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Post by Alanović on Oct 27, 2020 13:00:39 GMT
Yes I think an architect could improve on the use of space in these houses, but I'd still like to include a single garage for each, if I go with that plan. I was also thinking, with a smaller footprint than these houses above, you could make a 5-bed houses by using loft space from the outset. In the local market here, 5 beds attract a disproportionately bigger premium over 4 bed houses.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2020 17:27:26 GMT
Is it possible to dig down in the UK ? I know older houses have cellars. Cellars are great and with natural light fed in through escape windows plus a separate staircase and door for entrance can buy you a lot of space.
With a five bedroom house what use is a single garage ? A couple of outside 11kW or 22kW wall boxes (might be restricted to 7kW in the UK) would probably be the most 'garage' use the cars would see and the garage turned into a utility/home cinema/entertainment/games room.
If you convert the loft space into a fifth bedroom where is the storage space ? Is that what the garage is for or do you draw lots who is sleeping with the Christmas decorations for 11 months of the year ?
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Post by EspadaIII on Oct 27, 2020 17:49:29 GMT
That is interesting. Not enough developers make use of the loft space in new houses. The only problem is the lack of living space for the number and size of bedrooms. If there is room for six bedrooms, identifying one as a family room or study might make it look better for those people WFH..
BPF - cellars are very expensive to build, mainly due to the ground conditions (lots of water) and the cost of carting the spoil away to landfill. I can't remember the last time I saw a house (apart from my own) build post war with a cellar. And mine was a bespoke design for and by my parents. Houses built for profit are unlikely to have cellars unless they are very expensive and the land profile makes it easy to do.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2020 18:50:22 GMT
From what I've read, can't remember where, a lot of new builds in the UK the loft space can't be used for storage as the joists can't take weight.
Houses in Germany usually have a cellar unless on a flood plain or within a defined distance of a main river like the Rhein. The house we bought is brick with concrete floors/ceilings. The cellar has six rooms and could be separated into a self contained one bedroom apartment.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Oct 27, 2020 22:09:29 GMT
Our house is the first on the street and the first four semis including ours have cellars. The rest of the houses of the same design do not... they clearly decided against. Ours is a pre-war build.
We looked at some new builds last year. Two that were very similar is size downstairs but smaller upstairs in the one we preferred. They didn't built over the full size of the garage. Made quite a difference to price and the smaller one had plenty of space upstairs. The larger one had ensuite to 2 rooms plus the family bathroom which we wouldn't want. Downstairs had lots of living space including kitchen/diner, dining room and lounge.
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Post by dixinormus on Oct 28, 2020 0:39:18 GMT
The inherent risk in your plan Al might be the time and money that it takes to do a knockdown-rebuild of any kind. The end profit might be good but it’s a rather stressful journey shelling out a fortune on the way... And then project managing the gig, or paying somebody else to.
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Post by Humph on Oct 28, 2020 8:35:09 GMT
A guy I know bought a tiny But 'N Ben cottage a long time ago on a very large plot of land in Scotland. He also bought a static caravan and parked it on the land. He, and his then young family, lived in the caravan for about three years while the cottage was used as the starting point for a major build.
When he'd finished, the original cottage formed the entrance hall to a massive horseshoe shaped ranch style building. It is absolutely stunning. He did most of the work himself, working on it at weekends, early mornings and evenings, employing tradesmen only when he had to, and ended up with the most fantastic house at a fraction of the cost.
Lot of work and commitment though, but, what a result.
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Post by Alanović on Oct 28, 2020 9:21:49 GMT
The inherent risk in your plan Al might be the time and money that it takes to do a knockdown-rebuild of any kind. The end profit might be good but it’s a rather stressful journey shelling out a fortune on the way... And then project managing the gig, or paying somebody else to. Yes it's a good point dixi and one I'm factoring in to my thinking. I estimate a year, plus 6 months for contingency and one of the costs of the project will be renting a home for that period. If the profit is going to gift me sufficient money to retire immediately, then the stress and disruption will have been more than worth it.
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Post by Alanović on Oct 28, 2020 9:36:34 GMT
That is interesting. Not enough developers make use of the loft space in new houses. The only problem is the lack of living space for the number and size of bedrooms. If there is room for six bedrooms, identifying one as a family room or study might make it look better for those people WFH.. BPF - cellars are very expensive to build, mainly due to the ground conditions (lots of water) and the cost of carting the spoil away to landfill. I can't remember the last time I saw a house (apart from my own) build post war with a cellar. And mine was a bespoke design for and by my parents. Houses built for profit are unlikely to have cellars unless they are very expensive and the land profile makes it easy to do. My rough plan for the houses would be to have an open plan kitchen/living/dining room on the ground floor, as it is popular with young family buyers these days. A separate utility room and a downstairs "study". Integral single garage. 4 beds on the first floor, one en-suite and one other bathroom, then a master suite in the roof space with en suite. The 4th 1st floor bedroom will be a small one useable as a work from home space - vital to have 2 such separate spaces nowadays for families with 2 professional parents, and let's face it at these prices for houses (£1m zone) those are the only sorts who will be looking at these places, other than perhaps families with one high income business owner or the like. The market the houses would be aimed at is young families. i.e. 2 cars max. There will be off road parking in front of the houses for 2 cars accordingly, so the garages are the items which might end up being sacrificed, but as BPG points out it's important to have some storage area - although there won't be the need for huge amounts of space for gardening equipment with these houses as they'll have small urban gardens. We are in a catchment area for 2 outstanding primary schools, so very much an area which attracts young families. Important for a developer to build houses with the potential buyer in mind, rather than his own requirements and tastes. If I do this, it goes well, and I enjoy it, I might well carry on doing it with other properties in to my "retirement". A lot of Victorian terrace houses in the Kensington/Chelsea/Fulham etc area of London get basements dug out these days, it must be an absolute bugger of a job and cost a fortune, not to mention the disruption to the neighbours.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Oct 28, 2020 11:29:13 GMT
I think they've put a stop to a lot (maybe all) of the cellar extensions. Some are so big and expensive they often just bury a digger in there rather than try to get it back out.
There's a house that was for sale near us with a lot of land. Enough probably to build another two houses without demolishing the first. But because of the land the large house was on the market for quite a lot - maybe £1m?
There's also some land near me that could take a few houses but they keep failing to get planning permission to build on it because of the houses nearby and access. It would be doable but the council know it would not be popular with the existing owners. So some land-locked land I guess that a developer can't use :-)
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Post by EspadaIII on Oct 28, 2020 12:37:36 GMT
'Back garden' development has been frowned upon for a while now.
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Post by Humph on Nov 11, 2020 9:12:54 GMT
Right, well, the "other" house is more or less done. Every room re-decorated, the outside re-painted, fence painted, garden sorted. Slabs and drive fettled. Just need to get some carpets in upstairs and it's finished.
Would you attempt to sell it now, or wait until after lockdown?
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Nov 11, 2020 10:50:42 GMT
Now
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Post by EspadaIII on Nov 11, 2020 12:20:09 GMT
Estate agents are open. They can inspect, take photos and videos and arrange virtual inspections and even real inspctions (socially distanced). If you can, 'dress the house'. Make it look homely, not an empty shell.
Went to value a seven bedroom £1.65M house last week in north Manchester. The owners have moved out completely. Everything off the walls, so there were holes and marks in walls where pictures and shelves had been. It looked bare and characterless. I had to give myself a slap to think about it as a valuer rather than a potential purchaser.
Once you buy a house, and the vendors have moved out you are always faced with the bare walls with heat marks and holes where pictures hung. But give it 'kerb appeal'.
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Post by Alanović on Nov 11, 2020 12:32:34 GMT
People are daft, aren't they? I don't give a monkeys what furnishings and decorations are in a house I'm considering buying. Location, square footage, layout and room sizes. That's all that matters. Everything else can be changed and fixed. The house I currently inhabit was in immaculate condition when we bought it, but the decor and furnishings were absolutely, headache-inducingly awful. Fixed in a matter of weeks.
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