to knock down a wall in this flat, thinking it won't devalue it

[ditziness]

Seen a flat I want to buy, it's very cheap in a nice area. Ex council, needs plenty modernising. Was an old lady's flat. All in good nick tho, three beds, central heating, double glazed. Only problem is it has a little kitchen, and we wanted a larger one . The large master bedroom is next door, and we are thinking that we could knock the wall down And create a large open kitchen/living room/ dining room. There's an old chimney breast in there too we could reinstate, have a wood burner, and make the room the main living space. The use the current living room as the master bedroom ( also has a fire in it) and then have two extra bedrooms.

Am i being unreasonable, thinking that wouldn't devalue the property? Friends have warned against it, saying that we'd be losing a bedroom and knocking money off the house.

I've put a floor plan on my profile, along with two floor plans for two bedrooms in the same area that are valued at the same amount as the one i'm considering.

hmmm... aibu?

I cant see how you would be losing a bedroom if you will still have 3 bedrooms... but I would ensure it isnt a supporting wall before you go ahead with buying it based on those ideas.

It wont devalue it folk like a decent kitchen imo I live in a flat with a galley kitchen id love for it to be a bit wider/bigger. I have seen expensive houses with teenny tiny box rooms passing off as bedroom3 people pay it if they want a house .

Making a multi function living space will add more value.

I don't understand how you are loosing a bedroom? It's currently 3 beds and a living room and a small kitchen, and you want to knock thru to have one big kitchen living room and still have 3 beds as the old living room with become a bedroom?

I like big kitchens. But I also think its nice to be able to close the door on a kitchen and have a separate living space for smells, noise and mess. I would recommend having the washing machine and tumble dryer in a separate cupboard/small room if you can so they don't disturb you.

If you want to live there for a while do what's best for you :-)

[currently sat in the flats large and L shaped but open plan kitchen / dining room / sitting room and being annoyed by the noise of the washing machine!]

if the current living room as a bedroom, you've still got 3 bedrooms.

everyone wants the large Kitchen/dining areas now, so you'd be doing the flat a favour. :)

whois - yes, you're totally right - a utility room at the back of the kitchen area.

I'm just wondering if when we come to sell it, it'll look like a two bedroom with a living room and dining kitchen rather than a three bedroom with a open plan kitchen/livingroom/dining room?

interestingly I've just found a two bedroom ex council very similar to the one we're looking at in terms of floorspace, 40 grand cheaper!!!! but it's outside school catchment for the good local school, and just the wrong side of the tracks. Would it's location make such a massive difference to value?

Didn't you post this earlier or am I going mad? probably the latter

nope you're not going mad, but i posted it in chat and it's a slow chat day and I wanted more opinions so though I'd come here too, impatient bint that I am. I've got to decide this weekend whether to make an offer, so trying to get lots of opinions.

Huh? When you sell it will l

Posted too early!

When you sell it will look like a 3 bed because 3 rooms will have beds in surely? Looks like it is all on one level and all off one hallway so no issues with being a 'funny' layout with bedroom downstairs or off the kitchen or stuff like that.

Ok phew!

It depends how you sell it. But our house has a decent open plan kitchen dinner and easily living room, with the living room downstairs too.
We kept it closed because it could be used as a bedroom, should we need the space.
Never actually thought about marketing it as a 4 bed... Hmmm

I think how prospective buyers would view the re-modelled flat depends on how it is marketed (eg as a 2 or 3 or 2/3 bedroom flat) and what is typical fir the area.

Eg around here there are lots of small Victorian terraces with a lounge and dining room and kitchen on the back. Where the house has been converted into two flats, one bedroom is often where the lounge should be (at the front of the house), and those always seem a bit student house to me ie where as many bedrooms as possible have been crammed in, IYKWIM.

I think it really depends what space you will end up with for the kitchen / living room - if it's genuinely big enough for a family to live in, no problem, it's a three bedroom flat with open plan living. If buyers are still likely to want more living space, then it becomes a two bedroom flat with a lovely big kitchen and a separate lounge.

I've always taken the view that you should treat a house as one you want to live in and not just as an investment. If that's what you would like, do it.

PS - but check out the matter of retaining walls before you think any further!

We'd want to be there medium to long term, but potentially be able to get a house rather than a flat at some point. So wouldn't want to significantly devalue it. The location is perfect and we can't really afford to live there, all other 3 bedrooms way out of our league. the schools are great too. But the kitchen is just too small as it is!

Your layout makes much more sense - I think it would be odd to have a bedroom jammed between the kitchen and living room as it is now.

Surely other things to consider are - boxy layouts of council flats are often out of date with the more fluid way people like to live now. If you think it will suit the way you live, chances are it will suit future buyers too.

You could put in a sliding door/ folding wall to give the option to separate off kitchen if need be.

Having a space that feels right for you and suits the way you live is worth £££ in my book. You can't say whether your proposed alteration will have a positive or negative affect on the future value so you might as well make the flat how you'd like it (within reason obviously).

Is it leasehold or freehold?

Right, had a look at the floor plan you've put up, if you do what you plan, the actual living space will be a lot less than you would have now, would you find having just that small space to be kitchen, living room and dining room a bit tight. Could you fit a table and sofas in it?

do you need all three bedrooms to be bedrooms now? If not, i'd suggest you make that a kitchen diner and keep the living room as a living room. However, turning a 3 bed into a 2 bed would reduce it's resale value.

I personally do'nt like having just one space for kitchen/dining/living room, I've done that and it doesn't really work for me, I don't want my kitchen mess to be in my living room, I don't want cooking in my living room. Kitchen-diner works, living-diner works, but all three? Not for most people unless it's a very big space.

Ooh just had a builder round this am to give us a quote to knock out wall between kitchen and lounge.
Open plan is all good these days as long as work done is good.

Is it leasehold? Check the lease carefully to make sure you are allowed to do this before buying/putting an offer in.

In a perfect world i want a 3bed as I have a boy and a girl, but I have been looking at other things too. I looked at one2bed house that had a tiny study downstairs, and i have my eye on a house now that is marketed as a 2bed because the ceiling height of the attic conversion is so low, but I'm thinking that I'm only small and I could live with that..... So, people will work with what they have (the budget they have) and use their imagination. there's a big jump in price between two bed and three bed where I am.

ps, sorry i never answered your question. no personally i don't think you'll devalue your house. i think you're taking an outdated floorplan and making it more what people now want. So as long as the new living area is big enough with distinct kitchen area, dining area and corner for sofa,,, I think you'll be adding to the value. what you want to do sounds like what people WANT.

Strange thing round here is that there are very very few three bed flats. I guess the Market is either for two bed, professional sharers (as estate agents call them) or two+ bed houses. So it's really hard to work out the value of a three bed flat and what adds to or takes away from that, as they are so rare. (We are in a three bed flat, hence my interest!)