should I be put off by dental practice in the building?

[passionsrunhigh]

This is a bit dull but would appreciate opinions/experience as I'm about to offer on a flat. There are four flats in the (tall, high ceilinged old building), and there is dental practice in the basement. Ground floor is very raised, and I'd be living on upper floors. There is a a shared driveway but patients probably aer not allowed to park there(?). I don't htink the practice is big (one dentist I think). Are there any legal complications when buying - could take longer to buy due to extra paperwork? and any other issues as far as living there? thank you!

If there's a shared entrance area, your insurance may be higher. And many years ago, we found it very hard to get a mortgage for a flat ab

oh, yes - they do have own entrance.

If there's a shared entrance area, your insurance may be higher. And many years ago, we found it very hard to get a mortgage for a flat abI've a commercial premises. If that's not changed, you may have problems when you come to sell.

monthly service charge is low. Communal parts above aer in need of refurb, but I don't think basement would contribute to that.

Agent - interesting about mortgage when selling, will have to check on that! But I think if your example was just one flat above a shop that's different - this is a typical residential building (four storey).

You might be able to hear the sound of drilling and groans of pain. That would be my main concern.

Ours was a tenement with a shop in what would have been ground floor flat. But it was 20 years ago!

TheS - nice! I just thought I must check whether it's not children's dentist!! With adults I don't think I'd hear much with all the anaesthetics used. Also the sound proffing is fine in winter, but with open windows (if they open them) - could be a nuisance in summer with the drill. I won't be right above, but still. The problem is, Every flat has some drawbacks, but this is a good one on many other counts.
So no one thinks there will be pesky extra legal paperwork when buiyng?

proofing

Anything with commercial premises is difficult to mortgage and this is generally why they are usually bigger and well located and cheaper than residential equals. We had a flat years ago above an estate agent I renovated it and it fell through 6 times! We sold eventually but she had cash and wasn't bothered about re sale she just loved it.

noddy, isn't there a difference though between actual permanent shop with a flat or two above, and a doctor renting a flat within residential building? you wouldn't notice that there was a dentist there, no obv signs or anything. It's a rally nice big building of flats (i.e. flats dominate the dentist, not shop dominating iykwim). Not sure it counts as commercial premises per se?

Does it look like a dentist from teh outside?

no, he just occupies a big basement flat, there's a sign by his door but no big board on the street.
I'm also now thinking of their waste, hopefully they dispose of it correctly and don't mix with normal domestic rubbish.

So basically he works from home? I still think if he has planning permission and change of use it will come up as commercial on a search. You can look this up on the local council website. Log into their planning page and enter the address and see if he did any alterations etc and also if it has a commercial category. If it hasn't then you should be fine.

noddy thanks a lot - didn't know that i could look it up!

I had a look, noddy - nothing on planning applications page history(apart from removing trees!), but maybe it's elsewhere? Btw I don't think he lives there and works from home - would it make a difference if he lived there?

I don't think so but I am sure it would have change of use as there would be possibly an x ray room and ramp access etc.

Your mortgage application will ask if any part of the building is used for commercial use probably. Do you have a mortgage agreed already? I've had a quick google, and although the main problem is with take-aways and shops due to difficulty of re-selling if you default, the shared access may also be an issue.

See here

thanks Agent, access is not shared (driveway only, not entrance door), butbnow I wish i viewed on a weekday - I wonder if patients are allowed to park in driveway (though street parking is ok there which helps) and also whether you could hear any noise. As mentioned in your link, it's in good location and not obviously commercial so I don't think it should affect mortgages much (if big deposit)..