1st floor maisonette - yay or nay?

[Balloondog]

Reposting in Scotsnet as not getting many replies on main board:
DH and I have been looking for a house for over a year now.
We have finally found a property that would suit us really well but there are some concerns. We've been going round and round in circles for the last 3 weeks and are still no closer to making a decision and I hoped some outside opinions might help us clarify our thoughts as at the moment we can't see the wood for the trees!

PROS
Great layout which would work well for us
Lots of character/period features but not listed
Heaps of storage
In our ideal village/location -rural, but good access to amenities and airports
properties don't come up here regularly
Doesn't need any major cosmetic work
South facing garden
Huge windows -lots of light and good views
Above a shop on the Main Street in the village so great access to amenities

CONS
1st floor Maisonette - steep, old stone stairs up which doesn't bother us but would likely mean we couldn't live there into old age (we're currently early/mid 40s) and is unlikely to appeal to many buyers in the future
Shared responsibilities for building maintenance with commercial property (Spar) downstairs (not resident)
No garage/driveway
Single glazed sash windows throughout
Needs major repairs to joists and roof - see below

The home report has highlighted a limited amount of wet rot at the end of the eaves joists (cost to fix c.£4000) and that the original Victorian slate roof will need replacing pretty soon (cost to fix: unknown, we're waiting on quotes, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's in the region of £20K) both '3s' on the home report).
As it's a maisonette above a commercial property the responsibility for the roof repairs is 40%/60% (maisonette/shop). We've been unable to contact the shop owner so far (employees on site, not owner operated) and we're concerned this might cause major issues if they're not amenable. But they might be fine- we just don't know!

We're worried it might be difficult to sell on in the future but on the other hand it would suit us perfectly for the next 20-30 years.

What would you do? Is it something you'd take on because you loved the property and it ticks so many boxes or would you run a mile because of shared responsibility for repairs/difficulty in selling on in the future?

Law of the Tenement should protect you if you have urgent/necessary repairs to the roof required.

But personally I wouldn't buy above a commercial property - but obviously people do Presumably that has been factored into the Home Report value.

Surveyors always say that old slate roofs need replaced - or will need to be replaced soon - but it's amazing how long they'll last with judicious checking/moving of the slates on a yearly basis.

I'd be more worried about the wet rot. If it's in the eaves, is it part of the roof structure and then a joint responsibility?

Can you get the owner's details from Land Registers Scotland?

Only you can really judge how perfect it is to your current requirements and what it's worth to you.

An awful lot can happen in 20-30 years and you could have many happy years there. You could budget and plan to replace the single glazed sash windows with double glazed ones (might need to be wood if you're in a conservation area). In the mean time, you can make sure to have heavy curtains

Shared responsibility is common in Scotland so that in itself shouldn't put people off.

Don't know if that helps

It sounds like a lot of hassle. Is it super cheap? Would it still be worth it if you had to pay for the roof alone? What about noise from the shop and stuff like insurance. Would it be easy to get a mortgage?

I think I would definitely get ideas about cost of roof and talk to the shop owner and see if they are willing to help with maintenance. I mean if you're planing to live there long term there might be other issues that you'd both be liable for.

Honestly unless I was totally in love with the place and it was very cheap I would run. But I'm not a risk taker 😄

Just to add, although we're not above a shop we are in the upper half of a conversion (1st floor and attic floor of a Victorian stone villa), so defined as a maisonette for insurance purposes. We share responsibility for the roof, external walls and foundations with our downstairs neighbours 50:50.

Thanks for the replies, some more hugs to think about.
@prettybird how does the shared financial responsibility work in practice? Who decides what needs doing and when?

In practice, we get the leaks, so let them know that we need to get someone in

No, seriously, our downstairs neighbours arrange the yearly clearing of the gutters and we then pay them half the cost. When we were looking at repainting the soffits, we got a few quotes in and the. Discussed the quotes with them before agreeing who to go with.

Roof could probably do with some work (a few leaks in the eaves that dh deals with with plastic containers that he empties after heavy rain) but we're about to get our central heating done (which involves a flue on the roof) and the roof is going to get a quick once over at the time. If more work needs to be done, we'll then talk to our neighbours.

We get on well with them so it's never an issue.

The neighbours before them were ok but always insisted on going with the cheapest quote - which didn't always do the job properly and needed to be redone sooner than if we'd had a decent job done in the first place .

In theory if the damp proof course failed, we as the upper "house" would have to pay half.

The name is misleading but the "Law of the Tenement" is what you would turn to if you can't get agreement. If the fabric of the building is being affected, you can use it to force payment. Never had to use it though so don't know how it works.

I do have a friend who is a property lawyer (who once gave us the entire 600 page document when we had a concern over who owned a bit of the garden when the previous owners were selling) who I could ask (although given current restrictions, we can only have coffee with him when the weather is good )

Is the main problem that you're not sure you would get the shared repair costs out of the shop owner? I think I would be worried - urgent repairs are legally protected but you don't want to have to take legal action etc.

Have you told your seller that you can't get hold of the shop owner to discuss the urgent repairs?

I agree with shared responsibilities being standard though, we've always managed to agree with neighbours. Can you ask your solicitor to talk you through what happens if you have to do urgent works and the other party doesn't pay or mysteriously isn't contactable?

I'd avoid getting a maisonette above a shop. The shared responsibilities thing is a nightmare as you both have different priorities. I say this as a shop owner who has premises below tenaments. There are 5 shops on our corner and 4 flats upstairs. So the shops have the majority when it comes to decisions about non essential repairs. Causes lots of issues.

I grew up in a house like this in Edinburgh, really common style there and they're known as upper/lower villas. There were four in our block, 2 up and two down.

When work was needed on the roof, the cost was shared across all four households.

Thanks all, I really appreciate your feedback. We're still thinking but feel a little more informed at least.

I always think that if you're interested in buying it then other people will be interested in buying it when you're looking to sell. It might just take you a bit longer and you'll have to price accordingly.

The things that would worry me would be dealing with the shop owner and potentially the shop closing down and being vacant for a long time.

Have the current owners never needed to speak to the downstairs owner? If I could speak to them and get a feeling that they were reasonably co-operative then I might well go ahead.

If it were to ever stop being a shop would there be any sensible way of buying it and incorporating it into your property? Or is it in the sort of place where someone would buy it and convert it to a flat? That has happened a lot round about us.

Do you have links that we could peruse??

Some lenders will not lend above commercial property - we had to change lender to buy ours and the flat had previously sold then gone back on the market so I guess other people had an issue. Could be an issue for resale. (We don't have an issue being over a shop ourselves).

Sorry all, I didn't see the last couple of replies. Just came back to the thread to remind myself of all the downsides as it went to closing and we were outbid today. Feeling a bit glum ☹️

For the poster who wanted to see a link, it was this: Main Street, Doune, Stirlingshire, FK16
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73645476.html

Shame, it looks lovely. I can see why you were considering it.

ah sorry to hear that, winning bids is so hard. It does look like a nice flat. There will be another one and you might've avoided years of protracted wrangling with the shop owners.

Awww thanks both, that's cheered me a little 😊

Stunning flat, spacious and light. Never mind plenty more will come up

I'm astounded at the price!!! And no I wouldn't buy the flat over the Spar in Doune.

In non covid times kids hanging outside it at night talking loudly, old dears loudly gossiping early in the morning, the delivery truck turning up, noise of the cages rattling on and off the lorry. I wouldn't move to the Main Street of Doune for all the money in the world, traffic calming measures have improved things but you are basically living on a rat run for cars, massive lorries (wood, sheep etc) to get to the A9 quickly from the A84/5

For that amount of money I'd want a proper house in Doune!