Buying a flat outright

armsandlegs · 09/08/2023 19:49

Good idea financially or practically or for love??

We've looked at this for 2 adjacent properties - and thinking with our hearts it would be amazing, a real large family home, but with our heads we just can't make it make sense financially. Right now, financial sense is winning out - so both remain separate and are paying their own way. One day maybe we can look at it with our hearts leading the way!

Original poster

Rals80 · 09/08/2023 19:54

Good idea financially and practically I suppose, let's keep love out of this :)

OP posts:

XVGN · 10/08/2023 11:00

Rals80 · 09/08/2023 19:45

I am looking for some advice here. We live in a ground floor flat in a converted Victorian semi, we may be in a position to pay off our mortgage early using savings, and then potentially buy the top flat with a mortgage whilst renting the ground floor via airbnb or something to cover the mortgage cost, and then convert the two flats to one house later down the line if worth doing, but I wouldn't mind keeping the two flats separate either.
Good idea?

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https://www.propertytribes.com

Leaving LL'ing to professionals who are geared up to take on the risks.

The #1 Property Forum for Private Landlords | Property Tribes

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KievLoverTwo · 10/08/2023 11:27

I would only convert two Victorian flats into a house if both the size of the garden and other sold house prices on the street/nearby would support an onward sale at a far higher price. If you are gonna turn it into a family home, number of bathrooms, size of kitchen and having more than one reception room are also important.

Remember when section 21 bans come in, you can only evict to move back in or sell. Idk how government will enforce it, maybe they will insist on seeing a house advert for your current primary property. What I am trying to say is, don't take it for granted that you will be able to evict your tenant to do a refurb/knock through in order to then later either move back in or sell.

Original poster

Rals80 · 10/08/2023 15:15

Thank you all for the info. Regarding the renting bit - does the section 21 mentioned above cover renting via airbnb/Booking.com on a part-time basis as opposed to full time tenants?

With regards to the conversion- yes, if converted, it would increase in value - the house adjacent to ours and the one next on the street are both exactly the same as ours (but not converted to two flats) and were sold 2 years ago for £700k, estate agents valued our flat at the time at £260k and the one above at £300k. The garden is absolutely huge. If converted to a house, you would have a kitchen and two reception rooms downstairs plus loo and separate shower room, 3 bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom, and one large bedroom in the loft which could be split into two smaller ones (like our neighbours have done).
My slight hesitation is the converting part- how much of a hassle it is, do we need permission, is it a pain to combine the gas/electricity meters, etc.?

OP posts:

KievLoverTwo · 10/08/2023 15:26

Rals80 · 10/08/2023 15:15

Thank you all for the info. Regarding the renting bit - does the section 21 mentioned above cover renting via airbnb/Booking.com on a part-time basis as opposed to full time tenants?

With regards to the conversion- yes, if converted, it would increase in value - the house adjacent to ours and the one next on the street are both exactly the same as ours (but not converted to two flats) and were sold 2 years ago for £700k, estate agents valued our flat at the time at £260k and the one above at £300k. The garden is absolutely huge. If converted to a house, you would have a kitchen and two reception rooms downstairs plus loo and separate shower room, 3 bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom, and one large bedroom in the loft which could be split into two smaller ones (like our neighbours have done).
My slight hesitation is the converting part- how much of a hassle it is, do we need permission, is it a pain to combine the gas/electricity meters, etc.?

I'm afraid I can't help re: the last paragraph, perhaps start a new thread with a relevant title.

No, the Section 21 ban won't cover airbnbs and booking.com etc.

annabellesmy · 21/09/2023 13:45

We looked into converting 2 into 1 when we were looking to move a few years ago but found that it would be more difficult than anticipated. I thought it would just be a case of carrying out the conversion, getting building regs approval and then telling the council, gas, electricity etc that it was now one house. But we found it was more complicated and potentially not possible.

Before embarking on converting the two flats to form a family home its worth checking with your local authority - different ones have different policies on converting and whether its classed as a development and so need permission or its permitted. The councils buildings departments are usually very knowledgeable and can offer good advice. If it is an area of high housing demand you may find that you need planning permission. This may be refused because it will result in fewer houses in the area. If you can point to housing strategies etc which identify a shortage of family homes it may be possible to get it through.

Original poster

Rals80 · 21/09/2023 18:21

Thanks for the advice, very useful, will definitely check this out first. Many thanks.

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