Room for improvement
Majella O'Sullivan at home with her pet dog
Related Articles
Friday October 17 2008
One of the most common reasons why people sell their house is because they need more space. Imagine if you could add extra space and value to your home and so remove the need for having to sell up and start again. Would you be tempted?
In an increasingly uncertain market, more and more people are inclined to look at the alternatives to selling.
One woman, who has started a business based on this reality, is convinced that most people have no idea about the potential of their home.
Angela Carr qualified as an architect from the Machintosh School of Architecture in Glasgow but she says the idea for 'Living:room' had been brewing for some time.
When Angela was thinking of selling her own home, a period house in Phibsboro in Dublin, she realised she could add another 25sqm at ground level without planning permission and potentially another 45sqm with planning on ground and first-floor levels.
This gave her the business idea to help clients identify where they could add space to their home and, of course, value.
Living:room provides a detailed property report that identifies how much extra space could be added to a home either with or without planning permission. Each report is based on current planning guidelines and assesses building costs, market values and cost comparisons.
The report is prepared within five to 10 days of visiting the property, which allows you to respond quickly to the market. It costs €750+VAT for a report on what's allowed without planning permission and €950+VAT for a detailed analysis of what could be achieved with or without planning. Travel expenses also apply for properties outside the Dublin area.
"Living:room allows you to access the options that are open to you, whether you're planning on buying, selling or extending," Angela explains. "If you're buying a house, the safest way is to know that you can add value to your investment.
"If you're buying a house now, chances are you're not planning on moving for the next five years so it's about assessing a house and letting you know if it has enough space to meet your needs in a few years time.
"If you're selling, it's about making people aware of the house's potential value."
You can add on about 40sqm without planning permission to most houses but there are guidelines and restrictions, Angela contends.
"It's all about maximising the investment you have already made. Therefore, when you buy, you're not just buying a house you're buying potential as well," she says.
So, what kind of space could I add to my run-of-the-mill three-bedroom, semi-detached house?
According to Angela's report, approximately 32sqm would be exempt from planning permission.
Subject to planning permission, a further 62sqm, could be added onto my 99sqm house.
By the time Angela called to my house to do the assessment she had already put two or three hours of groundwork at the local county council offices studying development plans and the file of the planning decision for the estate.
"Firstly, I would look at the local area development plans and the guidelines to do with residential amenity, length of the garden, and then I call to the house and get the right dimensions of it," she explains.
Based on her research and working with these dimensions, Angela was able to decide what type of work could be carried out on the property and drew up a plan accordingly.
When I met her a week later, she came armed with the Living:room property potential report on my property, presented in a neatly bound folder complete with architect's drawings.
The revelations were astounding, especially what is allowed without planning permission.
The additional 32sqm allowed could be added on at ground and first-floor levels.
It allowed for a fourth bedroom with bathroom en suite, at first floor level, and an extended family kitchen, utility room and store room on the ground floor.
Living:room also estimates the cost of the building project including building costs, architect's and structural engineer's fee and relocation costs while building is in progress. Planning costs do not apply to the exempt option.
In a typical three-bed house in Carlow ranging in value from €200,000 to €265,000, the costs come in between €84,000 and €95,000.
The value of a four-bedroom house ranges between €239,000 and €320,000, therefore the potential to save is minimal and extending the existing property will add value but not the equivalent to building costs in the short term.
From speaking to a number of local auctioneers, Angela discovered that the local housing market in Carlow differed from larger urban centres like Dublin for a number of reasons.
The "recycling" culture doesn't really exist to the same extent as there is more land and housing stock available.
There is no perceived need to extend as it is easier to move to another house in the area and chances are the children won't even need to change schools.
Another factor is what they term "keeping up with the Joneses" in that home owners prefer to live in a large house located near other large houses.
Trading up does not just refer to house size but also means a more desirable address. Where the differential is much more pronounced is in large urban areas like Dublin which don't have the same availability of housing stock, especially in the desired area.
For example, a three-bedroom house in Stoneybatter has a current market value of around €400,000.
The cost of extending such a property by approximately 35sqm is €100,000.
A four-bedroom house in Stoneybatter is valued at €650,000 so there is the potential profit of €150,000.
"Assuming the market was to continue dropping at a rate of 10pc per annum, this property would be able to weather the market for over two years without a loss of profit," Angela notes.
Maybe not a route everyone is willing to take, nevertheless, it's good to have an independent opinion of what is possible.
For those happy enough to put down roots in their present home, there's always room to improve and you may be able to bypass the planning quagmire.
Angela Carr can be contacted at 087-6780895 or email info@livingroom.ie or visit the website at www.livingroom.ie. She also runs an architectural practice, info@ultraviolet.ie
