PP to turn house into 2 flats?

[IVFbeenverylucky]

Never thought I'd want to do this, but I need the money and cannot currently get a mortgage/remortgage despite decent earnings, no bad stuff and reasonable equity - although this should give me more.
I live in a 3 bed end of terrace Victorian with a small garden. I'd like PP to turn it into 2 flats, including a loft conversion so the top flat would then have 3 beds still, but bottom one just one. I live in London, not a conservation area, and just wondered what my chances are? That my home is a corner one does mean there could be separate access at the side (there's already a gate). That means it does not "open the floodgates" for my neighbours to do the same. (NB I understand this is a concern for councils.) Also, the bottom flat could be fairly easily arranged into having wheelchair access. I live in an area with mostly terraced Victorian houses and more modern flats, which do not offer private gardens, so my "USP" to the Council could be agreeing to make garden flat wheelchair accessible. A one bed wheelchair accessible place with a garden is like hen's teeth where I live, so wonder if that would help?
My main question is where do I start? I don't have thousands to spend on this, especially if it's likely to be a no!

A lot of councils in London now have a commitment to preserving family homes aka 3 bed and above houses. So they'd say no. But if there's precedent then they're on dodgy ground. Are there other flat conversions on your street or nearby? If there are then you might be in luck.

I know about that: the top flat could be made 3 beds with a loft conversion added on, but would not then have access to a garden, which is not so good for families (although my garden is very small).
My street has only about 35 homes on it; half are Victorian terraced houses and half are the same but in flats, but it was built that way. No conversions. I am literally the only house where there could be a separate entrance on any conversion and literally the only house which could be made wheelchair accessible downstairs (without very major and unsightly work). As I said, if you are wheelchair bound and want a garden, then there is basically nothing remotely where I live (not just my street but for half a mile if not much more in any direction).
I know you are right, but I'm just wondering whether that angle will help at all.

Parking might be an issue. To be truly accessible you may need to widen doorways, ramps, turning room, adapted bathroom etc.

No private parking (all terraced houses), but it's residents only on street. This is not a problem in practice - most people don't have cars. Bathroom would be more problematic, but by not means impossible.

can you split things a bit internally and then take lodgers to bring in funds? that way you don't need permission for anything, and you have more control over who lives there.

At the moment I still need to do a bit of work on the property (don't have a sink in the kitchen!), so it's not an option right now. The main issue though is a) I have kids aged 2 and 10 months so not sure how practical it is; b) I really want to move for a bigger garden and so need to get more equity built up; c) it wouldn't actually bring in that much - I'd lose my 25% council tax deduction, would pay more for bills, and with my kids I wouldn't be able to charge much anyway.
I may end up doing it in a few months (when I do have a sink), but it's not really going to make a huge difference and I query what tenant would put up with a 2 year old 10 month old who teeth and cry throughout the night. I'm their mother, but I've been a lodger in the past and that would have been a big no from me!

Hold on. If you cannot remortgage, where is the money coming from for the conversion?
Loft conversion prices are bandied about at £50k +. You’d need to fire and soundproof the two apartments, new kitchen(s), new bathrooms(s), heating, electrics etc etc. Just widening doorways and wide doors will cost a fair chunk.
Do you intend to live in one?

Ah maybe I misunderstood. You want to get PP then sell it at a premium?

It's going to cost you a fair bit to do this properly!
A dormer loft conversion is at least £60k in London and you've also got to bring all the kitchen services upstairs, plus install two new bathrooms and two new kitchens, reconfigure the layout for access, as well as make the downstairs flat wheelchair friendly by opening up the layout and widening doorways etc. Then the whole place will need redecorating.
I don't think you'll get very much change out of £150k unless you're doing a lot of the work yourself.

Also new gas, electric and water connections for the new unit and probably devaluing the property.

possible. and it's what property developers tended to do in an area I used to live in in se london.
they sometimes excavated the (coal) cellar to add rooms to the downstairs flat.
parking wasn't considered as an issue in the area.

very expensive to do well, both places need to be separated completely utility wise. sound insulation between the flats is vital. also between nextdoor neighbours.

pp is the easy part.

oh. and setting up a leasehold or share of freehold.

I’m in London and I investigated doing this to my Victorian terraced house some years ago. It was a nonstarter - because the council said my street was a “stressed street”, meaning there weren’t enough family houses and there were too many flats, so I’d never get permission to do it.

If you don't have the funds to get a mortgage, you don't have the funds to take on such a big project.

Many conversions are really shoddy because people do them cheaply and only think about maximum profit, poor soundproofing is a good example of that.

You should either sell the house as it is and move somewhere cheaper or take on a lodger.

Also who would buy your 3 bed flat with no garden in this market (as the lower flat would become the one with access to the garden)? probably not families. how certain are you that you will make a profit?

Most local authorities will offer pre-application advice for a small fee, so you can book a slot to go and discuss it with a planner, and if it’s a non-starter they can tell you there and then, so you have only wasted a small fee if it’s a flat ‘no’. They can also advise you on what you will need to consider in developing a scheme if it’s worth going ahead at that point. I’d start there.

Have a look at part M of the building regulations - that outlines what a truly accessible property would look like. The parking may be an issue as someone who is a full time wheelchair user may want parking too.

What borough are you in? Someone near us has taken a 3bed corner semi family house and added a loft conversion + ground floor extension and turned it into 3 separate flats. They are now adding a 4th single storey dwelling in the garden 🤯. So if you live in Merton, you might be in luck as it seems they literally dont care about cramming flats into a property.

@TeeHeeQuodSheAndClaptTheWindowTo
Thank you. I think that's a good idea.

I'm not planning on doing the conversion myself, but selling it with PP to raise more equity. TBF the upstairs flat (other than loft conversion lol) would not require any real refiguring and certainly the bathroom is fine as it is.

I'm in Lewisham. I suspect being 100% Labour they are strict about things like this (which I agree with), I just need to try and sell it for more to get more equity as I can't get a mortgage for more than about £80k (despite decent earnings, no other financial commitments - well kids).

I know the basic policy is that a family home has to still stay, and that's a bummer. I'd have a decent sized 3 bed flat but with no outside space. My only way around it was arguing a) unique situation here with wheelchair accessible garden; b) it's not opening up the floodgates for all my neighbours to do the same because I'm the only corner house.

Talk to an estate agent first. These conversions only make sense financially when developers get the house at a decent/knockdown price, and you want top dollar.

selling it without officially separating it would be very difficult. maybe speak to a conveyancer on how to go about it.

you might be limited to developers as for mortgaging the place needs to be habitable (own entrance + kitchen and bathroom) and adhere to building regs.

not impossible but not the easiest solution.

DM Policy 3
Conversion of a single family house to two or more dwellings

1. The Council will refuse planning permission for the conversion of a single family house into flats except where environmental conditions mean that the single family house is not suitable for family accommodation due to any factor listed below:

a. adjacent to noise generating or other environmentally unfriendly uses b. lack of external amenity space suitable for family use.

1. Any single family house considered suitable for conversion according to point 1 of this policy will need to have a net internal floorspace greater than 130 sq. m.

1. All conversions must meet the general design requirements and housing standards in DM Policy 25 (Landscaping and trees), DM Policy 29 (Car parking), DM Policy 30 (Urban design and local character), DM Policy 31 (Alterations and extensions to existing buildings including residential extensions) and DM Policy 32 (Housing design, layout and space standards).

The above is the relevant policy in the Lewisham Development Management Local Plan against which such a proposal would be assessed (as well as any other relevant policies). It doesn't look promising.

I had always assumed I would be selling to a developer, with full PP but nothing else done.
I know it would be a huge job "doing" the conversion - just one reason I'm not - but if I can even then sell it for 50k more that's enormous for me right now.

A three bed flat could only be let to a family unless you had an HMO license ever since the council introduced selective licensing. Think this could be relevant too:

www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2022/11/lewisham-council-tightening-regulation-on-shared-housing-in-the-borough/

I'm not convinced it’s the best way to add value tbh. Have you spoken to local estate agents? They can probably advise on whether selling with pp would actually make much difference. Also bearing in mind you’d want an architect to draw up the plans plus any other professional services needed for planning so it’s not peanuts. I imagine the demand for 3 bed maisonettes with no outside space isn’t huge, especially if it’s quite a “family” area and with increasing rules around HMOs it might be less attractive. You might be better off looking at how improvements to the existing setup can add value. But a chat with local estate agents and potentially the planning office would be s good start.

I know that it couldn't be let for HMO @JimDixon but in a sense that's not my problem - I'm not looking to turn anything into an HMO, just make a bit more money on the sale to help me on my way.
I'm not saying an investor would make money out of this, but a small builder could I'm sure, and there is a market for that.
I think getting prelim basic advice from Council is a good idea.