How straightforward is it to buy the house next door and knock through?

[NeopreneMermaid]

We live in a semi and have been considering extending (awkward) or moving (too sentimental - DS born here) and the house next door has come up for sale.

We could afford it at a stretch (probably) but has anyone any experience of converting two semis into a single detached? What's planning permission like?

I don't doubt conversion will be a pita but is it worth it?

[NeopreneMermaid]

You certainly can Trills. I'm lurking as well now while we work out finances and the toddler gets over chickenpox and I get out of hospital.

[PeteCampbellsRecedingHairline]

This thread is fascinating. Please let us know if you ever do it.

Hope you all get better soon.

[NeopreneMermaid]

The house is getting loads of viewings - about three a day. AIBU to try and put them off until we can sort finances? scans Freecycle for old sofa to leave on the lawn

[Catswhiskers44]

Fluffyanimal Did you have to have the utilities cut off from one side of the house to qualify for one council tax bill? We are buying the house next door to us (we are an end terrace cottage) to knock through. The council tax banding is a worry as the valuations office said their requirements for qualifying for a single council tax band are a grey area and they wouldn't give specific advice. We have to have work done then they will inspect it and make their decision. Any advice you can give will be much appreciated.

[LoudHayley]

Interesting information in this message thread, thanks everyone! We are looking to go two to one, so useful insights here.

[pineapple100]

Just found this thread. Know it is an old one, but thought I'd give it a try in the hope that someone reads it & can help.
We are a pair of semi detached cottages & have the potential opportunity to buy our neighbouring property. We own our present property outright so only need to raise a mortgage on the house next door.
However, we are having trouble finding a company to approve a mortgage - lenders are happy with the amounts we wish to borrow but less so on the conversion proposal. Not sure if the recent Mortgage Market Review has influenced their positions. Has anybody done this recently or are about to do it. If so - any recommendations for lenders or advice?

[DiscoveryCove123]

just wondered if Pineapple100 managed to get a mortgage to buy next doors property back in august 2014 and if so which lender and how? we are trying to do the same at the moment but not getting anywhere fast.

[JoWr]

Me too! Did either of you manage to find a lender that would do this? I so hate that we might have to give up this dream because of a technicality!

[crapfatbanana]

I'm in the same boat. Our neighbours have just put their place on the market and are actively encouraging us to buy their place. We would love to but I don't think we can afford to. We have outgrown our 2 bed house but there is nothing else on the market locally that suits our needs/wants. Knocking through to next door would be restoring the property to its original single dwelling status and would give us big gardens front and back. It wouldn't matter if we lost equity because we would be here to stay, but as we don't have much equity in our place anyway it looks very unlikely we can purchase next door.

[MummyBear007]

Hi, just wondering if anyone on this thread has recently managed to get a mortgage for their next door property and then convert it into one? As we are currently looking to do this and the mortgage lender has just said no???

[KBKELLYB]

Hi, I’m just wondering if anyone has managed to sort a mortgage to covert? We own to houses and have just paid one of the mortgages. We’re just looking into how to get a mortgage to convert. We only need £130k. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

[reader12]

A friend of mine did this. They didn’t do much building work, just knocked through the hallways to make an archway on ground floor, knocked through to make one big landing on first floor, and put a door between the two basement kitchens. So one full sized kitchen is now the utility & pantry, and they can go shopping at Costco and buy huge quantities of things.

I don’t know what they did about the legal & financial stuff though.

[Matpayhelp2022]

Zombie alert!

[Ozanj]

My friend knocked through 5 terraced houses to make one. They didn’t need planning permission shockingly but building regs were needed because the individual staircases were all replaced by a beautiful grand staircase in the middle. They did turn it into a gorgeous house.

[alexdgr8]

were they called hazza and sparkle ?

[EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn]

@Matpayhelp2022

Zombie alert!

Bother. For a moment I thought OliviaMumsnet was back and then I looked at the dates.

[Rowanembo]

Hi - did anyone manage to resolve the mortgage issue? I’m trying to do the same thing and have only for bridging loans on offer at the moment which are extortionate. I already own both houses but because I’ve got to merge the titles, I needed to let the mortgage company know and they said no.