buying a house and splitting into flats. how hard?

[shahedz]

How easy or hard is it to buy a house and split into two flats?
Myself and a friend want to buy a house and do the above, but do you require specific planning permission or can you do it to any house?
how easy is it to register two flats and convert the meters etc to represent 2 homes?

cheers

[signs]

Originally Posted by shahedz

How easy or hard is it to buy a house and split into two flats?
Myself and a friend want to buy a house and do the above, but do you require specific planning permission or can you do it to any house?
how easy is it to register two flats and convert the meters etc to represent 2 homes?

cheers

no idea ......but good luck (just thought it needed a bump, as I'm sure somebody could help Shahedz out)

[rude-dog]

you'll definately need planning permission, building regs, and a possible change of tenure from freehold to leasehold.

before you even think about gas meters and water mains, get some legal advice or see an estate agent, it's easily done, but could cost you a few quid quite easily!


good luck

[John Henry]

Have you got any experience in building?

If not, get some GOOD advice before you start, it helps to have friends in building as well.

P.S. Your going to need to do alot of reading.

[shahedz]

No first hand experience , have a very good set of builders to hand- Used them to compleltey gut out and redo my mum's house.

I live in London and want a small flat for investment and my mate wants one to live in so was thinking of buying a house togther and splitting into 2 flats.

Have no experience in doing that bit, was wondering if you could convert any house you wanted or whether they were only specific houses?

has anyone here done that?

[John Henry]

In London most of the house's are converted into flats, I've seen many 3-4 bedroom house's converted into 5 flats taking £150-£200 rent PW.

[unique]

don't forget that the legal issues can be as important as the building side of things. whilst you can just build or knock down walls and doorways, make sure you get legal advice and clarify everything in writing as to who owns what, and who is responsible for what, from the purchase, to paying for the building works, to responsibility for bills etc

reason being if you fall out, which can happen tomorrow over a little thing (ie. a woman) the fall out can be pretty bad, and if things aren't signed on paper it can be a nightmare

my old boss had a friend who got a property, he paid to get it done up, and then his share was to own the property side and rent it to his friend to trade inside. i told him he should get eveything signed legally in writing, but he didn't do it "because you can't ask your best friend to do that, i've been friends with him for 20+ years". when things went wrong, they were at each others throats violently and harshly for years until one of them died. it didn't just affect the pair of them, but friends and family who were almost forced to take sides. so take my advice, and think about it as doing yourselves both a massive favour

you could also consider just buying the property together and flat sharing, altho if you want more privacy (ie. to invite women/men/animals over for orgies and stuff) then splitting into flats is a good idea if it's physically possible. folks do it on them tv shows like changing rooms all the time, but they get architechts and legal advice (usually)

[Accylad]

In theory any house can be converted to flats but not without first getting Building Regulation and Planning approval.

Building Regs will require you to upgrade the fire resistance and sound insulation between the flats which can be very expensive if the floors etc. also need extra support to take the increase in loads.

You will also have to consider means of escape from the flats in case of fire together with provision for refuse disposal.

[klr10]

If the house is in London you may have issues with planning permission in some areas due to inadequate parking provisions. I was told I would be unlikely to get permission for my house because there is already a major parking problem in my road.

I'd be interested in the Capital Gains Tax side of converting, if you convert your sole dwelling into flats and sell off part of your home, do you have to pay the CG tax?

[Ayub]

Originally Posted by shahedz

How easy or hard is it to buy a house and split into two flats?
Myself and a friend want to buy a house and do the above, but do you require specific planning permission or can you do it to any house?
how easy is it to register two flats and convert the meters etc to represent 2 homes?

cheers

Not that i know of, If you do then try your council website and see what they have to say.

As for splitting this all depends on the layout of the property.Very hard to give advise over a forum, anyway...

you have 2 options a: install a seperate meter ( with a cost of £500 for gas and electric ) or do what we have b installing your own charge card system and paying the gas leccy bill yourself. A lillte like paug but you get the bill they come to you for the top up, Its software driven to its easy as pie.

If you need further into i will forward my contact number and speak to you.

[mason]

I havent done it yet- but will do as soon as iam succesful in buying a house.

i have been out bid a few times for suitable properties but thats normal for the type of property i am looking at.

as for expert advice- i start with my local planning department... i dont know how it is done south of the border but its easy enough up here. i simply find the ideal property that is for sale- get a copy of the buildings existing plans and then get my builder (how is my business partner) to change them to show a divide and proposed changes... andthen take them done to the local planning and ask to see the planning manager and then he looks them over (usually then and there) and then gives me a verbal on whether or not the plans are good enough!!

[shahedz]

cheers for your help lads,

sound insutlation and load bearing are two things i will definitley bring up, i think contacting the council this week is the first thing we need to do,

Ayub will take you up on that offer once i get a little further, thanks mate

[shahedz]

Originally Posted by mason

I havent done it yet- but will do as soon as iam succesful in buying a house.

i have been out bid a few times for suitable properties but thats normal for the type of property i am looking at.

as for expert advice- i start with my local planning department... i dont know how it is done south of the border but its easy enough up here. i simply find the ideal property that is for sale- get a copy of the buildings existing plans and then get my builder (how is my business partner) to change them to show a divide and proposed changes... andthen take them done to the local planning and ask to see the planning manager and then he looks them over (usually then and there) and then gives me a verbal on whether or not the plans are good enough!!

Mason if you could let me know of any problems you come across as you go along that would be great, cheers fellas

[John Henry]

My friend in London is a builder and he own's the property where I use to stay, he converted the house into 5 flats and I was there when he did the loft conversion.

It took a while but looked good in the end, I learnt alot from it aswell.

[Razor]

I converted a property last year and turned into 4 studios and 2 one bedroom flats. You will need build regs, planning, environmental health, separate services for electric, water etc. The property will have to be registered for separate council tax and the deeds will have to be split etc. Consideration for parking is also a big issue.

If you are not in the business it is not something I wouldn't advise doing. There are loads of risks and pitfalls with property and big money is involved. If how ever you have experience in this field then you can make allot of money.

Are you looking to sell or keep and rent?