Bought a Garage... Came with a Flat... I was not prepared...
Discussion
This is a tale of buying a garage to put my car in, getting lumbered with a flat attached to it, almost two years of torture restoring said flat… And I still haven’t got the car in the garage… 
Not sure how much interest there is with these but I greatly enjoy reading other people’s threads on home renovations so thought I’d have a stab of my own journey
It all started back in September 2023, I’d been looking for a house with a decent garage but this time forgot to exclude flats from my search, and what should catch my eye but a 2-bed Flat that somehow had a garage underneath it?
Now I actually like flats - I prefer living higher up - but I’d automatically ruled out flats as I’d never realized that some came with garages (plus I’d heard about daft service charges) so I was immediately intrigued and contacted the estate agent to have a nosy round... I won’t bore you with details but I fell in love with the garage and saw enough potential in the flat that I decided I could put up with restoring it…
I put in an offer and after a bit of negotiation a deal was agreed, then followed about 8 months of pain going back and forth with the sellers’ solicitors who didn’t have much of a clue with what they were doing… But finally on the 24th of April 2024 I completed and now owned a garage for my car to sit in
Bit of history on the place; The person that owned it bought it brand new in 1963 and lived in it till a relative died and left him their house which he moved into, so since around 1971-73 the flat hadn’t been lived in although I’m told by neighbours’ it had some squatters at some point in the 90s.
Its share of freehold, so no service charge beyond ground rent (peppercorn) obviously the downside there is if something happens the money has to be stumped up then and there instead of having a pot, but no different to a house really.
Sadly due to it not being lived in for so long, It basically needs everything doing to it…
Full rewire with new consumer unit etc (Electricians I’ve had out basically said the existing stuff is dangerous and don’t use the sockets)
Boiler/central heating – existing setup is a gas-powered warm air unit with vents in the rooms and some sort of hot water tank – I don’t know how its heated.
New ceiling - leak from the roof had knackered it
After that it’s the usual kitchen/bathroom stuff.
However there had been some work done before it was put on the market such as new roof, new exterior doors, and double-glazed windows which helped.
I figured going into this I was looking at £40-50K to get it up to a standard I was happy with...which may be a tad optimistic.
I’ll also warn you all now, I’m no DIY person – the best I'd done up to this point is built some IKEA furniture, so this was a whole new challenge for me to tackle
Those of a sensitive disposition may wish to turn back now, as there are many bodges that will no doubt make you all cringe
Anyway pictures so you can get an idea of what I got myself into
Living Room:
Kitchen:
Bathroom:
Bedroom 1:
Bedroom 2:
Balcony:
Garage!:
Floorplan:
Not sure how much interest there is with these but I greatly enjoy reading other people’s threads on home renovations so thought I’d have a stab of my own journey
It all started back in September 2023, I’d been looking for a house with a decent garage but this time forgot to exclude flats from my search, and what should catch my eye but a 2-bed Flat that somehow had a garage underneath it?
Now I actually like flats - I prefer living higher up - but I’d automatically ruled out flats as I’d never realized that some came with garages (plus I’d heard about daft service charges) so I was immediately intrigued and contacted the estate agent to have a nosy round... I won’t bore you with details but I fell in love with the garage and saw enough potential in the flat that I decided I could put up with restoring it…
I put in an offer and after a bit of negotiation a deal was agreed, then followed about 8 months of pain going back and forth with the sellers’ solicitors who didn’t have much of a clue with what they were doing… But finally on the 24th of April 2024 I completed and now owned a garage for my car to sit in
Bit of history on the place; The person that owned it bought it brand new in 1963 and lived in it till a relative died and left him their house which he moved into, so since around 1971-73 the flat hadn’t been lived in although I’m told by neighbours’ it had some squatters at some point in the 90s.
Its share of freehold, so no service charge beyond ground rent (peppercorn) obviously the downside there is if something happens the money has to be stumped up then and there instead of having a pot, but no different to a house really.
Sadly due to it not being lived in for so long, It basically needs everything doing to it…
Full rewire with new consumer unit etc (Electricians I’ve had out basically said the existing stuff is dangerous and don’t use the sockets)
Boiler/central heating – existing setup is a gas-powered warm air unit with vents in the rooms and some sort of hot water tank – I don’t know how its heated.
New ceiling - leak from the roof had knackered it
After that it’s the usual kitchen/bathroom stuff.
However there had been some work done before it was put on the market such as new roof, new exterior doors, and double-glazed windows which helped.
I figured going into this I was looking at £40-50K to get it up to a standard I was happy with...which may be a tad optimistic.
I’ll also warn you all now, I’m no DIY person – the best I'd done up to this point is built some IKEA furniture, so this was a whole new challenge for me to tackle
Those of a sensitive disposition may wish to turn back now, as there are many bodges that will no doubt make you all cringe
Anyway pictures so you can get an idea of what I got myself into
Living Room:
Kitchen:
Bathroom:
Bedroom 1:
Bedroom 2:
Balcony:
Garage!:
Floorplan:
WonkeyDonkey said:
egomeister said:
Misread the title - thought it said came with a Fiat.
Not the only one, was disappointed to scroll down to see an empty garage, was expecting an old 500 or panda.Not even a Fiat with a Flat... Homes, Gardens & DIY should have been a giveaway though.
Still, Good Luck... Will check in now & again.
Edited by Milkyway on Monday 6th April 19:07
Milkyway said:
WonkeyDonkey said:
egomeister said:
Misread the title - thought it said came with a Fiat.
Not the only one, was disappointed to scroll down to see an empty garage, was expecting an old 500 or panda.Not even a Fiat with a Flat... Homes, Gardens & DIY should have been a giveaway though.
Still, Good Luck... Will check in now & again.
Edited by Milkyway on Monday 6th April 19:07
The toilet has not survived, that went pretty quickly... I don't even want to think of the horrors its seen
I'll have the first update on tomorrow - just trying to sort through a million pictures..
Homes, gardens and DIY should have been a bit of a giveaway.
Demented said:
Simpo Two said:
Is the furniture yours or was it left behind/to clear?
It was the previous owners, they cleared it out by the time I got the keys, there was just a broken chair left. Shame as it was really well made stuff, probably why they kept it.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff