Combinging two flats into a maisonette -- terrible idea?

[lillyledbetter]

Is it a crazy idea to try to buy our upstairs neighbor's flat and turn ours into a maisonette? (This is a large Victorian house split into three flats and extended -- there would be one more flat at the very top. We are very close with the owner of the top floor flat and it was she who recommended this plan!)

More info: we live in a garden flat in a desirable place. It's a great flat (about 1000 sq ft), but we need more space. While we can afford the houses we have seen, they aren't THAT much bigger than our flat, and don't have some of the nicer elements (we have really high ceilings, for example.) We like our street too. Our upstairs neighbor rents his place out and might be willing to sell. The idea would then be to combine the two flats into a huge maisonette.

Has anyone done this? Financially it doesn't seem like an amazing idea as for the price we COULD get a house. But I think the final product could be much nicer and we aren't planning to move anyway. But I don't know the logistics with the council or even rough costs of what this would require (we would need to build a staircase, knock down many walls, etc.) and I'm trying to figure it out a little bit before we approach him.

Oh by the way, it's a share of freehold.

Any thoughts much appreciated!

You would need planning permission snd some councils don't like this as it's a loss of a property. It can be quite costly to convert as electricity and gas meters need removing etc......

You can speak to the planning office and see if they think you would get permission before purchasing.

It sounds like a great idea to me bu house buying and improvements has always been a out creating the place I want to live rather than treating it all as an investment. I seem to be unusual in that.

There obviously will be costs, but would they be much higher than the cost of physically moving, stamp duty etc?

great idea if you can get planning for it.

My friends have done it. It's a brilliant idea and not really more expensive than moving - spend the money on the home you want rather than stamp duty and estate agent and solicitor fees!

Speak to an estate agent to get an idea of how much the property will be worth as two separate properties or one big one.

Consider whether it will be easier to keep the properties registered separately, but knock into one. The downside will be two lots of council tax and other bills.

Done it. Fantastic. The electricity meters will be the least of concern with the costs though! You know you like living in the location and you can presumably envisage the reconfiguration so that it will work for you. Stamp duty on one flat will be much less than a house!

Planning-our local council (Camden) is generally ok with 2 residences into one but more than that tends to be very difficult.

freeholder permission for structural alterations - you will need this from other freeholders. Be aware that your share of overheads will probably increase as you will have greater footprint in the building. Eg we pay 60% of insurance bill for the building and other two flats pay 20% each.

council tax - pretty straightforward, once you have done any renovations/reconfigurations they come and assess for council tax band and amend the records so one flat gets deleted on the council tax register and the other remains.

Cons-it is sometimes annoying having people above you, something you wouldn’t get with a house (though you risk ending up being attached to noisy neighbours next door in most London houses so swings and roundabouts!)

I think the hard part would be getting planning consent.

Thank you so much everyone! Going to inquire with the council -- and my neighbor, of course!

The upstairs neighbours probably think it’s a good idea as they’re expecting you’ll have the bedrooms “upstairs” and therefore noise will be reduced for them. However, in your shoes I’d be tempted to have the bedrooms downstairs and put the living space upstairs to give yourselves that benefit.