Buying a property with converted garage

nicol

Hi all,

just went sale agreed on a property that has a detached garage. The garage has been converted to a granny flat but there was no planning granted for the conversion. I am guessing that the bank would not be too happy about this situation so I need to know what ways the situation could be remedied. My current thoughts are:

1. The vendor apply for planning and the sale to move forward subject to retention being granted
2. Undo the conversion to the point that the garage would be considered a garage, not a granny flat. I wonder in law at what stage this would be deemed true, i.e. remove plumbing and internal walls.

To be honest at the moment I have no need for a granny flat, but it could prove to be useful in a few years time as a man cave / home gym or for my kids to hang out in with their mates.

Thanks

bullvine

Its possible you may not need Planning permission, check with the local county council. regards

Pawwed Rig

It depends if the Granny flat is increasing the cost price of the house and if so by how much. Good negotiating tool to have.

dendof

I'm in the same situation. What my engineer did was gave me a cert of compliance but qualified it saying that there was no planning for garage conversion, but it could be easily converted back to it's intended use. Bank were happy with this and are happy to give mortgage.

Santa Cruz

nicol wrote: »

Hi all,

just went sale agreed on a property that has a detached garage. The garage has been converted to a granny flat but there was no planning granted for the conversion. I am guessing that the bank would not be too happy about this situation so I need to know what ways the situation could be remedied. My current thoughts are:

1. The vendor apply for planning and the sale to move forward subject to retention being granted
2. Undo the conversion to the point that the garage would be considered a garage, not a granny flat. I wonder in law at what stage this would be deemed true, i.e. remove plumbing and internal walls.

To be honest at the moment I have no need for a granny flat, but it could prove to be useful in a few years time as a man cave / home gym or for my kids to hang out in with their mates.

Thanks

If it wasn't intrusive you could rent it out or alternatively, pool table, plasma tv, fridge for beers, microwave and comfortable couch.

nicol

It's not really being pushed as a selling point for the property so it's not adding to the price to be honest.

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

It depends if the Granny flat is increasing the cost price of the house and if so by how much. Good negotiating tool to have.

Pawwed Rig

nicol wrote: »

It's not really being pushed as a selling point for the property so it's not adding to the price to be honest.

Well then the bank would have no issue as the value of the loan is in the house.

nicol

Cheers for the reply. Out of curiosity what bank are you going with? I think the cert of compliance sounds like a good work around.

dendof wrote: »

I'm in the same situation. What my engineer did was gave me a cert of compliance but qualified it saying that there was no planning for garage conversion, but it could be easily converted back to it's intended use. Bank were happy with this and are happy to give mortgage.

dendof

nicol wrote: »

Cheers for the reply. Out of curiosity what bank are you going with? I think the cert of compliance sounds like a good work around.

Bank of Ireland. Also to add, the cert of compliance stated that everything else was fully in order, house etc.

lindad2014

Hi just wondering how your getting on regards the granny flat just went sale agreed on a property to a granny flat to rear of the house , we don't intent to use it has a granny flat as no other shed in the garden so will be using it as storage. have letter of compliance ? will the bank be happy with that?

nicol

Still progressing with the sale. There was a bigger planning issue that needed to be resolved by us before the bank would offer mortgage. Thankfully this has been resolved.

As regards the Granny flat ;spoke to the vendors and they will convert it back into a garage prior to sale. This suits me as I'd prefer it as a garage for now.

To answer your question ;I'd expect that the bank would be satisfied with a letter of compliance. Best of luck with the sale!

lindad2014 wrote: »

Hi just wondering how your getting on regards the granny flat just went sale agreed on a property to a granny flat to rear of the house , we don't intent to use it has a granny flat as no other shed in the garden so will be using it as storage. have letter of compliance ? will the bank be happy with that?

lindad2014

Hi thanks a million for your reply best of luck with your sale too