Third time lucky - opinions please?!

[5thWisdom]

The house search continues.

I've now found this cottage - renovated but the layout needs work. Maybe this is my compromise?

According to current agent, it was listed with previous agents at £375k. Listed with current agent last December. Reduced with current agent from £335 to £325k in March 2022.

Current layout is all wrong upstairs. Three of the four bedrooms are tiny. The only bathroom upstairs is the en-suite.

Garden is huge.

The parking arrangement is through a purchase of land at end of garden of neighbour opposite as developer knocked down wall of garden to make way for driveway without planning permission and planners now refuse to consider application for driveway (developer has applied 3 times). Space for 2 cars but only one half has been finished, rest is a dumping ground of rubble.

Previous listings state house is Grade 2 listed but current listing doesn't mention this.

I would love your thoughts, advice, ideas (please be kind!)

Here is current listing:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/82840959

Here is old listing before work was carried out, so you can see original layout:

https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/1901884/doc00_1.pdf

Previously sold in 2016 for £140k.

Hmmmm. So strange that they renovated with such a poor final layout. It should be 3 bedrooms with one ensuite and one family bathroom upstairs. That shower room downstairs would need to be a utility room with possibly a cloakroom so there is a toilet downstairs...the open plan layout of downstairs means as a shower room it would be pointless to me and I would want somewhere for appliances, boots, coats etc. The living area looks very dark ...could you knock through the side wall with extra windows or sliding doors? How many people would be living there and what would you use the bedrooms for?

So it would be for my primary age child, myself, and dog!

Okay, so equal sized bedrooms not so much of an issue but I'd still want a family bathroom upstairs. Maybe room 2 or 3 as their room, and then 4 converted to bathroom if plumbing allowed. Or 3 and 4 would become one larger room with 2 as the bathroom but then you're back to paying for 4 bedrooms and only ending up with 2. What is the road like for crossing over with child, dog, bags etc? Silly thought but it would get wearing quickly if crossing a busy road was an issue.

Garden is lovely for a dog though ...lots of running space!

Can the driveway be used at present as it is. Have you looked at the planning online why it was listed as grade 2 and now is no longer and why planning permission for parking hasn’t been given. It’s such a shame the layout is all wrong, there must be an issue with water supply to not have a family bathroom, but saying that, it’s a lovely sized, unique property. What do the Estate Agents say, has any buyers actually gone as far as getting surveys done on the house recently.

I think the current renovation has been done to sell on so spend has been kept minimum-hence why wet room is in original place. Makes much more sense for this to be a utility room.

Agents say a previous offer was agreed then buyer went AWOL.
No other information than that.

Not sure if Grade 2 listing has been removed or just that agents haven't included it in their details.

The house is part of a row of three. The two houses connected have recently had planning permission to remove the render down to the original stone and look beautiful.
I wonder if same could be done here.

The road is a main through road but not hugely busy.

Agents seemed to think that developer had upset planners by removing the wall without permission, the developer then had to reinstate the wall and as a consequence, refused to consider any further applications for adding a driveway?!

It's a nice part of the world. But the developer hasn't ruined the house really hasn't he? It's all a bit homes under the Hammer. I'd be loathe to pay a premium for an interior I didn't like and would want to change.

But I know you've been looking for a while and are really keen to move.....I'd just be wary of paying a developers premium just now, if there's any chance you may need to sell in the foreseeable.

I think the fact it's been sat there since March says the price is still wrong.

One of the bedrooms upstairs needs to be converted to a family bathroom which begs the question, is the price good for a 3 bed house which is what this property should be? If not, then I would buy a different 3 bed house as it doesn't sound like you need 4 beds anyway.

I would get some more info on the planning/driveway/Grade 2 bit. Calculate how much you would be likely to spend on getting it the way you want. Then work out how much you think would be reasonable to buy it for. It's frustrating that they've done it up, but not very well. I'd be loathe to pay for their half hearted job and suppose no one else would want to either. It could be lovely!

The way it has been renovated really is shocking. They could have turned it into a luxurious 2 bed (with upstairs bathroom) or a decent 3 bed (or 2 proper bedrooms and one study/childs room & upstairs bathroom) but instead they have unsuccessfully tried to cram 4 beds into way too small a space. Look at the square footage upstairs - it is not big at all.

Bloody hell, they have really messed up the layout inside, haven't they?
If I'd bought it first time around, I would have contrived to put a bathroom in upstairs somehow but other than that left the layout pretty much as it was, just make the downstairs shower into a utility and loo.
As it is now, only one of the four bedrooms is big enough for a bed! You'd struggle to get even a single sensibly into the other three without blocking access to a window or probably radiator.
The big step down from the main lawn is a complete hazard for anyone, including the dog; urgently needs a barrier of some kind.
What's with that huge counter in the kitchen with a radiator underneath?
The whole place looks like someone has set out to cram as many bedrooms in (upstairs) and create a supposed wow-factor downstairs (shiny kitchen) without considering the limitations of the building or the practicality of living there. It also feels like the developer has lost interest in finishing it off properly (the unfinished, unsafe garden and the pile of rubble you mention on the parking space). That would worry me - where else have they cut corners?
Sorry, not a fan. Frankly I think the house has been ruined.

It's definitely listed OP

cadwpublic-api.azurewebsites.net/reports/listedbuilding/FullReport?lang=&id=83395

I'd be very wary that what they've done is not within the listing - for instance the listing mentions sash windows, and they all look to have been replaced with top hung ones. You'd have to pay to put it all back if the listing people decided they wanted it reverted.

Also, you may not be able to make alterations you would want to internally (moving walls etc) because of the listing.

Oh God, I've just looked at the 2016 details - what have they done?! It was lovely...

I wouldn’t touch that with a barge pole. I think the developers have possibly not met grade requirements, and you’d be paying a premium for the stripping out of character and too many bedrooms squeezed into a not-four-bedroom house.

sorry, but I think the search continues. It’ll be worth it in the end though.

There's lights on in every single picture and the windows are small. I would be concerned that it was very dark indoors.

wow it was way nicer before - awful
bedrooms and garden was beautiful

horrid kitchen
don't like shower room off kitchen

bizarre

I know you've been looking for a while & it's a giant pain in the bum. But I personally wouldn't now touch that with a barge pole!

they've screwed up the layout, the garden, the ability to park & personally I don't like the refit. I'd wonder what else they've screwed up - including changes not complying.

you can do better!

I’d guess the Grade 2 listing gives issues with moving plumbing to form an upstairs bathroom?
However Id be v wary of checking that they have had listed buildings consent for everything they’ve done. Given the parking shenanigans it seems unlikely they’ve been careful to get all permissions!

To add insult to injury, I've been looking through the documents on the LA's planning pages and can see Natural Resources Wales' response to the application for the extension- they had no objection but this was in their response;

Flood Risk
The application site lies partially within Zone C2 as defined by the Development Advice Map (DAM) referred to under Technical Advice Note 15: Development and Flood Risk (TAN15) (July 2004). Our Flood Map information, which is updated on a quarterly basis, confirms the site to be within the 1% (1 in 100 year) and 0.1% (1 in 1000 year) annual probability flood outlines of the Boverton Brook. Our historic flood map data indicates this site was affected by flooding during a October 1998 flood event.

Given the scale of the proposed development (and in the absence of a Flood Consequence Assessment) we consider the risk could be acceptable subject to the developer being made aware of the potential flood risks, and advised to install flood- proofing measures as part of the development.

In areas at risk of flooding, we recommend that consideration be given to the incorporation of flood resistance/resilience measures into the design and construction of the development. These could include flood barriers on ground floor doors, windows and access points, implementation of suitable flood proofing measures to the internal fabric of the ground floor, and locating electrical sockets/components at a higher level above possible flood levels.

Eek.

It’s a sweet cottage and I like SOME things about it, the garden is nice and the master bedroom is also very pretty. However the road would be a major compromise for me, especially with the parking situation which sounds basically insurmountable unless you’re prepared to chuck a lot of money and time at it. So for me it’s a lot of compromises which wouldn’t be worth it unless you love the village and also the style of renovation (I don’t, would have been much better with a period style renovation downstairs and a proper bathroom as well as en suite upstairs).

OP I imagine you’ve probably seen this already, but I’d prefer this one (obviously needs more work but could be lovely if you could do the work gradually)
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85734198#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks everyone.

I'll walk away from this one!

Thanks @Heronwatcher - I did see that one, I just thought it seemed expensive - with a lot needing spending on it. Interesting that they've recently reduced but still feels too high. I'm imagining it's because of its location in Llantwit Major itself. The garage and driveway seem like a luxury in comparison to this Boverton cottage now however!

Yeah I think you’re paying for the location, quiet road, garage and I do think it’s got more long term potential. But of course you’d have to be able to live with it in the meantime (to me it looks liveable but you can’t necessarily tell from the photos!). If they’ve reduced once it might be worth a look.