Refurb Options - old terraced house

onion82

Hi all,

I have bought an old and v dated 2bed terraced house in Dublin 8 and will be applying for planning permission to extend and refurb the entire house. We have young child which rules out the option of living in it while doing it up. It has been empty for a year or two and prior to that an old woman had lived there.

I am wondering what are the best options in the 4 or so months it takes for PP to be granted.

I'm thinking either try rent it on the cheap - given the crazy rental market we might find someone willing to live in a house in poor condition.

The other option would be to employ a couple of labourers from up north or eastern europe who would be happy to live there for free/some cash while doing work on the house in advance of getting a builder on site when permission is granted.


Any advice greatly appreciated.

Dardania

onion82 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have bought an old and v dated 2bed terraced house in Dublin 8 and will be applying for planning permission to extend and refurb the entire house. We have young child which rules out the option of living in it while doing it up. It has been empty for a year or two and prior to that an old woman had lived there.

I am wondering what are the best options in the 4 or so months it takes for PP to be granted.

I'm thinking either try rent it on the cheap - given the crazy rental market we might find someone willing to live in a house in poor condition.

The other option would be to employ a couple of labourers from up north or eastern europe who would be happy to live there for free/some cash while doing work on the house in advance of getting a builder on site when permission is granted.
I wonder could you advise me on where/how to post a message like this to the public and/or if you had any thoughts on it yourself?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

If someone were to rent it, they would want to stay in it (based on as you say the crazy rental market). Also, there's an expectation of a minimum standard before a place can be rented...your house may not meet it anyway.

RE finding labourers to live in it while doing up, I'd say finding the right guys might be a challenge.

Maybe it would be worthwhile to either:
- live in the house yourself, to refine your plans for it. e.g. learn about how sunlight falls at different times, how the circulation works for you, things like that
- split up the works packages a bit for the builders, and get what elements you can do now, done. Obviously you don't want to do final works now, that will get interfered with when a builder takes occupation, but you could replace windows or drill vent holes. What's the extent of extension being done?

onion82

We'll be adding an extension at the back of the house on ground and first floors. The existing house will be re-configured and refurbed entirely also. Once the major work commences it would be near impossible to live in other than for say a labourer. The main bedroom at the front will have very little done to it.

Agreed on the challenge of finding the right guys to move in and do some work in the interim. I wouldn't know where to start looking.

It would require some minimum investment to get it to a rentable state so it may not be worth the hassle for the sake of a few months rent.

BryanF

So you wouldn't live in it but expect someone else to? Shame on you.

onion82

Not with a 1 year old child no. Given the 'rental crisis' at the moment I'm sure someone would be happy to live there short term at an affordable price.

Graham

onion82 wrote: »

It would require some minimum investment to get it to a rentable state so it may not be worth the hassle for the sake of a few months rent.

For the sake of a few months rent it would be hard to recommend it.

You'd need to meet the minimum standards, sort out a lease, register with the RTB, pay tax on the income at your marginal rate and hope like hell the tenant agrees to move out as agreed at the end of the term.