converting one house into two

[past3bar]

I am in the process of purchasing a large end terraced house which has main road frontage to the gable end with door & windows on ground and upper floor.
The side of the house is on a side street at right angles to the main road with a bricked up door but windows on this elevation.
The other two walls are party walls with adjoinining properties except for a garage which passes through to a communal car parking area but no windows etc.
I would like to split this property into two smaller terraced houses .
Do I require solid construction walls between the 2 halves (ie brick/block) from ground floor to roof?
Do I need more than 1 form of access for each property?
Would a passage way through the garage suffice as a joint/shared 2nd access/escape route should one be required?
Thanks Ian

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Before you worry about all of that you need to find out if you'll get planning permission or not. If thats a no-no don't even bother about the practicalities! Factors involved in the planning decision will be the area, the size of the existing house, the parking, your local authority's local plan, waste collection etc etc. Either contacting the planning department or local Architects or an Architectural Technician should be your next move.

 

[past3bar]

Thanks for that Freddy
I'll contact my local Building control next week.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Thanks for that Freddy
I'll contact my local Building control next week.

No not Building Control, contact the Planning Department, they are two completely different departments!

 

[Blagard]

This query for Freddymercurystwin.

I can see the OP is looking at the possibility of a conversion to two units.
What I have not seen on the Forum or been involved with for a long time is HIMO's (House In Multiple Occupation) which in the best instances are almost flats with shared access's. Do you know if these type of developments still happen ? It is a change of use, so I know the planning department would be still be involved. It may also be something the OP could think about.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

This query for Freddymercurystwin.

I can see the OP is looking at the possibility of a conversion to two units.
What I have not seen on the Forum or been involved with for a long time is HIMO's (House In Multiple Occupation) which in the best instances are almost flats with shared access's. Do you know if these type of developments still happen ? It is a change of use, so I know the planning department would be still be involved. It may also be something the OP could think about.

HMO's are still a current form of housing and occur when the house as you say contains flats or contain 5 or more bedroom and require planning permission when there are 6 or more bedrooms or if separated into two or more flats that crucially have two or more 'households' although I believe Local Authority's vary slightly in their requirements with regards to licensing and planning permission.

 

[DevilDamo]

Do you know if these type of developments still happen ?

Yes they do. I'm currently involved in one where we're nearing on completion. We had planning permission to convert offices to residential (flats) but as the client has run out of money, he asked if he could convert to HMO's until such a time he has money to then go for the flats. The planning department had to be notified and were happy and Building Control had to be notified and an application applied for as well as the Environmental Health department getting involved as they'd be the ones issuing the HMO licence.

An HMO is defined as being one (or more) or the following...

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/rentingandletting/privaterenting/housesmultiple/

Under "What is an HMO?".

 

[Blagard]

An HMO is defined as being one (or more) or the following...

Cheers, I did at one time actually have the definition stored in my head, but things change, including definitions. I was not current on how often these things even occurred these days. It's like the reguations, one year you know them, next year you're wrong! It is always wise to check if you are no longer certain

 

[DevilDamo]

Exactly!

I'm not sure if the same applies to other LA's but the LA I'm dealing with have been quite leniant towards the HMO conversion. But I only think that is because in the near'ish future, it will be converted to flats when all the reg's, etc.. will come into force.