Tell me why this would be a bad idea..

[GrumpyOldBagFace]

A farm on the outskirts of a village we'd like to buy in is selling off its farm cottages.

There's 5 of them in a row. They need work doing and modernising but they are very cheap compared to other properties in this area.

So what would be this problems with living in a farm cottage?

• no mains gas, we'd have to install oil central heating?

What else? Why is it so cheap?

what is the EPC rating? If below E they will be illegal to rent from April, so that may be why they are selling up.

Heating only from an Aga suggests that. Nothing you can't fix with cash and effort.

but do watch the other issues mentioned.

"I would definitely be checking for restrictive covenants in a building previously intended solely for agricultural workers."

Apart from restrictive covenants (which is a legal restriction attached to the ownership rights of the property), check to ensure that that there is no agricultural tie under Planning (which I suspect is what Scrowy's relative might have been faced with).

There are potential ways around both:

Restrictive covenants can only be enforced by the person who they are in favour of, and insurance policies are often available to protect you in case of action.

Agricultural Ties under Planning can often be removed by application, if you can prove that the property is no longer required for agricultural purposes (which ought to be fairly straightforward if they have been disposed of by the farm that they used to serve).

An aga can run central heating but I'm not sure how efficient they are and if it's a solid fuel aga it will be a lot of work!!

There are other types of heating sources than oul that are a lot greener like air/ground source heat pumps and you can claim some of your money back via RHI.

@GrumpyOldBagFace it puts me off because you can never guarantee who your neighbours are going to be. It would be a doddle with friendly/reasonable people but there are people out there who can be obtuse just for the sake of it.
The legal responsibility of each owner should be very clear cut before purchasing the property but that does not mean the neighbour will happily adhere to these responsibilities.

It's just not a situation I would choose to put myself in if there were other properties out there. I know someone who has had a dispute with a neighbour and the stress it causes is awful.

They've probably just not been maintained for years and need very extensive renovation which would explain why they're cheap. we rented an old farm cottage for many years. it just hasn't had anything done to it for about a century and what had been done had been fudged by the farmer with homemade bits.

You'd may be have to take it right back to brick and start again. Also has it got a garden, ours had a sort of communal field

Flying freeholds are quite common in older village houses in my part of the Cotswolds. I did a little conveyancing in the early part of my legal career and never had any problems with it.

Some lenders won’t lend where a flying freehold is involved; make sure you know exactly what you're getting into. (Personally, I’d run a mile)

Renewable heat incentive is interesting, didn't know the UK still had that. Some serious hard of thinking issues in it though. Accepts pellet biomass, nearly as much green wash as onshore wind. Does not allow solar panels that generate electricity, presumably thinking that the heat pumps are pedalled by unicorns.

And of course risky as you install first and then have to hope for eligibility!

Thanks for all of the very useful replies.

We're viewing tomorrow as today all went a bit squiffy. We'll have lots of questions to ask and lots to think about.

It's about £100,000 cheaper than "standard" 3 bed houses in that area and it's a lot bigger than other 3 bedrooms (one bedroom could be made into 2). If we bought it, we'd have about £60,000 for modernising and decorating etc

If it goes on top of the one next door it sounds like a 'flying freehold' which I'm pretty sure can be a problem for lenders, and therefore even if you paid cash very likely make it more difficult to sell if you needed to later. I would def. check on this first.

A relative just sold their house with a flying freehold. It did cause some issues for one buyer, their solicitor told them not to proceed with the purchase because of it (without much explanation). However another buyer then came along and the sale went through with no issues.

their solicitor told them not to proceed with the purchase because of it (without much explanation).

Isn't it self-evident? Suppose the owner of the ground floor decides to knock through and remove/weakens a supporting wall without putting in an RSJ. Don't you think that this might affect the owner of the flying freehold just a tiny bit?
I doubt that I would ever buy a flying freehold. OP needs to think about the saleability of the property.

In my bit of The Cotswolds a many of the nicer but smaller cottages are in little groups that have flying freeholds, shared parking in what was the farm yard and similar. They can and do command very high prices in this area and are a good buy for someone looking in the £4-£600k bracket rather than the £800k+. If it is an old cottage there will be no planning restrictions imposed from the original construction - they didn't come in until 1947. Restrictive covenants, flying freeholds etc can all be dealt with by careful conveyancing and indemnity insurance if necessary. It might not be the right house for you but it might be a route into a much nicer house (with renovation) than you could otherwise get. If you see the house and really wanted to put in an offer it might be an idea to get some legal advice before proceeding.

We just viewed it.

It's 3/4 mile away from a really nice/naiche village where 2 bedroom cottages go for 250-300k.

The road to get to the farm was shit.

The cottage is a piss soaked shit hole and needs totally gutting, bleaching, redecorating, bathroom, kitchen.

It has oil central heating in place.

The house next door and the one under the flying freehold look in really good condition.

It has amazing potential.

I just realised I'm one of those posters who says "tell me the truth" and then appear to not be listening.

I am listening to all of the advice.

It's such a nice area and there's no way we can afford a three bed unless we do this but I think my desperation might skew my judgement and lead us to make a bad decision!!

None of that would put me off (though my sister lives up a rough farm track and I hate driving my little car on it - is there a chance the access can be improved?).

You mentioned above about fantasising about the house below the flying freehold becoming available - what are the chances of that?

Your budget is decent for fixing up (as long as you don't have v expensive taste in kitchens etc), but it will be hell!

Did you find out anything about nearby planning applications or the type of farm?

Yes, we have a good budget to fix it up. We could easily make it a 4 bed in the future.

There's no planning applications around the farm. In fact, next door have bought one of the girls behind the houses and have planted an orchard.

It's a bit house Tetris, the house underneath is an L shape. So they have a large downstairs and small upstairs.

The estate agent said the road will be fixed in the summer but ya know, that's what an estate agent said!!

There's no covenants on it.

I was a conveyancer for a number of years and flying freeholds are an issue that can cause problems with mortgage lenders because put simply, part of your house is in someone elses or vice versa.

I recall heading towards exchange on a house with a flying freehold and on the actual day, the buyers solicitor finally realised that this was the case. It delayed exchange and he was lazy to have not checked his paperwork properly. Many solicitors leave it to secretaries and on this occasion he came unstuck.

You need to take advice on this op particularly if you are intending to borrow to buy this property.

You will need to think of access issues, rights of way, maintenance, septic tank (oh the joys - my dh had to rod ours last night, you should have seen his face), oil tanks etc. Also access for the lorries bringing the oil. Farmers right of way to his fields. Mobile reception. Are the cottages of traditional construction?

Also, having watched £1 house in Liverpool last week, make sure that the other cottages will also be inhabited and renovated (second part on tonight)

Hope I have not put a dampener on things here op because this could potentially be a good buy. Just tread carefully.

No, that's great advice @ElsieMc I have a tendency to jump in feet first.

We need to know what to ask because right now we're both dreaming of our renovated cottage with the kids playing in the back yard and the cats bounding through the fields.

I need the reality checks.

Who owns the access road? Would you be liable for upkeep?

The farmer owns the access road so it's up to him.

The estate agent said that he's getting in fixed in the summer.

He also said he has to allow access to the cottages so there shouldn't ever be access issues.

Energy rating is currently F but has potential to be A