Duplex or House?

Sunrise_Sunset

Family of 4; what you you recommend? Same price range.

2 bed house, approx 80 sq m, attic needs to be converted into a third bedroom. Would lose some space from the second bedroom for the stairs to the attic room. Management Co fees @ approx E350. Family bathroom and downstairs WC. A driveway at the front of the house, but no front garden. Back garden.

3 bed duplex, 95 sq m, would need to take out the downstairs WC to make the kitchen a bit larger. Higher Management Co fees @ approx E800. Duplex is above a ground floor apartment. Family bathroom, ensuite with master bedroom, WC downstairs (would take this out though). Parking just outside the duplex.

Millem

The house with a garden. You could extend it in time if needs be.

zreba

Same location? Same build quality? Then go for a house (especially if detached), but if this is about an old terraced house vs modern duplex then i'd probably chose the duplex. Bringing an old house to a modern standard won't be cheap.

Sunrise_Sunset

Same development, same build, approximately 15 years old.
Apparently the build quality in the entire estate isn't great, as built in boom times.
House is terraced, no side passage. No one else has extended, so I worry that maybe planning permission wouldn't be granted. Many owners have Seomra garden rooms out the back garden.

Millem

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

Same development, same build, approximately 15 years old.
Apparently the build quality in the entire estate isn't great, as built in boom times.
House is terraced, no side passage. No one else has extended, so I worry that maybe planning permission wouldn't be granted. Many owners have Seomra garden rooms out the back garden.

You can build an extension without pp once under a certain size and you have a certain amount of space left.
I find a driveway and garden invaluable for me as I have small kids.

Askthe EA

Millem wrote: »

You can build an extension without pp once under a certain size and you have a certain amount of space left.
I find a driveway and garden invaluable for me as I have small kids.

Careful, you need to know where the drains run, often with terrace its across the back of the house which makes extending prohibitively expensive. If nobody else has extended, you'd wonder why not!!

Doop

Can you definitely extend in a private managed estate? I would of thought it would be prohibited in the leasehold (if there is one for the house option).

Sunrise_Sunset

Askthe EA wrote: »

Careful, you need to know where the drains run, often with terrace its across the back of the house which makes extending prohibitively expensive. If nobody else has extended, you'd wonder why not!!

Exactly. I'm really wondering why not. The houses are only 80 sq m, lots of families of 4 or 5 living in them. I've definitely seen shores in the back gardens of a couple of them I have viewed, within a couple of metres of the house. I am unsure if that is the case with them all. I will have to view one again this week.

Sunrise_Sunset

Doop wrote: »

Can you definitely extend in a private managed estate? I would of thought it would be prohibited in the leasehold (if there is one for the house option).

I've definitely seen extensions in the 3 bed end of terrace houses in the estate. Not with the 2 bed mid terrace though. Only seomra's.

fjon

Are any of the attics in the other houses converted? There's a chance this is not allowed in a leasehold terraced house.
If you can't extend into the back garden I would think the duplex is more attractive.

Millem

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

I've definitely seen extensions in the 3 bed end of terrace houses in the estate. Not with the 2 bed mid terrace though. Only seomra's.

Are the 2 and 3 bed houses not mixed in with each other? If so how can one extend and the other one not?

Sunrise_Sunset

fjon wrote: »

Are any of the attics in the other houses converted? There's a chance this is not allowed in a leasehold terraced house.
If you can't extend into the back garden I would think the duplex is more attractive.

Plenty of attics are converted alright. Really unsure about extensions though. Of course the estate agent says it should be fine. I don't know how to go about finding out for sure. As far as I'm aware there is a shore underneath the decking out the back, and the drains run there.

Sunrise_Sunset

Millem wrote: »

Are the 2 and 3 bed houses not mixed in with each other? If so how can one extend and the other one not?

Yeah they are. The 3 beds are at the end of each terrace. The 2 beds are all mid terrace. I don't know how that would differ for extending. But I've seen plenty of the end terraces extended and none of the mid terraced.

fjon

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

Plenty of attics are converted alright. Really unsure about extensions though. Of course the estate agent says it should be fine. I don't know how to go about finding out for sure. As far as I'm aware there is a shore underneath the decking out the back, and the drains run there.

I guess the easiest way would be to ask one of the neighbours, especially the ones with Seomras out the back.
Tough decision. If the extension was possible I think the house would be a no-brainer. Good luck!

Sunrise_Sunset

fjon wrote: »

I guess the easiest way would be to ask one of the neighbours, especially the ones with Seomras out the back.
Tough decision. If the extension was possible I think the house would be a no-brainer. Good luck!

Yes, I think I will call in to one of the neighbours and ask them. Maybe the neighbour with the Seomra out their back garden.

Other than that, I think we are starting to lean towards a duplex. It'll have we need from the get go. No extensions or conversions required. Of course, it's missing a garden though. And higher Management Co fees.

fjon

Sunrise_Sunset wrote: »

Yes, I think I will call in to one of the neighbours and ask them. Maybe the neighbour with the Seomra out their back garden.

Other than that, I think we are starting to lean towards a duplex. It'll have we need from the get go. No extensions or conversions required. Of course, it's missing a garden though. And higher Management Co fees.

I bought a duplex, mostly happy with the decision. Happy with the size (bigger than the houses in the same estate), the extra security and the build quality. Being above someone helps with heating. The patio isn’t huge but is adequate. Only things I don’t like are the higher management fees, the lack of garden, and the steps to get to the front door.