Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Buying a house with an illegal extension?

45 replies

bangbangprettypretty · 08/07/2015 12:11

Hi, I'm considering a weird situation and would really appreciate some opinions.

My DH and I are first time buyers in London and have asked to view a property. The letting agent has rung me and said the landlord built an illegal extension in 2012 which the council have ordered to be taken down.

The letting agent said we can get £30,000 knocked off the price of the property (which I would definitely offer even lower, maybe £50,000 lower). I know we'd not get a mortgage for the house as it stands with the extension.

I'm right to walk away, aren't I? The agent has suggested us paying a bond of £1,000 to take the house off the market, with I guess the suggestion being that we would then fork out for the demolition of the house and get the house for a snip afterwards. We are pretty much priced out of the whole of London so it's a chance to get an actual house rather than a flat.

OP posts:

sacbina · 08/07/2015 21:56

No, no and no. irrespective of the state of the house and/or extension that is not a nice area, right by the tube line, underneath the flight path.

run away. very fast

Original poster

bangbangprettypretty · 08/07/2015 22:03

Hmm maybe I will ask the council about the knotweed at the other place.

To the PP, Putney is a possibility but I am a bit worried about being in a flat with a new baby because of the noise (both us and neighbours)

OP posts:

QuintShhhhhh · 08/07/2015 23:36

I would not worry about that. If you look at the floor plan, the middle bedroom does not share walls with any neighbours. Putney us great for babies and toddlers, good schools and good transport links. It is a new development.

lovingmatleave · 08/07/2015 23:38

If you'd not get a mortgage with the extension how are you planning to buy it?

I understand your FTB and are keen to get somewhere to live but really take a step back and clear your head. You do not need the hassle of this and surely there must be a more straightforward house for you to go after. Its really worth waiting for rather than jumping in on a tempting offer but with future headaches.

QuintShhhhhh · 09/07/2015 08:39

Look, the house is not nice, it is dingy and small, with tiny rooms - look at the kitchen you cant even fit the appliances properly.

It comes with a lot of problems that may be expensive and time consuming to fix.

There are plenty of other options:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34648410.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35189178.html

Dont be tricked by a hefty discount - demolishing and building a new extension will be expensive and take time. What if you dont get a new planning permission? Or it takes month? As first time buyers you have enough on your plate to take this on, and if you have never owned a home, or handled renovations, you are probably clueless. Unless your dp is a builder, project manager, architect.

And do not sign bonds!

A neighbour two doors down built "an illegal extension" that the council wanted demolished. Neighbour went tabroad, let her house, and the council could not get through to her. She put the house on the market last year, without even coming to the UK. It looks terrible, having been rented out for 10 years to groups of young single men. It has been on the market for a long while, with 3 different agents, each time a "sold" sign coming up, and hey presto a month later on the market with a new agent. It has now again said "sold" for over a month with agent 3. The new buyers have not started works, they have not even been to the place, so who knows what is happening.

Dont be naive, and dont be fooled into taking on such a property. I bet the agent though it was Christmas when a couple of (perhaps) cash strapped first time buyers walked in!

mandy214 · 09/07/2015 09:38

Just a word of warning from me too. I came across this once in work. House valued at £300k I seem to remember with an illegal extension which had to be demolished. I think it was an extra bedroom and living space. Vendor demolished extension and put it back on the market. It was valued at £170k. So I can't comment on the value of property in Hounslow, or the impact of that particular extension on that particular house, but I would be very surprised if it is the bargain its cracked up to be.

Damnautocorrect · 09/07/2015 09:46

Obviously have no idea what your deal is with the location but staines & Ashford have some good houses within budget. They get you off street parking & a garden.
I looked at a flat like that Putney one, really spacious.

averythinline · 09/07/2015 10:03

run run away....from that one. Like Pears roadone - you can get companies Hounslow can be plane noisy but is very well connected public transport wise...
Feltham doesn't have tube but does have really good train service if Ashford/Staines seem too far out...this is near a nice school

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52615106.html

JassyRadlett · 09/07/2015 10:08

Honestly, OP, I'd go for a flat in a nicer area for that money. It will appreciate faster in value, so you'll be able to move (say from Putney to Kingston/Sutton) much faster, you'll be happier living somewhere not under the flight path and with better amenities.

We had DS in a 2-bed flat on a busy road from birth to 18 months, in a nice area (we now live 400m down the road). There were slight hassles to having a baby in the flat, but noise wasn't one of them. Neighbours were absolutely fine, and often lovely.

We probably get more noise off the people on the other side of the party wall in our semi, tbh!

With a small baby, being in an area you're happy to be out and about in a lot is so important.

Koalafications · 09/07/2015 10:20

OP, in the nicest possible way - that house is horrible. There are much better properties to spend nearly a 1/3 of a million pounds on. Really, there are!

Hoppinggreen · 09/07/2015 10:34

That house is horrible. I like the Putney flat.
House prices in London are awful - no wonder you all work so hard down there!!!!!!

pilates · 09/07/2015 10:41

Walk away!

and NEVER pay a bond to an Estate Agent, not sure that is legal.

Please do not trust Estate Agents, you sound particularly vulnerable being first time buyers. Speak to a Solicitor if in doubt.

poocatcherchampion · 09/07/2015 10:47

That house is a dump! Run run run.
If you are ftb in expensive London do something boring and sensible with your money - it is not the time to take risks.

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 09/07/2015 11:07

What about this one. It's a first floor flat but it has a nice garden, is in good repair and is only two stories high. Catchment area for a "good" school.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34204443.html

This one too - close to Bushy park as well.
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34012359.html

This is a good size but on a busy main road I think
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52487327.html?premiumA=true

SevenAteNine · 09/07/2015 19:37

That's horiffic.

Someone very, very greedy has tried to break all the rules. Who knows what other corners were cut?

My dad bought a house with an illegal extension. He paid 55% of the market value at the time.

It's a nice house now, but it wasn't a bargain.

GreyBird84 · 09/07/2015 20:04

It's so hard when your a FTB as you just want sthing of your own but the way the market is now you are not buying for a year or two, it needs to suits you & your immediate future plans.

A bond is nothing more than a gentlemen a agreement. Don't be fooled.

There are too many warning signs here. I really wouldn't buy it.

Think With head OP, not your heart. Good luck.

TeddyBee · 09/07/2015 21:30

Our illegal loft conversion was a nightmare - total death trap and damaged the house structurally.

Original poster

bangbangprettypretty · 09/07/2015 21:31

Thank you all so much for your advice! I emailed the estate agent today and said I'd not be paying a bond as it's unethical, and the house was unmortgageable. He didn't respond twat

I've got viewings at a couple of the other properties on here sorted in the next few days, fingers crossed! I feel like a virgin at a disco trying to get a place that will actually suit us! Thanks for your help so far!

OP posts:

pilates · 10/07/2015 08:57

Well done bangbang, good luck with the viewings.

caker · 10/07/2015 19:48

Definitely don't worry about living in a flat with a baby because of noise - we lived in a 1 bed flat until DD was 2, the bedroom adjoined our neighbour's bedroom and he said he never heard anything from us, yet used to complain about all the others in the block! I agree the area is most important when children are small. Good luck!

Flip

1 2