Worth doing loft conversion in first floor maisonette?

[TurquoiseDress]

Hello all

We are a couple with 2DC- one in reception and the other several months old.

Recently had our property purchase fall through sadly (vendor decided to take off the market and that they didn’t want to sell after all!)

This was in Beckenham where we currently rent now.

On my daily scour of Rightmove I’ve seen a 2 bed first floor maisonette slightly further out in West Wickham, looks like it has been on market a long time and just reduced again.

Have been discussing with DH whether to sort out a viewing. I’m wondering whether we could do a loft conversion for a 3rd bedroom!

Obviously it’d be much easier to buy a 3 bedroom house, but financially this is totally impossible.

What do people think? I’ve no experience or real idea about this sort of thing- know it’d cost about 50k.

We would love to have 3 bedrooms- but not sure if adding a loft conversion to a first floor flat would really be worth it?

Here’s the property link:

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/46067194

Is it ex-LA? Who owns the freehold? Can you install a loft extension unless you have express permission of the freeholder?

I have seen maisonettes that have had loft conversions. I'm not sure about this one though. Doesn't look like any of the others have had one. Are there other blocks in the area that have?

I've no idea of the property price, not my area. Looks nicely done.

You might not be buying the loft. It might be shared between both flats.

You would need to ask the freeholder - and make sure there is room for the staircase to be extended with a turn without taking up too much of an existing room. Plus it depends very much on the head height in the existing loft because in a block like that you would struggle to change the roof line to give you more space.

Looks v nice though! Worth exploring I would say.

It says the loft has been boarded out so it belongs to the flat. However, as mentioned above, you might need a permission to convert it and the freeholder might charge a fair bit for that. You also need to see if there’s enough headroom to put in insulation and still have proper head height. As you’re part of a larger building, you won’t be able to fiddle with the roof line too much.

Don’t know the area but given that you can afford a refurbished 2-bed with a garden there, isn’t it possible to find a 3 bed in need of work with a communal garden for a similar price?

You will need to check the height of the loft as raising the roof height is very unlikely to be approved. There's probably covenants on the property and check if it's freehold.

We own a shared Freehold flat, it's one of three and the flat above us tried this. The flat below us said no and we also refused permission; it affected the roof, the building insurance,our tenants comfort. There was no upside for the other two flats just disruption, possible problems and increased costs. Before you buy how would you ensure you could do the conversion?

My dd looked at this when it first came on months ago at 350k, it felt cramped and small, it is under 600ft2... also doesn't look like an easy place to put stairs up to the loft without using too much of another room. Didn't look in the loft tbh b

Wow thank you for all the replies!

Just starting the morning preparation madness, will reply properly later on

Ok just read that it's leasehold- really need share of the freehold I think?

Wonder what they mean exactly by "fairly low service charges"?

That's another thing to think about with a leasehold flat- service charge and ground rent!

Oh dear, I was getting all excited about it when I looked at it last night

Low charges probably means the council own the freehold... they aren't as money grabbing as private freeholders

It says £265 service charge per annum and £10 ground rent per annum.

@Vitalogy

Thank you
Yes- now I've actually scrolled down to the bottom I've seen the charges!

Not bad at all compared with some I've seen for flats in SE London!

Also there is a primary school in the same road! This has got me all excited

DH seems less convinced though

We are quite "fixed" on staying in Beckenham it's just so great for us and we love it!

The only massive snag is not being able to afford a property there.
This one in WW is 300k so much less than what we've been looking at

Be aware that loft conversions to flats aren't Permitted Development so you need planning permission. My LA won't give permission for large dormers at all, it's against their policy. If the conversion hangs on it, make an offer STPP.

With less than 600 sq ft you really have no space for a staircase to meet building regs approval. You would take too much space out of the existing maisonette. I would not consider a loft conversion remotely possible and would cost a fortune anyway.

Found this one, it's in the same road and appears to already have had a loft conversion done, although it is not as modernised as the first one I posted.

The more I read about loft conversions, am starting to think that buying somewhere with a view to do one may not be the best approach...although 3 beds mainly seem to be out of our reach, in the areas that we are looking at!

Here is the link:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73021946.html

@JoJoSM2

The maisonette at 300k is affordable for us and it sounds like it has had a price drop from the original 350k, plus it's clearly been recently modernised.

But nearly all the 3 bedroom places are way beyond our budget e.g. 500k or more which is absolutely impossible for us based on our deposit and the size of mortgage that we'll be able to raise

Looks from the photos (the bathroom one) that the ceilings are already partially sloped at the edges which suggests there isn't enough head height. Also the ceilings in general look low.

If there's 2.4m at the ridge you might just about be able to get a bedroom up there, anything less then I wouldn't think it's feasible.

The hallway looks tight and doesn't look like it would be easy to get a stair in. But you could possibly move the kitchen to the balcony bedroom, accessed off the living room, with room to squeeze the stairs in behind. Make the old kitchen a bedroom. It's all recently been done though so probably not good value to start ripping out fixtures.

TBH OP, I deal with loft conversions all the time and this doesn't really look feasible to me. It looks like a developer has done it up, and if they thought they could do it, they would have.

What is wrong with the three bed you just posted? If that is on for £350 it is way better value than the 2 bed £300 one. You'll never get a loft done for 50k in the current climate.

I think with a leasehold, you might own the roof, but you don't own the air above the roof. You have to have permission from the freeholder to alter the roof in any way as it affects the air above it

Well actually, thinking about it now, that 3 bed maisonette is looking much more attractive!

It also seems to have a driveway area and garage plus private garden as well.

Looks like they've done the loft conversion already...also it's been on the market for over 9 months or so, should be room to negotiate on price etc

Now I just need to convince DH about it!

That doesn't look like a proper loft conversion with a dormer... so wont have building regs and shouldn't be sold as a bedroom but a loft room

The one you have just posted does have what looks to be a decent staircase upto the loft. The headroom is poor though so I am not sure if it meets regulations. You need to read up on this. If you like it, I would put in an offer.