We are redecorating our two-storey, three-bedroom house with a view to
selling. The one bathroom, upstairs, has a full-size bath and high ceiling,
but is not a family bathroom. We could extend it into the smallest bedroom,
or replace the bath with a large shower and create a narrow ensuite bathroom
to the master bedroom, with a full-size bath and basin, but no toilet. Or
should we simply replace the existing suite with a space-saving model? What
will be cheapest and most attractive to prospective buyers?
Kim Allen, Eltham, southeast London
The conventional solution – and the best resale option – is to buy a more
appropriate suite for the existing bathroom. However, if you are going to be
in the property for a few years yet and would enjoy the ensuite layout – and
it does not compromise the square footage of the main bedroom too much –
perhaps you should do it. After a hard day’s graft, it is nice to come home
to a house that really suits your needs. As long as you do the division
well, I doubt it would negatively affect the home’s value.
Q You recently reviewed a product that will render ordinary doors
fireproof. I have searched, but cannot find it anywhere. I am developing a
house with an attic room; the plan calls for fire doors throughout the
house, but I would like to adapt standard doors to meet building regulations.
Paul Martin, via e-mail If you
Google fire-retardant paints, there are masses of companies to choose from.
Alternatively, ask the building-regs officer at your local planning
department if there is one he would prefer you to use.
Q I live abroad, but have owned a terraced house in Camden, London, for
20 years. It is let as bedsits and is licensed as a house in multiple
occupation (HMO). I am moving back to London and want to turn it back into
my home or convert it into flats to sell. However, my agent tells me that I
cannot do either: Camden wants to keep the property as an HMO, as part of
its programme of providing cheap housing. That is laudable, but this is my
house: it’s served as an HMO for two decades and now I want it for my own
purposes. Am I stuck with an HMO for ever?
Marvin Fletcher, via e-mail
As far as I am aware, there is nothing to stop you using the house as one
single dwelling, because this is not a material change in the use of the
property as a whole, and can be undertaken at any time without needing
planning permission. A change of use to two flats will almost certainly
require planning permission. When you have converted the property into a
single dwelling, you can ask for it to be reevaluated and rated as a single
dwelling. Speak to a local planning specialist or solicitor.
Q My kitchen walls are tiled from floor to ceiling. How can I change
and update their appearance without having them removed?
E Wondre, via e-mail
There are three options: stripping off the tiles (which will probably involve
replastering the walls); painting them a different colour (never, in my
experience, very successful in the long term); or covering them. If you want
to pursue the third option, the quickest, least messy way is to use Gripfill
to stick the thinnest plasterboard over them, then either plaster-skim over
the top, or fill and tape the joints. However, if you do cover the tiles,
you will lose the detailing of the skirtings and architraves, and the
kitchen units will effectively be “buried” in the wall a little. You can
slightly improve the look by removing the skirtings and architraves
beforehand and then refitting them afterwards, but the detailing will always
be a bit messy around the edges.
Q We bought a property in a Grade II-listed converted hospital near
Exeter about a year ago, but have been horrified by how draughty the windows
are. The problem is that the four huge original metal windows at the front
of the house have a system for ventilating the room – you push the fanlight
with a broom handle. There is no other way to open the window, and the rest
of it is fixed. The top fanlight needs draught-proofing, but we are at a
loss to know what to use without causing condensation in the rooms affected.
We are not allowed to change the windows as it is a leasehold property, and
the freeholder wants it to remain in keeping with the other 100-plus homes.
Our other windows are sash windows and, apart from rattling in the strong
southwesterlies, are relatively draught-free. What can we do?
Jennifer Dawson, via e-mail
While I sympathise with the freeholder, you can get really nicely detailed
metal windows that would be in keeping with the original, as well as being
double-glazed with cutting-edge opening mechanisms. I have used Clement
Windows and found them to be very good for detailing. Why not ask if they
can help, and e-mail a photograph of the existing windows to make
discussions easier. Or you could install secondary glazing on the inside.
This would stop drafts, but make opening the windows even more difficult
than it is already.
Q Ten years ago, my 110-year-old house was underpinned as a result of
damage due to a faulty drain. The problem was sorted out during the previous
ownership as part of an insurance claim. The structure could be considered
as good as new, but I have to pay at least £100 over the odds for building
insurance. No company other than the original seems to be interested. What
can I do?
Nigel Walters
This is one of the drawbacks of a property that has a history of subsidence.
Most insurance firms will honour the existing policy and continue with it,
but others are reluctant to take on insuring a property that has experienced
subsidence. Contact a good insurance broker – I use First Commercial. They
should give you a guide as to how long it will be before the historical
problem is disregarded.
Q We bought a property four years ago for £350,000 in Edinburgh, the
main room of which looked out onto a large field. Last year, this land was
sold to a property developer. We lost our fight against the project, and in
two years’ time, when the final part of the development is finished, our
view will be of a side wall at least two storeys high, a road and
underground parking. Not only will we lose our view, the development will
also block our light. Just a few metres down, the developer proposes to
build a nature pond. Can we ask them to change their plans to allow us to
look out over the pond? How can we protect our view?
Steve and Leona George, via e-mail
Unfortunately, a common misconception is that we have a right to a view.
Planning policy protects our privacy (or at least is meant to, to an extent),
and light from being blocked from habitable rooms (though this appears not
to have been considered relevant by the planning department in your case).
However, unless you own the land providing the view, you have little say
over what anyone else does with it. You could ask the developer whether they
would mind you getting a mural artist to paint something fabulous on the
wall, or plant greenery up it to soften it visually. Ask whether they would
change their plans to allow you a view of the pond. If it does not have too
much of a cost or planning/design implication, I see no reason why they
would not try to accommodate your wishes.
Have you got a question for Sarah Beeny? Send your queries to sarah.beeny@sunday-times.co.uk
or write to her c/o Home, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London
E98 1ST
