Converting one bed to two bed flat - help please

[skuml]

We are in the process of deciding how to convert our one-bedroom rental flat in London into a two-bedroom space.

plan involves dividing the long living room (7.369m ; 24.ft). Wondering what would be an appropriate size for the second bedroom. Would dimensions of 3.96 x 2.6m (12.99 X 8.5 ft) m suffice for a comfortable double bedroom? Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated.

We have concerns that the living room might not be sufficiently spacious, and we fear that the flat could lose its roomy ambiance. Would a living room size of 4.57m (14.99 ft) be large enough to maintain the desired spacious feel?

We are refurbishing rest of flat too - building is charging a lot! wondering is conversion worth doing? anyone had similar experience?

many thanks in advance !!

Bathroom and kitchen are always important. Nothing fancy but well planned and modern. It’s a good size flat. DDs is similar size and 2 bed but a different layout. I’d make sure you have bath with shower, decent sink and loo with bathroom storage. Plus put in WFH storage in the lounge. Stuff can be shut away when not in use, eg computer etc. Also use that end for dining so you keep dining table things in the wall unit. It makes it clutter free and neat when guests come round. Much cheaper than creating a bedroom. Tenants can always buy a bed settee!

I honestly wouldn’t bother. Dh and I happily rented a 1 bed flat in London, same flat for 7 years. There’s no reason couples won’t stay longer.

And for me, I would much rather rent a 1 bed with large living room I would spaciously for dining space and living, than having a 2nd bedroom. We paid a fair amount to have a large living dining room.

Our flat had owners living in before us for 4 years, then they moved back overseas where they came from. They left with 3 year old, so had obviously been sharing the 1 bedroom fine for 3 years. My own Ds shared our room the first 2 years even with his own. So I would imagine couples who go on to have a child won’t be in a rush for 2nd bedroom for a small baby/ toddler. And then a large living room they can fit play area in is better

Many of the new builds are open plan that way.

TBF the 2nd room if you decide to still go for it could be a dining room.

one big problem is we cant get premium price for one bed! and most two bedroom flat in area are smaller than the flat - fetching higher rent!

I tried advertising premium as it is last month (150£ extra than usual one beds ) however dint have much response!

hi, I think you need to make the kitchen open plan to make this work :)
You could add some nice glass doors so that if you wanted to make it a private space, you could just close those doors. your sofa/living area could be on the other side of the room, or against the new wall for the new bedroom. But in case you wanted to make the second bedroom another "reception" area again, you could just add doors there too to add that flexibility for the future? i edited your floorplan.

Wondering should I just do ensuite bathroom refurbishment so that it looks and more functional.
Any landlords here?
Would love their opinion on when to do refurbishment of bathroom or kitchen? when it is showing age or when it really needs it??

@skuml - I think you should be able to get a higher price for a 1 bed just based on the quality and facilities of the 1 bed.

A 1 bed with decent bathroom, laundry area (stacked washing m and dryer), nice kitchen, and large living diner, with nice outdoor space ( equip with seating and bbq), will be easy to get the same price as a 2 bedroom that has a tiny living room
you can’t eat in, and doesn’t have space for a child to play in. Unless it’s the area that’s wrong, and added bedrooms makes no difference.

But it will take years and years at £200 extra a month o pay off the extra £30-40k+ renovations expenses. Just rent for going rate now, and add 2-3% each year.

yes you are right! Been considering that too. And we may get better professional couple as tenants in one bed than small two bed!

My dilemma is - shall I only refurbish ensuite so that it is modern and more appealing to professionals? at the moment it is showing signs of age!
Flat is vacant at moment and I have good worker lined up for work.

🙄Need to decide asap next move !

@skuml I do rent out a London flat but my DD still lives in it. We do “rent a room” with DDs flatmate.

To get a premium rent, you need a premium property! If anything is showing signs of its age, it’s not premium. By definition. It’s not going to compete with new builds.

You need a modern bathroom. One bathroom is good enough with a bath and shower over if you cannot have a separate shower. Glass screen on the bath. Clean tiles and keep the flat smartly painted. Kitchens should be modern and functional, with easy to clean work tops and decent built in appliances. All floors to be new (ish) and not worn or damaged. It should be welcoming and well maintained. A laundry cupboard helps a lot. As does a wall unit to hide clutter in the lounge diner.

Both my flat and other Dads flat are open plan. My flat is modernised Victorian and Dads flat is modernised warehouse. You will be spending too much if you get rid of walls. Don’t do it. People will like it as it is. I like open plan but your layout is not a deal breaker.

Yes you need to update bathroom if it’s showing signs of aging and wear and tear. That’s the point. To get a premium price you need a premium flat. That should mean bathroom is top speck. I would expect no signs of any problems with grouting or sealant, a bath with glass shower screen or separate wall in shower, rain shower or nice fitting, sink with built in storage underneath and built in mirrored storage cabinet above. Floating rimless toilet or similar.

Kitchen similar. For premium rental price i wouldn’t expect white stand alone cheaper white goods, but everything fitted and something like lg/ Siemens/ Miele.

Does it have council/building/fire/environment approval?

@Caspianberg Miele? I have Miele at home. I’m a one bed rental flat it would be rare unless it’s in a high value area. Bosch is fine. Or AEG. Just not the cheapest not recommended by Which.

A one bed should be easy to let in London. Use an agency if you need an easier life as a landlord.

@TizerorFizz - I said Miele OR lg/ aeg/ Siemens. Not cheap beko non fitted.
And yes it would be premium, but the OP wants premium prices so needs premium products. On offer some Miele is cheaper than lg.

Our apartment rental is a holiday let, so slightly different. But it definitely has many products better quality than my own home. Because I live in my home, and the apartment is my business. So where as at home I might fix or clean something up to last a bit longer, the apartment gets new replacements much quicker.

I rent out a holiday home too and we have Aeg there. My home matters more and Miele it is but it’s worth 4 times as much! Tenants in long term rentals do break things and do not always look after them. Holiday homes are cleaned every week. Not so long term rentals. Nor are they “inspected” every week so you can get messy and uncaring tenants and no one knows for months. I think Miele is generally more money. Well my appliances were! I do agree though. Don’t get low quality and make it look as good as possible with clean smart decoration, floors and kitchen/bathroom.

I'm a bit lost on where you've ended up, but my thoughts are:

• you won't achieve maximum rent if anything is showing signs of age
• if you are going to do the second bedroom as you've proposed, you do need to sort the doors out properly. Any sort of weird compromise will also affect rent
• I'm a big fan of open plan, but I wouldn't open up the kitchen diner in a two bed flat
• an extra foot taken off the living room won't make a significant difference, but it WILL make a huge different to the smaller room, the second bedroom. If it's too much of a squeeze in there it will put people off.

Yes totally agree!
But we are not in prime zone 1-2 central London area.

We are not changing kitchen - just redo tiling so that its looks fresh. Kitchen old poggenpohl kitchen - still looks fully functional & look ok after deep clean. We visited howdens, magnet etc but we dint like door quality - dont think these kitchens will last 15-20 years .
Btw Flat has top end appliances, i.e. free standing Miele washing machine with dryer as I just got fed up of replacing cheap appliances ! free standing Bosch slimline dishwasher, integrated Neff fridge free freezer.

till now all tenants have been good young professional couples - but yes they dont clean and dont keep as I would do!

Based on input --we are thinking 2 Bedroom and 2 bathroom

• New Bedroom : Divide long living room (7.37 m) and make Small room 2.30 X3.96m. Living room doors remain as it. Professional couples can use it for working from home office or good single bedroom.

• Ensuite : Fully refurbish the ensuite so that it competes of new builds in area, Planning to use with good quality fittings and fully tiled wall (easy to maintain?). large mirror in the space behind basin and toilet. (like attaching the photo).

• Convert cloak room to shower room. ( something like attaching photo)

• upgrade boiler and install megaflow ( currently vented system with hot water tank).
• kitchen as it is. just removing tiles.

Total rent increase 300-450 per month ( according to local estate agents).
It's a luxury building with gated parking and flat comes with patio.

Got few more quotes - local builder is ready to do it for 15k ( labour only) - negotiating today hopefully bit lower. many thanks for all inputs... How does current plan sounds??

Still lot of decisions to be made!
bathroom :- which tub best for shower too? any large size tile recommendation 45X45 good size? Same tiles on floor and wall so that bathroom seems spacious..hesitant to put wash basin with vanity in rental flat?

A wall hung sink with floating vanity like in your picture will allow for storage as well as look bigger and easier to clean under

we went 60x60 tiles to allow for less grouting.

Porcelanosa tiles come in very large format. 900 long if you want.Lots of neutrals and sale is on. Far less grout needed. It’s expensive to fully tile though. We have Kaldewei baths with showers over in London and tiling is around the bath only. A quick paint job does the rest. Duravit products are also very good.

I would keep the kitchen and not go options as it’s too expensive. I would not tile the kitchen. Don’t have tiles in any kitchen I own now. We have upstandz in same material as worktop. So granite and quartz. Behind hob is granite and quartz. DD has Second Surface. Avoid wood in a rental flat. Preferably don’t have anything that stains. Above upstand - paint. No grout to clean. Much easier to re paint if needed with a washable emulsion.

I think your second bedroom is small and clearly a bed is 2m plus long so you need to be clear where a double or king size will go and remember you need storage. If it’s a room full of bed it’s not a great WFH space.

I've rented out both one bed and two bed flats in London.

I wouldn't rent to a couple with a toddler again if possible. The toddler caused lots of damage which the couple didn't sort out. They left when the child grew and they wanted more space.

A couple who want a second bedroom as an office make better tenants.

Bedroom will be similar size to these bedroom ( attaching photo). This is how the new room will look (second photo)- with window behind the bed

We might dress up it as a single bed and desk to dress up for rental photos.

Oh and the difference in rent for 2 flats close to each other was more like £150 pm

At 13ftx7.5ft you won’t have much space for bed, storage and a desk and chair. There’s 5ft. Bed doesn’t leave much space at the side if it’s 5ft either. A cloakroom is also quite a big bonus as would be a laundry area away from the kitchen.

To me, the extra cost of a stud wall, flooring and decorating is not worth it over fitting it out for work in the lounge and renting to a professional couple if you can. The only downside is you won’t rent to two individuals without two bedrooms.

You really don't need 2 bathrooms in a 2 bedroom flat.