But if the freeholder  - i.e. the owner of the coach house - is happy to 'turn a blind eye' and ignore what you do, you can use it as an office.

But the freeholder (owner of the coach house) could change their mind at any time, and probably tell you to stop using it as an office.

If the owner of the coach house is happy with it, I would get it documented rather than turn a blind eye. And get it documented before you plug in your electric car 

I suspect that won't work. I suspect the owner of the coach house has covenanted with Taylor Wimpey not to allow the leasholders of the garages to use the garages for other purposes.


And even if that's not the case, what would be the benefit to the coach house owner in doing that? Realistically, most people don't do favours for 'strangers' for free.

1865TP

I've bought a copy of the lease online.

I'm assuming from Point 13 that the coach house owner could (if they really wanted) claim that using it as an office is a noise nuisance to them.

BarelySentientAI

1865TP said:

I've bought a copy of the lease online.

I'm assuming from Point 13 that the coach house owner could (if they really wanted) claim that using it as an office is a noise nuisance to them.

Wouldn't you think that 15(a) is much more relevant?

Albermarle

As above clause 15a seems to be the critical one.

NameUnavailable

A current owner of the coach house might be willing to turn a blind eye to the fact that the garage has been converted to an office, but they could sell up at any piont and the next owner might enforce the terms of the lease.

Also, at some point you will probably need to extend the lease, especially if you want to sell up and it's approaching 80 years left. I'm not sure how costs are calculated for garage lease extensions.

eddddy

NameUnavailable said:

Also, at some point you will probably need to extend the lease, especially if you want to sell up and it's approaching 80 years left. I'm not sure how costs are calculated for garage lease extensions.

There is no statutory right to extend a garage lease, if the garage is with a freehold house.

If it was a leasehold garage with a leasehold flat/house (with the same landlord and same tenant), that would be different. You'd have the statutory right to extend both leases at the same time.


So in this case, it would be a matter of trying to negotiate a price (and terms) that both landlord and tenant agree on. There are no rules to follow.

And the 80 year mark probably isn't really significant.

But as the garage lease gets shorter, some mortgage lenders might decide to disregard the garage lease, and value the property as though it has no garage.

1865TP

Thanks for the help everyone, much appreciated.

We’re going to leave it and look for something entirely freehold! 

eddddy

1865TP said:

We’re going to leave it and look for something entirely freehold! 

I don't know if one of your criteria will be a garage that you can use/convert as an office, but if you're looking at modern developments - you're likely to hit similar barriers with a freehold garage as with a leasehold garage.

• You might have to sign a deed of covenant saying you'll only use the garage as a garage

• There might be planning conditions saying that the off street parking (i.e. the garage) must be retained

• Permitted development rights might have been removed - meaning you cannot convert the garage without planning consent

• There may be parking restrictions on the development - meaning that if you don't park in the garage, there may be limited other places to park

user1977

As pointed out in the first reply…