Architect Report

Frank11

Hi, I have a house in disrepair in Dublin 1 which is over 100 years old. I am thinking of renovating this house into flats (maybe 3 doubles) and I am told the first thing to do is to get an architect’s report which will outline a bill of materials for the renovations so builder can put a cost against it, possible design of internal flats to the latest building standards & cost benefit analysis of mortgage versus rental income. I may also be looking for the architect taking on the project management of this and investigating a possibility to renting out the house to DCC. The cost benefit will be used to approach a bank to secure a mortgage.
The house requires complete gutting to a structural shell including rewiring and replumbing. There is a basement that will need some sort of water treatment and tanking so maybe somebody with some experience with that.
Has anybody got any advice to give or recommend an architect for the production of the report and costs?

DOCARCH

Not to be considered lightly!

You'll need planning permission to convert an existing house into 3 flats and there is no planning 'classification' for 'flats' anymore, so essentially what you are looking to do is convert the existing house into 3 apartments and from a planning and building regulation point of view, you will have to comply with all relevant standards, including standards for parking and open space, get fire safety certificate, etc., etc.

This is the reason you see lots of properties for sale in the city, that are already in flats, with the sign 'pre 1963', i.e. before modern planning standards, so the Council cannoy enforce modern standards on the units (that's of course if you do not do alterations/require planning).

A sentence containing the words, 'can of worms' comes to mind!

In addition, given that house is 100 years old - check if house is a protected sturcture. If it is, don't even consider the idea of breaking up into 'flats', it will not be a runner with DCC!

gman2k

You say 'you are told' - by who? Is this person a financial institution?
I think you should go and chat to a couple of recommended architects who will advise you of the actual process involved as outlined by the poster above. A design and detailed spec is needed, which will be costed by a QS to give you an outline cost. Budgets can go out the window very quickly with this type of project, depending on what's uncovered in the build - dry rot etc. Client input regarding level of finishes is a big factor also.
Furniture and fittings for tenants may be a forgotten cost!
PS a few years back I was involved in a scheme where we had a protected building (one house in a terrace, and we converted it into 3 apartments. There is a lot of work involved (both design and construction), and the input of a conservation architect was a necessity. (I'm not pimping myself here).
It's also advisable to retain a mech and elec consultant early on in design stage & fire safety consultant also.

A good QS at early stages will be able to help a lot, your architect will generally only be working off ball park figures.