Thinking of building a studio apartment

mickoneill31 · 24-08-2015 10:42am #1

I'm thinking of building a studio apartment onto the side of my house to rent out. I'm only thinking about it at the moment and trying to go through the pros and cons before I do any major effort.

The space I have is 20 Sqm. Most of this is already a room but with the shape of the house I can get this room extended and make it flush with the house. This is not an issue. Many other houses in our estate have the same configuration.

In 20 Sqm I can fit an ensuite, small kitchen and small living area. Is 20 Sqm too small do you think? I know it's possible but it's tight.

I was thinking of renting it out under the rent a room scheme. Apparently this is possible as long as the income is below €12K and the room is accessible from the internal house. Both would be true. I'd put a separate external door on the studio for private access. This would be accessible from the rear of the house. The idea is that the studio would be private. The only reason the tenant would need to access the main house is to access the utility room for the washer / dryer. This is in our external hall so is accessible without going through the house.
If the rent a room scheme isn't available it'd make this idea a lot less attractive to me.

I'd advertise it for one tenant / lodger only. I don't think this size is suitable for a couple.

I was thinking of advertising it with all bills included (within limits so there's no chance of anybody leaving the heating on 24/7).

So am I missing anything major or is this a stupid idea? Anybody I've run this by seems to think it's feasible, so I thought I'd put it on the internet

MarkAnthony · 24-08-2015 4:31pm

Pretty feasable - I was palnning the same thing to cover my Mortgage!

An idea would be a wll bed to let them have a bit of space during the day.

sixgun · 24-08-2015 5:00pm

mickoneill31 wrote: »

I'm thinking of building a studio apartment onto the side of my house to rent out. I'm only thinking about it at the moment and trying to go through the pros and cons before I do any major effort.

The space I have is 20 Sqm. Most of this is already a room but with the shape of the house I can get this room extended and make it flush with the house. This is not an issue. Many other houses in our estate have the same configuration.

In 20 Sqm I can fit an ensuite, small kitchen and small living area. Is 20 Sqm too small do you think? I know it's possible but it's tight.

I was thinking of renting it out under the rent a room scheme. Apparently this is possible as long as the income is below €12K and the room is accessible from the internal house. Both would be true. I'd put a separate external door on the studio for private access. This would be accessible from the rear of the house. The idea is that the studio would be private. The only reason the tenant would need to access the main house is to access the utility room for the washer / dryer. This is in our external hall so is accessible without going through the house.
If the rent a room scheme isn't available it'd make this idea a lot less attractive to me.

I'd advertise it for one tenant / lodger only. I don't think this size is suitable for a couple.

I was thinking of advertising it with all bills included (within limits so there's no chance of anybody leaving the heating on 24/7).

So am I missing anything major or is this a stupid idea? Anybody I've run this by seems to think it's feasible, so I thought I'd put it on the internet

20 Sqm is very small, have you costed it yet?

mickoneill31 · 24-08-2015 5:32pm

sixgun wrote: »

20 Sqm is very small, have you costed it yet?

Nope. Have a very rough idea from neighbours that had similarish work done so I know the ballpark.

mickdw · 24-08-2015 5:36pm

What you are actually doing is building an ensuite room extension, not an apartment.

Timmaay · 24-08-2015 8:52pm

Are you sure the rent a room will stretch this far, from reading up about it ages ago I thought the room could be accessed only from your main principle dwelling, and not have its own independent door.

the_syco · 24-08-2015 8:57pm

mickoneill31 wrote: »

I was thinking of advertising it with all bills included (within limits so there's no chance of anybody leaving the heating on 24/7).

Advise you to look into getting some sort of meter fitted to keep an eye on the rate of usage?

Gumbo · 24-08-2015 9:34pm

You have to connect it to the existing house and make it accessible to the existing house. Otherwise you will be in breach of planning and development act.

What you describe sounds like a granny flat, but there are rules with regards to granny flats also.

gabsdot40 · 24-08-2015 9:40pm

We have something like this at the back of our house. The room was there already and being used for something else. We converted it into a bedsit last year. It has a kitchen and shower room. It's about 22m2.
We had a single tenant and at the moment a couple and an impending new baby. I'll definitely stick to single tenants in future.
It's heated by electric heaters and and shower is electric. We have noticed a rise in our electricity bill of course. We include bills in the rent.
Ours is accessed by it's own door but there is an internal door, (locked) so we class it as a rent a room situation.
It's a great source of extra income.

Victor · 24-08-2015 10:19pm

Would it comply with council development standards?

Would it comply with housing standards?

20m2 is awfully small.

mickoneill31 · 25-08-2015 9:43am

Timmaay wrote: »

Are you sure the rent a room will stretch this far, from reading up about it ages ago I thought the room could be accessed only from your main principle dwelling, and not have its own independent door.

I'm not sure about that. I'll have to check further. I've never heard the bit about not being allowed an independent door. I know there has to be a door into the main residence. That's not a problem.

I can't post a link but if you google 7.1.32 rent a room you'll find a pdf with some rules.
I don't know if this is the most recent doc.

It has this section.

4.2 Self-contained unit
It is not possible to let an entire residence because the room or rooms that are let must
form part of the residence and the residence must be occupied by the individual
receiving the rent as his/her sole or main residence. The room or rooms can comprise
a self-contained unit within the residence such as a basement flat or a converted
garage attached to the residence. However, a self-contained unit that is adjacent to the
residence but not actually attached to it cannot qualify for the relief.

mickoneill31 · 25-08-2015 9:50am

Victor wrote: »

Would it comply with council development standards?

Would it comply with housing standards?

20m2 is awfully small.

Those first two questions are kind of the questions I'm asking. Are there extra standards this would have to apply to. I haven't discussed this with a builder yet, I want to get all of my questions together before involving one.

My neighbours have extended their houses similarly (i.e. external dimensions will be the same as mine). I don't know if they did theirs above board. If I need planning permission or need to meet standards I will do so or not do it at all.

20m2 is very small, but not too unusual. I was thinking this could be a place for a student or somebody wanting a place to stay in Dublin while working. It certainly wouldn't be a place you'd stay forever. What got me thinking about it was a mate of mine was looking for somewhere to stay and the crapholes he was showing me for his budget were so depressing. This wouldn't be a craphole but would have been in his budget.

gabsdot40 · 25-08-2015 10:19am

You can build 40m2 out from the back of your house, single storey, if there is nothing visible from the front without planning permission. You need to leave a certain amount of garden I think.

Yes 20m2 is small but if you are clever with furniture and layout it can work really well. Our flat is very nice and cosy.

mickdw · 25-08-2015 10:26am

gabsdot40 wrote: »

You can build 40m2 out from the back of your house, single storey, if there is nothing visible from the front without planning permission. You need to leave a certain amount of garden I think.

Yes 20m2 is small but if you are clever with furniture and layout it can work really well. Our flat is very nice and cosy.

There are more rules to the planning exemption so be very careful OP to get professional advice - not just a builder.

Michael D Not Higgins · 25-08-2015 11:34am

My living room is probably 20 sq. m., I couldn't imagine trying to push my bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and storage into the space.

MarkAnthony · 25-08-2015 11:52am

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

My living room is probably 20 sq. m., I couldn't imagine trying to push my bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and storage into the space.

It's a bit different though if all you can afford is €700 a month and you don't want to share. Don't misunderstand, I'm with you on the space but when I was starting out I'd have put up with it for the sake of 'my own space'.

Thinking of building a studio apartment

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