Change of use - school to residence

[steved]

We are in the process of buying a school building in a small village in Deux Sevres. The building is basically sound - mains water/sewerage, modern wiring, oil fired central heating, decent roof. The property is larger than 170 sq m and it's next door to a church - well very close anyway.

We would like to get the services turned on and use the property as a base for holidays for the next 2 - 4 yrs. We will then have some money coming through - so we can apply for a Change of Use and convert the house to a domestic residence - with a view to eventual retirement ( we are banking on high costs because of the size and proximity to the church )

I have a number of questions relating to these plans and would really appreciate any thoughts / advice

1. How quickly do we have to apply for the Change of Use ? Will it be possible to get the water and elec turned on and camp in the place for a few weeks each summer before applying for the Change of Use ?

2. Does anyone know where we can find the regulations outlining the minimum requirements for a domestic residence - sanitation, elec, heating etc. - so we can estimate the costs to convert the building ?

3. If we plan to keep the large classrooms as open plan living space and the wiring is modern and adequate - do we have to get the place rewired when we apply for change of use ?

4. We understand that because of the size of the place we will have to get architectual plans drawn up when we apply for a change of use. If we don't plan to alter the outside of the building at all and just plan to errect a couple of stud partitions and install a bathroom and kitchen - any very rough estimates of the costs involved ( for the architects plans ) ?

5. Finally - I have been reading that it is becoming more difficult to get Change of Use applications approved - can anyone shed ( sorry ) any light on their experiences - either + or -

Many thanks .... i might be back to pick your brains further

Steve

[Frank]

Hi Steve

We purchased an old school recently and we had a clause suspensive written into the compromis to have the certificate d'urbanism ( I think I spelt it right!) for change of use to residence, granted before completion.  In our case, it was completed in three weeks, but I have heard some taking months to get passed, I think it depends on your commune.  As for the permit to complete renovations, ours took around 6 months ( permit for pool and creation of 5 gites) for which we used an architect.  We found the chap we used very helpful and he did all the work including filling in forms etc.  He is French and based in Saintes dept 17, so I think he is probably too far from you. Our permit application was straight forward as we have no churches or historic buildings close to us.  As for the electrtrics etc, I think some more knowledgable beings on this forum would be best suited to answer those q's!!  I don't nkow how things are in relation to 'camping inside' for a couple of years, perhaps again someone more knowledagble can help, also, try popping into the Mairie, they can also be very helpful and would point you in the right direction for answers to your question.

Kimberley 17

[steved]

Thanks Kimberley - very useful. Am I correct in thinking that I will not have to use an architect to submit plans for the certificate d'urbanisme - only when we apply for the building permit ?

[Frank]

Hi Steve

As far as I am aware, you don't need an architect plans for the C d'U, sorry to be vague, but the estate agent took care of it, is it too late to include it as a clause suspensive??? We only used the architect for the permit. from what we were told by the architect, the C d'U is only valid for 12 months  then it would need renewing, however, if the application for the permis de construire has been submitted, then that counts as 'works in progress', he also told us that we then had 5 years to complete the works, not 2 which we had been advised earlier. Hope this helps

Kimberley 17 

[steved]

Thanks again for the advice. We are in the unusual position that we are buying the property from a friend - we're going down during May half term holiday to see the property and meet the notaire - and make a final decision. So we can certainly include a clause suspensive. Just trying to get genned up as much as we can before we go. Interesting about the 5 years to complete the work ... that could fit into our kind of time scale.

Thanks for your help

Steve