Tell me i am utterly barking for wanting this house

[EdgarAllanPond]

oh you beautiful thing

it is 1) at the top of our current budget for purchase, and to afford the renovations we'd have to sell my parents house and live on site with my parents until sufficiently good to mortgage

2. a listed building so not cheap or easy to do (even given potential funding)

3. no second property, even if you got permission to convert the barn (haha, listed building permission and planning permission) then my folks would be living in the yard....not the 'two clearly separate houses' we were hoping for (have been living in parents house 8 months now...gngngn)

4. i think the walls are allowing damp to blow through, and the brickwork is part of the listing....house opposite was rendered prior to listing for probs this reason - roof will also need felting at least, presuming the timbers are ok..

5. DH would have to quit his job to renovate it, living by himself on site (until we sold parents house) then get another job in order to re-finance with a mortgage once reasonably complete....

6. chance of getting planning for running small van site/ glamping site (to fund me being a SAHM) near to virtually nil even given the pleasant 5 acres attached

basically i need Mumsnet to tell me all the woes of listed buildings, planning, and that actually it isn't that nice.....and we'd probably enjoy ourselves more in a leaky shack burning money to keep warm....

or one of you should buy it so it stops tempting me :)

(off out to shop, back in an hour or five)

Im sorry but bloody hell its a bit lovely. Looks like alot of work and sacrifice and I have absoloutley no advice.

It's a wreck and completely unsuitable for your needs. To buy it would put intolerable strain on all of you and possibly render your parents homeless.

(Does that help)

I don't actually like the house tbh but the plot looks lovely.

Just moved in to the same kind of thing but less dilapidated.

Very scary and noticing all the problems we missed before (and we looked hard with full structural surveys).

It will be a money put forever, but the children already love it.

sounds like an utter nightmare tbh. I wouldn't do it, but then I can just see work work and more work, not to mention a bottomless money pit. Plus the house has an air of creepiness to it and I love period houses

You're barking, but it's so gorgeous! Money pit for sure, but imagine how wonderful it'll be living there.

I'm useless aren't I?

It could be gorgeous. I suggest £200k might do it?
Since it's listed, I reckon you'd have to spend the next 2 yrs living in a caravan (or two) and probably 5 yrs before your folks live in another building.
If that doesn't put you all off, then I'd go for it.

I find it a bit creepy. That first pic is like a still from a haunted house film.

The only way you should go for a house that needs renovation is if you have enough money to make it liveable for the first year.

It will cost WAY more than you expect and you will be on here wailing about how you should have listened to MN and walked away.

Keep looking. You will find the perfect house. This isn't it.

I don't think this is the right house for you at the moment for all your reasons.

Just watch 'Grand Designs' or 'Renovation Home' to see just how hard it will be to renovate the property.

If it was me, I would get a structural survey done and have a good look at the problems that this brings up, maybe talk to the council (if that is who handles the Listing), perhaps even talk to a local estate agent to find out how much the property will be worth compared to how much you will have to spend to on it (including how much your DH's salary would have been).

It is beautiful but unless you are totally minted it is not a good idea, sorry!

You're barking.

Leaving aside the condition (the loft picture alone is horrifying!) it simply doesn't suit your needs if you can't convert the barn. You'd have to overlook both your requirements and the condition.

In an ideal world, it would be a great project. But under the circumstances, it sounds like biting off way more than you can chew for something that still wouldn't fully meet your needs. It has loads of potential but it just needs SO MUCH WORK.

There will be other wonderful houses but I don't think this is the one for you.

I think it's beautiful .

BUT as an ex listed building owner I'd be wary. A full structural survey is obviously a must , however , there will be many, many problems that appear that didn't show on the survey. It can be so disheartening and massively expensive.

However much you set as a budget you need to multiply that by at least 3.

Make sure your relationship is absolutely rock solid and you are both equally as keen to take this project on.

Other than that , go for it! it'll be so exciting .

Disclaimer . I'm probably as barking as you are Op and well know for being impulsive

Fuck no, if house had been at least liveable while you convert outbuilding for parents, maybe.

But in that condition, no, no, no.

Another no, unless your DH is an experienced renovation specialist? That house isn't all that different from the house we've been renovating for the past year - Grade II listed, late Georgian - but ours was just shabby, not dilapidated, and the running costs of the project so far are already DOUBLE what I expected, after doing the sash windows, fixing the actually-not-that-bad roof, re-rendering, damp proofing, replastering inside, fitting new bathrooms, etc. Grade II means no double glazing, permissions for any alterations (which might not be granted, depending on how helpful/draconian the local planning officers are), old fashioned lime plaster from ridiculously expensive lime plaster specialists, tradesmen who know what they're doing with old buildings, and on and on and on. I love my old house, and it's a wonderful feeling, bringing it back to life after years of neglect, but it's definitely not a cheap option and you can end up spending way more than it'll ever be worth, especially if there are restrictions on what you can do with the land. Other old buildings are available...

By all means get someone from the council to have a look round it with you, if you can, and see what the Conservation Officer's take on it is - that might be enough to put you off!

Love would buy in a heartbeat but I am a developer/designer and it would really light my fire Please buy it so that I can come and stick my nose in advise

Don't think 200k is enough more like 300-350

I love it :)

The grade II listing is a big big problem

The listing is a hassle as it does limit things but a friend of mine did one and he said that the conservation and planning dept were really useful in this situation as they guide you so fewer mistakes to undo. Plus they are much more likely to give permission for teh barn if you submit something contemporary and eco

No from me. Don't even like the look of the house and its in a bad state. If t looked like a really pretty cottage I may reconsider!

do it, will be fab when all done

It could be fabulous. But you would need to spend a fortune. And then double it. And grade II listed would mean huge issues.

I wouldn't touch that with your budget. You'd need £150k after purchase to even start sorting that out.