Building a 1 bed flat and car port for 2 cars

[Barny]

Hello all,

I am fortunate in that I own an end of terrace property which I currently rent out, located within the largest plot of all the terraced houses in the block and as such, have a large rear garden and a detached garage to the right hand side of the property, along with another 10-15ft of excess land. As a result of this I've recently been toying with the idea of knocking down the garage and rebuilding a new 2 bed end of terrace property in its place.

Following initial investigation by my local planning department, they have confirmed that the land available and garden area is large enough for them to tentatively approve that a new end of terrace 2 bed house would be a feasible idea, but the stumbling block would be the need to supply 2 off road spaces, 1 for the existing property and 1 for the new build. This is due to planning rules of development in order to cut down on on street parking, which in reality I can fully understand.

As a result of this, I'm now thinking of sticking with the same plan of flattening the garage and build an extended off road car port for 2 spaces and look to build a 1 bed flat above. This will therefore cater for the requirement of 2 off road spaces and still allow space for access to the rear of the properties, along with private access to the flat above.

When looking at figures and quotes for the initial idea of a 2 bed end of terrace property, I was quoted between £80k-£110k depending on fixtures and quality of finish, something that I was quite happy to be flexible with as I would be building it to rent out so wouldn't be looking at a 'top spec' finish.

Seems as I only received the news from my planning department today, I've not had a chance to speak to people about this idea so was wondering if anyone had built a similar property themselves and anything I should be aware of and an estimate of build costs?

Many thanks in advance,
Barny

 

[Jonathan Rolande]

don’t expect the build cost to drop much even if you lose the ground floor accommodation as most of the build cost goes in groundwork, roofing etc.

 

[Quinlan]

Seems a low quote imho given you have to include for bathroom and kitchen fittings, wiring, stairs and fixtures and will have ground works involving the laying new soil pipes unless they are fortuitously close to existing stacks and access covers.
Difficult to visualise without a site plan, but you seem to be proposing to go outside the building line at the front of the building and while planning usually lets people put up carports (temporary structures) they are, in my experience, more fussy when it comes to two story structures that might set a precedent for others in the street in terms of extensions.
If you have been going to the planning desk and consulting with whoever is on duty at the time, I would respectfully advise seeing the planning officer who overseas the area per se and discuss building lines, proposed materials, and design approach just to be sure. Also you will probably need a full set of planning drawings and details for building regulations consent so best to get their input on these. Is this in a London borough or outside London?

 

[Barny]

The site is in Suffolk.

With regards to building lines, the front of the new build will be in line with the existing row of houses and so won't be any closer to the road.

 

[xclent]

Quote does seem fairly low - most of that will be put to the ground work and roof as others have said.

What sort of rental yield and end values are you looking at?

 

[Barny]

This property is located about 3/4 a mile from popular town centre where there is very little street parking, approx. 50m of road for 10 houses, most of which have 2 cars and no off street parking, let alone a garage, hence the £20k garage value

Current property with garage is valued at £175,000 - Current rental figure £700/mth
Current property without garage is valued at £155,000 - Estimated rental figure £625-£650/mth

Current property with carport is valued at £165,000 - Estimated rental figure £675/mth
New 1 apartment with carport is valued at £130,000 - Estimated rental figure £600/mth

Therefore my options are:
1) Sell existing property & garage for £175k
2) Keep existing property & continue renting at £700/mth
3) Build new property and rent both new and existing - £675/m & £600/m = £1275/m
4) Build new property and sell both new and existing - £165k & £130k = £295k
5) Build new property and sell existing, rent new - £165k & £600/mth
6) Build new property and sell new, rent existing - £130k & £675/mth

Due to the values and potential costs involved of the new build, added to the general condition of the existing property (built in 1915!),I'd probably prefer to sell the existing property and therefore option 4 or 5 are my preferred options.