Overwhelmed - help!

[heloise]

Hi there, I have been a reader for a while but have never posted.

I'm in the middle of buying a top floor Victorian 1 bed flat in London. It is an utter cesspit. To enable me to get out of my miserable dead-end job and reduce my enormous mortgage I need to develop it. I have the small and horrible experience of falling out with about 5 Polish builders over a bathroom in my current flat and now face project managing something much bigger becuase I can't afford to pay a decent builder to do the whole thing.

Basically my builder who I cannot afford (quoted 20k before materials!)says it needs a total rewire - should I bargain the asking price down?

There is a horrid little bathroom at the front of the house separated vertically by a false wall from the boxy little living room. I want to take down the wall, put the kitchen where the bathroom is and create an open-plan kitchen/living room thus having two windows instead of one.

The kitchen is down a few stairs at the back of the flat and depressing. I want to make this the bathroom as it is so far from the living room.

Additionally I have to take down woodchip wallpaper throughout!

There is also a loft which I may buy and develop later on.

1) What do I do first please once I exchange? Contact building regs and the freeholder who is the council?

2) Will I need the rewire before the swapping of kitchen and bathroom or should the plumbing be done first?

3) Should I bargain for the cost of the re-wire before I exchange?

Thanks in advance for any help and please excuse the long first post!

 

[wanabechippie]

Hey there.

Personally, I'd contact the freeholder straight away and run your ideas by them. What will you do if they shoot down all your ideas for renovations after you've exchanged??

As it's a leasehold, I think (any one know better?) that the freeholder is responsible for the electical safety of the building. I'm not sure that up-dating your flats electics will solve the prob. Get in touch with the freeholder and find out how the land lies.

As far as what order to do the work in goes; Most contractors that i've dealt with have said that its allways easier to do major re-wire / plumbs when the house/flat is empty. So, if all gets okayd, get the sparkies and plummbers in as soon as you've exchanged and let them get bashing. It's a heck of a lot less hastle to have them crashing around there for a few days and clear up after than try and live around the work site and extend the job by days.

Once all the specialist trades have finished, I would then get on with sorting out the kitchen and bathroom. Make sure you settle on a plan of what you want where before the trades get started tho. Much easier to change your mind before they get going rather than as they're working / after they've gone!

Also, get as many quotes as possible for the re-wire work (if actually needed). Try and get references from their past clients and check them out. Dodgy electrics can really ruin your life expectancy so only go with a sparky if you feel you can trust them. Make sure they're part-p certified as well as all the other certifications they have.

Just to re-iterate: I'm not a contractor. Don't take my word for anything! Get it checked first!

All the best!

 

[heloise]

Thanks for the advice Wannabechippie.

Unfortunately the freeholder is the council who will not tell me anything until I own the flat and submit plans etc.

They also wouldn't let me apply for planning for any loft conversion until I've bought the loft from them for, say a tidy 10-45k!

Added to this, 3 estate agents have told me that I'm paying a 'toppy' price for the square footage.

 

[wanabechippie]

Bloody hell! That's rediculous!

Have you got as far as having a building survey carried out? If do have one (really, REALLY recomend it!) get a full structural one done. They are a bit more expensive but if your buying to develope, it will probably pay for itself when it throws up all the wee (expensive) gremlins that a homebuyers report would miss.

I'm not sure if the structural survey covers wiring tho, so I'd advise you get a couple of sparkies to take a look or at least try and advise the survey officer to look at the electrics.

Good luck!