Period conversion flats experiences

[Alexalee]

Hi
Dd has set her sights on period conversion flats as she can't afford a house and things purpose built maisonettes are boring and new build flats are overpriced (I agree)
The flats she is looking at are in old grand houses so not your typical Victorian terrace that is split in 2. Most of what she has seen have been split into 6-8 flats and in about an acre of grounds on some very nice roads where houses go for millions.
Does anyone have any experiences of similar properties? Positive and negative
Many thanks

Check the maintenance charge and any ground rent. Maintenance is likely to be high.

That is true... We looked at 2 this weekend, one had maintenance of 200 month, the other was 80.
My main concern is if a big item like the roof needs doing it could be 100k plus... so her share would be 15kish

Hi! I can give you our experiences!
We've bought and sold flats in period buildings (primarily Georgian) for about 10 years, we've done them up, lived in and then sold when the time was right. We did this because we wanted to live in a particular area we love but couldn't afford the houses.

We fell into it by coincidence because we moved to the area from somewhere else and it's worked out amazingly for us, I'll write my positives and negatives, but for us the positives have far outweighed the negatives.

Positives:
-a more secure investment, we've never lost money on one, infect we've made significant amounts each time: £180,000 profit on first place (over 4 years though) £102,000 on second (over only 10 months) £70,000 on third over a year, £100,000 on the place we've just over over 2 years. We have friends and family that have lost significant amounts on new builds. Of course you need to buy the "right" property, needs work, sought after area, etc etc.

-tend to be more sort after (husband now works in property)

-beautiful!

-older buildings tend to keep cooler in the summer

NEGATIVES:
-need work and maintenance

-other people who live in the building, can be fine but you don't always know what you're getting!

-cold in winter, high heating costs!

-be careful of damp if on a ground floor

Thanks boymum
Do you remember what any maintenance costs were?
And did you ever have a major extra cost like a new roof to pay for?
What are was that in if you don't mind me asking? Dd is looking South East london

I'd look closely at windows. I owned a flat in a converted Victorian mansion and the windows were a complete pain for letting in freezing drafts in the winter and were single glazed. As we were in a conservation area we couldn't replace them with anything but newly made wooden sash windows, which are expensive.

I also lifted the flooring of mine throughout and laid additional sound proofing as the sound exchange was greater than between purpose-built flats.

I used to live in one of these, and I loved it.

It was just a one bed flat, but the feeling of grandeur from the size of the rooms and windows, and the scale of the entrance hall, was amazing.

Ours was leasehold, but all the owners were part of a Right to Manage company which meant that we decided what work needed to be done, and could find good deals. This meant we had to do some work, but maintenance costs were actually much lower than some people I know in new blocks where the managing agent can charge massive amounts for landscaping/ lift repair/ whatever takes their fancy.

Get a full survey done obviously (not just a home buyers report), which will help you to avoid big things like the roof.

It was cold, though.

She loves the high ceilings...

I also wondered with the survey, does the surveyor need access to the other flats to.do a full survey? And do people allow this?

We lived in a conversion in Crystal Palace in one of the huge Victorian gothic houses built for the Great Exhibition.
It was a lovely massive space for the money, but sound proofing between flats was non existent and having upstairs neighbours with wooden flooring was a form of torture. Some leases on this type of flat prohibit wooden flooring but enforcing the rule is tricky.

Hi Alex,

It has varied over the years, we currently pay a % of what needs going, it's divided between the amount of flats, there are 7, our flat is double the size of the others so we pay a bit more. Nothing major has happened in the time we're here. Upside is that we needed major damp work prior to moving in and because the issue was coming from how the building had been made into flats and drainage so we only had to pay for a £3000 of a £30,000 damp course. This wasn't shared with the other flats, it was done via the leases insurance or something like that!!

Previously it's been between £50-70 a month. These ones have always been kept well.

We're in Bristol, but one of those properties was in west London!

One was top floor, the other had a flat above it, so by the sounds of it top floor is best.
The flat she prefers was converted in 1958 so I assume poor sound insulation would be a problem

As I understand in new regulations came into force in the 1980s regarding the conversion of houses into flats regarding soundproofing. Before that there didn’t need to be any soundproofing between floors. We lived in one that was converted before those regulations came into force and the noise was what eventually forced us to move. So my advice is to visit that flat at times when there are definitely people at home above and below, to get a feel for how good the soundproofing is. For us it was hideous, people just walking upstairs sounded like they were stomping and normal sounds were magnified, as if they were dropping bowling balls! The washing machine sounded like it was coming through the ceiling. Add a nocturnal neighbour up there and the result was hellish!

I lived in one which had been split into 6 flats. Never, never again, mainly because of the noise! Upstairs had wooden floors and I could hear everything, from them dropping coins on the floor to having sex! Also the freeholders were rip off merchants who either did nothing maintenance wise or got the cheapest bodger in to do jobs and then charged us a fortune.

I would consider something that was just split into two or three flats and properly soundproofed, or at least had a ban on wooden floors.

Friend of mine moved to a mid floor conversion in a Georgian terrace in Bristol about 25 years ago. Lovely and spacious flat. Being mid floor and mid terrace, combined with the fact she never got home before 6, she never used her heating in the 3 years she lived there. So they're not always cold!

Really depends on the quality of the conversion.

Also depends on the quality of the other residents, and the quality of the management company. Are they going to enforce ‘clear entrance ways’ or are there loads of shitty bikes and pushchairs littered in the hallway making the place look like a slum (and bad for fire safety)?

Her favourite is mid floor
7 flats
Share of freehold
Own section of private garden
80 a month maintenance ( checking if it's managed by the residents)

How can we check the noise level from above... hang around during the viewing for ages?
I am going with her for 2nd viewing on Wednesday so will look out for the things me ironed above

See if you can have a viewing in the evening (6:30/7ish) when people are more likely to have TVs/music/cooking dinner. Generally, though (to set expectations) I'd say that you're pretty much guaranteed to hear your neighbours in conversions - its fine if you're all on the same schedule and if rooms are matched (i.e. bedrooms beneath bedrooms - we once had a bedroom underneath someone's kitchen and it was awful). I found that Mack's ear plugs do the trick, and have been a complete lifesaver.

Overall, it sounds like a pretty good bet for a FTP (nice road so feel safe walking back from tube/train etc.) - £80 service charge isn't unusual - don't panic too much about major works, but you can protect yourself by instructing a surveyor (however be aware that they won't have access to the roof, unless you can arrange access (via a roof-terrace if one exists) - they'll simply make an observation. Ask about whether there is a sinking fund, and check whether the property is managed by the other co-freeholders, but also just have a look at the roof yourself! if it looks in good condition compared to the rest of the road, things will be fine

Also a note on the sound, when you go to the viewing see what you can hear but also try arrange a viewing on a weekend when people are more likely to be in. The three previous flats we lived in you couldn't really hear people, there were big cavities in the floors between (floor layer fell and put his food through downstairs...! There was about 1m) but the one we're in now is awful, the woman upstairs has wooden floors and you can hear every foot step, phone call etc etc, thankfully for us that's only over our living room. It's one of the reason we're selling and I did put a lot of buyers off when they viewed and she was home.

But in the same vein I've been in new builds where you hear literally everything the neighbours do!

Thanks for all of the advice guys, very much appreciated

Just remembered something completely random from the lease of my old flat, it was very, very unusual as the lease stipulated that the top floor leaseholders were responsible for the roof and the ground floor lease responsible for the drains. Usually the responsibility would be split between all leases, so check carefully.

Parking can also be an issue, so check the exact wording on a lease as to any allocation to each flat, or if it's a free for all.

I own one. It is £85 per month service charge. I with the other flatowners all own a share in the freehold. The maintenance company is basically all of us. When I bought it there was a decent sinking fund and this is maintained at about £15k with all works being done as required including communal decorating, fortnightly gardening services, communal area cleaning, electrics etc.

As long as you see the accounts for the maintenance it should be fine if run properly.

Just thought I would update...
Went for a second viewing with Dd yesterday. Unfortunately noise from the flat above was very noticeable, the room felt like it was shaking when the person was walking around. Also the next door flats dc was having a tantrum which was also very noticeable.
Has anyone ever done any soundproofing work to their flats? And if so how effective was it?

Don’t even think about soundproofing as an option. Doesn’t work.

Agree with other posters had a beautiful conversion, but the sound issues were horrendous. We did look at putting in sound insulation but were told it wouldn't work if not done in adjoining flats, who refused to do it even if we paid. The upstairs' flat had exposed wooden floors, could hear literally everything. Also, as other posters have said, often rooms are not the same as in other flats, so our bedroom was over a sitting-room and next door to someone's sitting room too. It was awful to live with and spent a fortune on ear plugs.

Have a friend who bought a more recent conversion and it's not that much better, sound is hard to block out with shared pipework etc...Also do need to have a good maintenance arrangement. We bought our freehold which did help. And we did sell at a profit. It was only bearable to live in though because it was in a busy area with lots of places to go and we went out a lot. Would never buy another one.