Does no one want a bungalow?

[Chaletbungalow]

I have my bungalow up for sale.

Every viewer we have had has loved it but as it is on a road with huge 3 storey houses and it has a good sized plot similar to the other houses
Every viewer has wanted to knock it down and build a big house on the plot.

The problem is about 15 years ago I tried to do what other potential buyers want to do and that was to knock it down and rebuild.
The problem was first finding an architect who would actually deal with the local planning department. Once they knew the planning department the architects refused to touch it.

Eventually found an architect out of the area.
I would put in plans of what I thought was a sensible house.
The planning officer would say to change certain things. I would tell my architect what needed changing. The revised plans would be submitted then there would be something else that needed changing etc etc then they would say it needed to change again and what they described was the first plans I showed them. Then the whole thing would start again.

This went on for about 2 year before I gave up. It was like dealing with a group of people who were pathological liars and you couldn’t trust what they said.
No one would believe me when I told them what they did or said.
My architect tried to deal with them at one point to no avail and told me to give up and refused to deal with them again.

Soon after I had given up they met their match with another person who had tried and succeeded on appeal to get planning. I won’t go into details but it culminated in virtually all of the planning department being dismissed.

We did go ahead and put in for planning at one point (unfortunately I couldn’t go to the meeting otherwise I would have spotted the errors and pulled it out of the meeting on the night)
The planning officer we were dealing despite having all the figures and room sizes put down her own version for heights of rooms so it looked like the height of the house would look like a tower block.
I.e ceiling height for the ground floor was 2.4m. Ceiling height that was put before committee was 24m. Then it was drawn so it looked like the house spread up to the boundary on either side.

It was a complete mess.

Don’t get me started on the cubic footage. Even basic maths didn’t add up. Eg living room was put down as eg 24m height x 6 metres width x 10m length=1,159,997 cubic metres

The problem I am having is their refusal is on my planning history and because of this the people who want to buy the place are seeing this and don’t want to proceed.

They don’t see the ridiculous rehashed plans and the made up figures that didn’t add up which led to the refusal.

A development has since gone up down the road on what was green belt land and other people have extended to the side and out the back and our other ndn has had a massive side and back extension so I am thinking that if someone came along now with a hopefully more sensible planning dept they would get their plans through.

Otherwise how do I get someone who actually wants to live in the place as a bungalow without them looking at it and going down the development potential route

Or someone to look at the history of the planning department and realise that the refusal was not because they objected to any house being built on the plot but because of the fictitious height and spread of the plans.

Unfortunately because of new practices you can’t talk to the planning department anymore

I'm sorry about your DH. Do you really have to sell your house whilst you have a sick DH? My house move took 15 months from putting on the market to actually moving. The market is slow, especially at the higher end of the market. To have the stress of being a carer for a sick partner plus the stress of house buying/selling would be awful. Surely you want to concentrate on your DH now.

SkinnyChicky

Even going for outline planning would take months that dh doesn’t have.
We also don’t have the money to pay architects and possibly multiple pre planning advice fees.

The very first viewer we had said it ticked all the boxes but having seen it they decided that they would like to make more of the house and maybe extend but having done some research because of the previous planning permissions being denied they decided not to go ahead.

Our only hope atm seems to be that as 4 of the viewers were looking for a home and they were all under offer on their own homes they might return as their contract exchanges gets nearer and there isn’t anything close to what we have for sale in this price range within 1 mile of where we are.

There are very few 4 bed detached houses or bungalows for sale in the area and non have the size of garden or driveway.

Dh doesn’t want to give the place away. He said he would rather not go anywhere or do anything than see the place sold to someone who wanted to make a lot of money out of his illness.

I did think we had priced it to sell quickly. What I didn’t expect that a planning application from 2004 would have such devastating consequences.

Just popping in to wish you well, I hope you and your husband can now have some nice days out together and keep making happy memories. Would you consider renting it out, could you make enough to rent somewhere that you like?

I think the value of the remaining bungalows in the UK is going to gradually increase in proportion to the overall market.

The people they suit are only becoming more numerous, they are reducing in numbers as like in the OP, many are being turned into houses, & they don't build them anymore.

If PP is the issue affecting sale you need to - as other posters have said - get PP approved. An architect should be doing that for you and should be the go-between between you and the planning officers. You shouldn’t be having to do that yourself - it’s what you pay architects for! I don’t understand why that wasn’t happening before - seems very weird.
The cost of doing that can then be reflected in the house price so you should get it back.

@Chaletbungalow, I’m so sorry about your DH’s diagnosis.

As you say time is precious to you both right now. I think Notdavidtennant makes a very good point. Even if you found a buyer tomorrow you have no way of knowing how long the process will take. House buying can drag on for months and there’s no guarantee it won’t fall through at the last minute. The whole process can be extremely stressful, even without any particularly unusual problems or delays, and tends to become all consuming. Is this really how you want to spend the time you have left together? Of course, I appreciate there are all sorts of factors and considerations of which I know nothing.

One thought, if you need or want to free up some money to help you through the next year might you consider equity release instead? Then you and DH could stay in your own home, without any immediate money worries and without all the stress of trying to sell, and presumably buy as well. You could always sell, pay back the loan and downsize later.

I should say, I have no experience of equity release and I know there are pitfalls and drawbacks and you’d need to look into it carefully and take some advice but I’m just trying to think of a way for you and DH is avoid going through a buying and selling process during this precious time of have left together.

Whatever you decide to do I hope it works out for you.

Developers ... can’t develop anything with what looks like a load of hassle

I can't speak for other areas but round here "connections" with the council can get developers almost anything they want, and your planning hassle may even have been down to one of them wanting it back then

Since you've only recently marketed the house, and since six of your viewers almost certainly were developers, it's possible they're waiting to see if you'll drop the price to the point where they'll get it for a song, either on the "open" market or at auction

Luckily there's still every chance someone will want the house for what it is, so I wouldn't panic just yet

Update

So we are now another 5 weeks and numerous viewings later.

Still the same issue.

I am thinking of putting the price up though, it might get rid of the clearly idiot people I have had through my door.

One builder wanted to turn it into a 5 bedroom 3 reception room house by rejigging what is here. Perfectly possible.
He measured up everything then offered so much less we wouldn’t have been able to buy a 2 bed terrace in the area.
He told the agent he wouldn’t be able to buy immediately but would need time to finish his own house, sell it and get pp to do what he needed.

Dp would be dead before we got to exchanging contracts.

A 4 bed terraced house has recently been put up for sale.

About 10 years ago we looked at this particular house when we thought of getting rid of the mortgage and buying a place we could fit in and for £200,000 less we were willing to sacrifice off road parking and room sizes to stay in the area. However we found on viewing it there was no garden or any outside space which for us was a none starter, we had a dog and children.

This has now gone on for so much more than we are on for.
If all things remained equal then ours should be £600,000 more than it is advertised for.
This house is only 500 yards from us in the next road.

I have looked at 4 bed detached bungalows within 1 mile of where we are and we are the cheapest by a few hundred thousand.
We are definitely the cheapest 4 bed detached house apart from those that are on a busy main A road/yards from the motorway.
If we add the annexe as a 5th bedroom then the prices around here skyrocket.

Have you got a link to the property via the estate agent or rightmove?
It sounds interesting Thanks

Can’t even say what Zoopla estimates as it doesn’t have an estimated value.

The other houses in the road have estimated values at far lower than they should.

Everything is valued the same as a 3 bed detached house that was in need of complete renovation that got sold 2 years ago. Even if they are 5 or 6 bedrooms, are beautifully renovated with an acre more garden.

WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat

Don’t want to put a link as it would be easy to find the address and link it to our names. We have been the subject of fraud before and don’t want a repeat of the same sort of thing.

Try not to get too involved with what other people want to do to the house. It only leads to frustration if you haven't been able to get planning permission. Why do you think the house isn't selling?

You will either have to wait for a buyer, employ an architect and resubmit plans, or take it off the market.

I don't think a serious developer will be concerned about a failed planning application 15 years ago. They will be able to see the reason(s) for the rejection, and anyway rules have changed over that period.

A developer will probably have in mind what they can do with the plot before they even visit, and they often have a good rapport with planning departments and can discuss outline their plans with them (as can you)

I used a planning consultant and they were able to put together a very good case and we got what we wanted. Of course we might have been able to achieve that ourselves and saved the cost we'll never know!

But I can see you no longer wish, or able to, follow that route so I think your best bet is speak with a number of different agents and follow their advice.

Where I live, bungalows are at a real premium. So many folk who now want a bungalow because of age / mobility issues, but don't want to move from their own area. Bungalows go for a fortune.
It does seem to depend where you live.

Same here. It's a shame as some very ordinary 2 bedroom bungalows with large-ish gardens are clearly getting flogged at grossly inflated prices because the land is what's valuable. Here in Liverpool, our planning dept seem to approve anything, they're destroying the character of some roads by allowing big old houses to be demolished and then a fugly characterless square box of flats to be built on the land, using every square inch right up to every boundary, with the top floor being listed as "penthouses" so they can be let out at grossly inflated rental prices, tiny flat windows, no communal gardens, and entry to the car park often in a very awkward position eg right on a junction with traffic lights etc.

As a consequence, ordinary family homes such as our 30s 3 bed semi, are much sought after, as there is now nowhere for people living in those to ever move up to and people stay in them for life, as there are no bungalows! Meaning that younger families are stuck in too-small homes. It's a vicious circle and ridiculous state of affairs.

chalet bungalow am so sorry about your DHs situation. Why would you add stress fir both yourselves trying to sell your bungalow now? Why not just stay put or do you need the money desperately?

Is your house listed online as ‘bungalow’ or ‘detached house’? If it’s ‘bungalow’, families looking for a home might not even see it so I’d make sure it’s ‘detached house’.

I can see why being on a road full of (mega)mansions, it’s viewed more as a plot to develop on.

Is your property close to amenities and in good state school catchments to appeal to downsizers and families with more modest budgets?

I also wouldn’t be surprised if downsizers or families discount your house as they’d rather be in roads/areas popular with similar demographic rather than multimillionaires behind big gates.

Have you thought about posting the Rightmove link to the property to some self build Facebook sites (without your back story). There are loads of people looking for a plot.

Is your property close to amenities and in good state school catchments to appeal to downsizers and families with more modest budgets

Not walking distance and the area isn’t a “modest budget” area

It is in the catchment area of good schools though.

I viewed one years ago and rejected it as it seemed old-ladyish; I've often regretted it - and they're like hen's teeth around here.

What I meant by ‘modest budget’ is sub 1M in a place of 2-20M homes so just relatively modest as that’s still a lot of money.

Given your sad circumstances, have you considered any equity release schemes?

Even if a family willing to buy the place comes along, chains still take months and months to complete.

I’m also under the impression that people find it acceptable to be away from amenities if they’re buying a mansion. However, a bungalow or a standard detached family home will do better when they’re within walking distance as people want to be independent/not ferry their kids everywhere. So it might be a very posh road but many buyers looking for a home will prefer a convenient nice-enough road.

Remember a house is only worth what someone was willing to pay. A large plot isn't a selling point to everyone either. I have just bought a house and was open to bungalows but they were pokey and cost too much compared to houses

It is just that “We buy any house” Who are supposed to offer derisory amounts are offering more than the offers we are getting from viewers.

The problem is it is a perfectly nice house but the people we are getting round just want to pull it apart and rebuild and the costs everyone is saying don’t work out. There is no profit in doing the work because you are buying a nice house and then tearing it down to create a slightly bigger nice house

Dp has resigned himself to never going on holiday again (even Covid is against him) and just living out his days in this house and leaving me to try and sell after he has gone.

He refuses to be bullied into taking such derisory offers that we couldn’t afford to house ourselves in the area.

We wouldn’t want to do Equity Release.

I don’t want to have that hanging over me for the rest of my life.