converting a church and auctions

[user1467297746]

Having lost out on quite a few properties, we thought we might try the auction approach,

Thats when we spotted a disused church in an OK area - the guide price is very low and actually even if it went at double the guide it would be quite doable.

The only glitch perhaps is getting planning permission? Or is that relatively simple? the local council is selling it.

I was thinking of giving them a ring.

Actually its quite big- and made of several wings. We were thinking we could try to convert one half for us and turning the bigger half into 3 or 4 flats?

You can just call up planning and they will give you answers, timescales etc!

Hi there . Remember guide prices are there to tempt bidders attendance on the day. Having said that, I have bought properties close to the guide price. Get a solicitor to review the auction pack before you bid. Expect to pay £150 for a review.I buy a lot of properties at auction and you need someone to decipher the covenants/ restrictions etc before you purchase (which is when the hammer goes down). If it is deconsecrated is there a graveyard that descendants of the deceased are entitled to visit? Consider it it is listed and the extra £ that will cost. You will also need to check with any lender (assuming you need one) as to whether they will lend on a build project. But before all of this call the local planning office to ask if they will allow change of use into a Residence. I like auctions fr the certainty of sale / purchase so I understand your reasoning for looking at them. Good luck OP!

It is likely that it is priced as it is because planning will not be straight forward, or some other issue. Properties aren't just available at bargain prices for no reason. You sound very inexperienced and thinking of buying something without planning permission and then hoping to convert it into 4 units sound like a recipe for disaster. Do you even know if you can get finance (assuming you don't have pots of cash waiting to be spent)? Sorry, not meaning to be rude at all. Just make sure you do your homework very carefully or you could make a very expensive mistake.

Yes I would totally agree we are lacking experience!

We are leaning towards ruling the bigger one out as too much to bite off. Altho there would be eye watering potential profit!

The 2nd one is smaller and a reasonable price - we don't need finance tho, so perhaps thats one hurdle out of the way.

Its not actually listed, its a church hall rather than Church itself - it sides onto the 1800's church grounds.

The guide price is 50k - if it went for 100 k we still have 70 or 80 k in the budget to do it up. We would probably try to bits of it ourselves.

Its about 40 meters long and about 7 meters wide. Altho part of the end of it is an extension, that we could hopefully knock down to give about 8 meters of garden.

I suppose we could try turn it into 2 halfs tho?

I would speak to the council, both the department dealing with the sale but also the planning department. Make no assumption that the different departments agree with each other (trust me, I used to work in local government...). They may be able to give you an idea if change of use to residential will be granted. You might find that getting permission for creating multiple dwellings is much more difficult.

apparently we can put a "pre planning" application in - but usually takes around 3 weeks

unfortunately the auction is in 2 weeks :(

I think you need to accept your limitations OP. Both in terms of finance and ability to manage what sounds like your first project. I renovate houses for a living and I wouldn't buy a church without the certain knowledge I'd get planning permission and I echo a PP about the likelihood of getting permission for multiple dwellings as the planning rules change in terms of parking spaces, garden and cycle/ bin stores (of all things). Buy a house at auction, much less hassle and much better for a novice.