[brassbellend]

I live in a semi-detached and next door has just gone up for sale. I'm thinking of buying it as it would double our living space for a growing family (and give me a cinema room). Just looking for advice on the rules and regulations of knocking two houses into one. Specifically looking for info on the following

1) Would the bank have a problem with awarding a mortgage under these circumstances. I'm assuming the combined value of the single house will be less than the individual values of both semis.

2) Does such a job require planning permission.

3) Would the council have any objection to losing a council tax, given that the new property would be in a different band.

4) How does one go about combining utilities like gas and electric.

5) Will I need a new boiler to pump around twice the number of radiators.

6) Anything else I need to consider.

All of the above would be subject to Scots law and planning regs.

[chubbs1981]

Originally Posted by brassbellend

I live in a semi-detached and next door has just gone up for sale. I'm thinking of buying it as it would double our living space for a growing family (and give me a cinema room). Just looking for advice on the rules and regulations of knocking two houses into one. Specifically looking for info on the following

1) Would the bank have a problem with awarding a mortgage under these circumstances. I'm assuming the combined value of the single house will be less than the individual values of both semis.

2) Does such a job require planning permission.

3) Would the council have any objection to losing a council tax, given that the new property would be in a different band.

4) How does one go about combining utilities like gas and electric.

5) Will I need a new boiler to pump around twice the number of radiators.

6) Anything else I need to consider.

All of the above would be subject to Scots law and planning regs.

i should imagine it would be a total pain in the behind. your talking redrawing of boundary lines, changes of deeds and all sorts. if your serious i'd say you approach your local council planning office first up and ask them what they think.

[silver12]

Well firstly this is probably the worst way to add space to your home, and will lose you tens of thousands.

That said:
You no longer require planning permission for this.
You should be able to remove the services from one property and rewire/replumb to the other one.
Your boiler will certainly not cope with that size, and will need to be replaced.

As for the council, they can go jump for the tax!

Just seen the footnote - this is England only.

[rcaudwell]

Strangely enough I had similar thoughts when next door to my house went up for sale. Did some sums and by the time you`ve bought next door and done the required work to merge the houses (which is a HUGE undertaking as you can`t really just have 2 houses joined together, 2 kitchens, 2 small dining rooms, 2 bathrooms etc (well I suppose you could ) so it was ending up that both houses would have to be pretty much gutted and redone internally. Add all this together and I could just sell up and move to a bigger, nicer house somewhere else, without all the grief and expense.

[RipMaster]

Originally Posted by brassbellend

1) Would the bank have a problem with awarding a mortgage under these circumstances. I'm assuming the combined value of the single house will be less than the individual values of both semis.

You might need a specialist mortgage product or some special conditions applied, but I don't think you'd have issues with funding the property so long as you have the adequate equity (think 25% plus and adjustment in residual value post work) that seems to be necessary these days to obtain mortgage finance.

Originally Posted by brassbellend

2) Does such a job require planning permission.

I've no idea how planning works in Scotland, and even if you don't strictly need planning for such work as is suggested to be the case in England. I would still not risk doing this type of venture on my own home without full planning consent, or at the very least a written confirmation from the council that such was not required and that they supported the scheme. It is one thing for a professional developer to wing it as any upset is juts in the course of business, but if an issue should arise which could put a stop to the project since it is your own home things would be a lot more impacting on you.

Originally Posted by brassbellend

3) Would the council have any objection to losing a council tax, given that the new property would be in a different band.

Not relevant I would have thought. They would of course charge more council tax on the combined property so I'd dare say that the concern is minimal on this. They'll make sure they don't loose out don't worry about that!

Originally Posted by brassbellend

4) How does one go about combining utilities like gas and electric.

Disconnect supply in one property
Re-wire and re-plumb etc according to the new internal layout.
Not complex, but something best done by a professional tradesman all the same, especially the certified elements.

Originally Posted by brassbellend

5) Will I need a new boiler to pump around twice the number of radiators.

For efficiency you'll peobably need to entierly re-design the heating system depending on the layout of the new property.

Originally Posted by brassbellend

6) Anything else I need to consider.

Return on investment? other have commented, but without knowing the full facts they may not be accurate responses.

Has anything similar been done in the road/area before? If you current house is worth X, then are there many houses in the same street at 1.75 to 2.25x?
Are you paying full market for the house next door or is it a steal?
Have you obtained quotation for the necessary building work?
you might want/need to get an architect involved to draw up a design that would maximize the new space and preserve value/increase value in the best possible way considering the vernacular.

If it is something you want and don't care about the cost, go ahead. Keep in mind that you will likely not recoup your investment, particularly if you are breaking the ceiling on property values in your road. As has already been stated on a purely financial basis there are simpler and more cost effective ways of getting more space. Having said all that, money is not everything and there could well be other non monetary reasons why this move might be a good idea.

Have you considered where you will live whilst the work takes place, this is major re-structuring and you'll likely not be able to live on site whilst the work goes on, especially if you have a young family. Factor in that cost and inconvenience too.

Originally Posted by brassbellend

All of the above would be subject to Scots law and planning regs.

Good luck.