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

If your FP is adamant he won't take a low offer you really should think about the planning permission. Yes it might take some time but you'd be a month into it now if you'd started it when you first asked.

We wouldn’t be a month into it as they haven’t even started on the backlog from March.

And as I said I know that it isn’t worth anyone pulling the place down and building a slightly bigger house.

The figures just wouldn’t add up.

My parents had similar, where others had been developed on bungalows on big plots into massive mansions. Theirs was a bungalow originally yet bigger than most. It would of been costly to reconfigure, but more work than knocking down the small bungalows as had been extended up and out . They wanted 1.5m, the developers offered £775k. They had various offfers from buyers around 850- 950k. They kept rejecting for 5 years, yes 5 years. Eventually the people that bought it offered 1.3m. They haven't demolished it. So it depends how long you can wait and how confident you are in finding someone who will pay what you want.

If others have developed something nearby it will be possible, but yes what planning say on the phone and what is accepted are completely at the plans reviews are different. One person will give you advice, but that person isn't the only person with a say. So it can messy and long winded.

There really hasn’t been that much development. Certainly no houses torn down.
A couple have had extensions and been completely renovated but they were for those that have lived there.

I would take it off the market till your contract with current estate agent has expired.
Then relaunch at a higher price that you think is comparable to what you should expect for the property with a different estate agent.

Planning law is changing soon - legislation has been passed and you can build on or up much more easily. www.gov.uk/government/news/new-laws-to-extend-homes-upwards-and-revitalise-town-centres

So your planning application that was refused in 2004 can be dismissed with a 'yes it was refused but the new regulations this summer now allow 2 storey/bigger extensions ' if asked.

We have another few weeks with this agent then we might have a go at selling it ourselves.

I think given the correct details it would have been passed in 2004 but us rebuilding was because we wanted to live in the property.
The money isn’t there if you want to turn a profit.

From what you are describing, I'd also suggest staying put. Rather than an "equity release" loan as such, you may well be able to increase your mortgage (or get a new one). Does your DH have any life insurance, and would it be worth viewing some of that as "money we could use better now" if it was earmarked to pay the mortgage back down in the future?

If you can get what you need for the immediate future by doing that, I'd try to get a bit extra to restart the planning process. Then next year or down the track put your house back on the market at a higher price hopefully with outline planning permission to go with it. I agree that it sounds like you may be attracting the wrong market with too low a price, so hard to tell I imagine.

I'm so sorry you are in such a sad situation; hope that an easier way forward can be found. And also, I hope you prove to have a bit more time together. My father survived 2.5 years on a diagnosis that should have meant months.

No life insurance and no job and too old to get a mortgage.
We have no money as living with cancer and the expenses we have had has taken everything. Even his pension has taken a battening so no income to speak of

Getting planning permission wouldn’t add any value on to the house.

Why would you tear down a perfectly good house to build another perfectly good house.
Worth the same amount or slightly more. Financially it isn’t there
You won’t get a footballers wives mansion on the plot. It just wouldn’t fit in with the neighbouring houses.

OP if you are just selling the house to get some money in, could your DH apply for PIP, or attendance allowance if state pension age. There are special rules if terminally ill. Then you could also claim carer's allowance for him and possibly other benefits. Claim everything you can and it should add up to a decent monthly amount.

How big is the plot? They were building footballers wives mansions on my parents road and getting permission next to tiny bungalows. I think my parents was 3/4 acres but certainly some massive houses on smallest plot. All the mansions built right up to the boundary ( leaving the min needed at edge) Most built into roof, some added basements too. Normally only 5 bedrooms, but even with 5 they had big rooms and dressing rooms, all en-suite etc, plus study, utility rooms.

I think it's due to VAT that builders prefer to build new rather than renovate.

Whereabouts is your chalet bungalow?
Could this be be the cause of you not getting viewings. E.G. Is it in a old mining / nuclear power generation area or near an location known for coastal erosion if so i can see the difficulty.
Otherwise, and I'm paraphrasing Sarah Beeny here, "I never known a property not to sell but i've known lots of properties that are overpriced..."
Do you think this might be something worth looking at?

You can sell anything at the right price, to get want you want for your house will take time.

Yes, that's spot on right price or you wait until the market reaches the price of your expectations.

I am not keen on bungalows because we sleep with the windows and curtains open. I also mainly see 1970s bungalows and don't like them. However, my friend lives in a 1920s bungalow - it is beautiful. Like a plantation style bungalow with stunning old oak parquet floors, large rooms, lots of light and lovely windows and fireplaces. It has a huge garden. I don't know why people pull those down but she tells me they do and build modern houses on the sites.

I had a similar problem selling my ground floor flat. Everyone who viewed it was talking about extending into the garden. The only access was through the (terraced) building. That was clear from the EA description and the photos. I got so tired of showing it to 30-something’s who’d been watching Make A Killing As A Property Developer or whatever on tv. Fortunately for me, a chap who wanted a big garden came along eventually.

If the link is available on a public website then why not put it on here too? You’ll get invaluable advice to help promote a sale.

igot20joe
It is one of thousands on Rightmove, as soon as I put it on here it becomes more of a target.

We have already been the subject of fraud and the address is easily linked to our names.

I don’t want to do anything that might draw the wrong type of attention to the address. I don’t think I could go through what I went through the last time.
It took years and thousands of pounds to sort out.

ToastyCrumpet

I feel the same is happening here.

Just had a word with our agent.

I do think from the conversation that we had it is him trying to sell it as a project that might be the reason that we haven’t had a viewer who wants to just live in the place as it is.
He kept referring to it as an unfinished project.

When I questioned him he said it was because it needed a bigger kitchen and the annexe really needed joining to the house.

The kitchen I agree is on the smaller side but it houses everything you need and the separate annexe has proved invaluable over the last year it doesn’t need adding to the house.
They are projects that if you choose to relocate the kitchen and take out a wall or wish to join the annexe to the main building you can do so but it doesn’t stop you living in the place

These are a choices not needs.

OP, what would be your plan for the next year or two if you don't manage to get a buyer?

I'm so, so sorry to read about your husband's illness.

Even if you had an offer tomorrow, it will still take time to actually get the money and move, and that may be a lot of stress and uncertainty and upheaval for you both.

I suppose I'm wondering what your plan B could be if a suitable buyer doesn't materialise in the next few months?

What would be the least worst option out of the options available if no buyer in the next year at current price level?

Sorry to be negative. I hope you do get a buyer. It sounds like a lovely house.

OP

Have you considered selling to a housing association? Finding accessible accommodation is like finding hen's teeth and HAs have people on waiting lists.

sashh

I doubt a housing association would spend the best part of £1million to house 1 family. Plus it isn’t exactly in the most convenient position. You need a car to go anywhere as there is no public transport.

Imetagirlcrazyfortea
Plan B would be to stay and try and keep our heads above water until Dp dies then me trying to sell again in a better market. If Dp survives for more than a year we will probably end up bankrupt as we don’t have enough money coming in to keep going in the longer term.

I suggest you put the link to rightmove on here, someone did recently and got over 26,000 'hits'
Admittedly very few would actually have been interested in buying it but the feed-back you may get as the seller could be invaluable.
If you seriously want to sell, you should consider all paths that might lead to a sale.🤞

Your estate agent doesn't appear to be doing you any favours and is just looking at your property as a 'plot' to sell rather than a home with potential to extend and improve. Hope you can change to another one or even go for two agents.

I wouldn't mind a bungalow.

Sack the estate agent and tell the next one to sell it to people interested in bungalows not anyone after a project