Renting out a mobile home on my property?

TGLRetroplayer

Hi all,

I've seen a lot of discussion on Boards about mobile homes, but nothing that quite lines up with what's on my mind. I won't keep this too long.

Myself and my wife own a house in Wicklow. Out the front on either side of our driveway we have two decent sized gardens. Not massive, but definitely big enough for a medium sized mobile home. As renting is starting to shoot up in our area, we thought we'd get on the train and try and get a mobile home for the front garden, one that we'd let out.

So, as far as I know (and I'm still learning!), what steps beyond 1) Getting planing permission 2) Laying down a floating foundation 3) Purchasing and delivering the mobile home and 4) Hooking the home up to the water, etc would we need to look into? Obviously, all of this is way easier said than done, but I think it'd be a great investment for the future.

The tenant would have a decent amount of room around the home, access to bins, plenty of parking space and privacy as they would be mostly surrounded by hedges, but not entirely blocked in of course.

I'd welcome any help, questions about my situation if needed, etc.

Cheers!!

Gumbo

TGLRetroplayer wrote: »

Hi all,

I've seen a lot of discussion on Boards about mobile homes, but nothing that quite lines up with what's on my mind. I won't keep this too long.

Myself and my wife own a house in Wicklow. Out the front on either side of our driveway we have two decent sized gardens. Not massive, but definitely big enough for a medium sized mobile home. As renting is starting to shoot up in our area, we thought we'd get on the train and try and get a mobile home for the front garden, one that we'd let out.

So, as far as I know (and I'm still learning!), what steps beyond 1) Getting planing permission 2) Laying down a floating foundation 3) Purchasing and delivering the mobile home and 4) Hooking the home up to the water, etc would we need to look into? Obviously, all of this is way easier said than done, but I think it'd be a great investment for the future.

The tenant would have a decent amount of room around the home, access to bins, plenty of parking space and privacy as they would be mostly surrounded by hedges, but not entirely blocked in of course.

I'd welcome any help, questions about my situation if needed, etc.

Cheers!!

Before you worry about 2, 3 and 4, your idea will halt at No. 1.
Planning permission will be refused.

Hitman3000

TGLRetroplayer wrote:

I've seen a lot of discussion on Boards about mobile homes, but nothing that quite lines up with what's on my mind. I won't keep this too long.

Forget it, not going to happen. Planning.

I would think you'll have extreme difficulty getting planning permission for this, especially in the front garden.

There is an exemption available for camping but iirc, its time limited and must be a certain distance from the road.

TGLRetroplayer

Is it just that something like this is outright not allowed? Does it vary based on size of property, distance from road, distance from water supply, etc?

Hitman3000

TGLRetroplayer wrote:

Is it just that something like this is outright not allowed? Does it vary based on size of property, distance from road, distance from water supply, etc?

If you doubt the responses you receive here ,contact your local planning department .

Baybay

Wicklow County Council is very reluctant to give planning permission in general. I think even if you got past whatever concerns there might be, particularly in relation to water & sewage, your neighbours could very well object.

Fol20

Or if you extend from your property and have a narrow connection between the buildings, you could build a studio or 1/2bed place and use rent a room to earn 14000 tax free a year. Just make sure it’s under 40msq

TGLRetroplayer

Hitman3000 wrote: »

If you doubt the responses you receive here ,contact your local planning department .

I have reason to doubt any response, but I want to learn why it's a no, not just get a no and give up.

Baybay wrote: »

Wicklow County Council is very reluctant to give planning permission in general. I think even if you got past whatever concerns there might be, particularly in relation to water & sewage, your neighbours could very well object.

Thank you. I don't believe my neighbours would be an issue myself, but impossible to say without getting their input.

Fol20 wrote: »

Or if you extend from your property and have a narrow connection between the buildings, you could build a studio or 1/2bed place and use rent a room to earn 14000 tax free a year. Just make sure it’s under 40msq

That's a good point, actually! Thank you.

Gumbo

TGLRetroplayer wrote: »

Is it just that something like this is outright not allowed? Does it vary based on size of property, distance from road, distance from water supply, etc?

It’s something that is not allowed outright.
I will put my mortgage on you not getting permission.

Baybay

Fol20 wrote: »

Or if you extend from your property and have a narrow connection between the buildings, you could build a studio or 1/2bed place and use rent a room to earn 14000 tax free a year. Just make sure it’s under 40msq

Open to correction here but a couple of things occur to me.

Firstly the OP says that they own a house in Wicklow not live in Wicklow. Is occupancy of the property not required for the rent a room scheme? Or maybe I'm just over thinking the choice of words.

Secondly, it seems a considerable amount of work & comromise of the original house to go to for only €14,000 a year, depending on where the property is located & the costs involved in creating it.

I'm not saying that the money involved isn't a considerable sum but would it be enough with planning costs, architect's fees, services costs never mind trying to find good builders any time soon. Then there's the reselling of the property to be factored in to the over all design. And after all that, you'd hope it's somewhere in the county that people want to rent. Are holiday lets covered in the rent a room scheme?

utmbuilder

Another professional landlord enters the market

Good luck with your small business, and getting on the train.

Fol20

Baybay wrote: »

Open to correction here but a couple of things occur to me.

Firstly the OP says that they own a house in Wicklow not live in Wicklow. Is occupancy of the property not required for the rent a room scheme? Or maybe I'm just over thinking the choice of words.

Secondly, it seems a considerable amount of work & comromise of the original house to go to for only €14,000 a year, depending on where the property is located & the costs involved in creating it.

I'm not saying that the money involved isn't a considerable sum but would it be enough with planning costs, architect's fees, services costs never mind trying to find good builders any time soon. Then there's the reselling of the property to be factored in to the over all design. And after all that, you'd hope it's somewhere in the county that people want to rent. Are holiday lets covered in the rent a room scheme?

Point number one is correct. I presume they are living in the property as it has to be your primary residence to avail of this.

Secondly, you always look at property for the long game. If you look at flipping and short term investing, it’s either extremely risky, or due to transactional costs it won’t make financial sense. 14k is equivalent to 28k gross from a normal rental property if your on the higher tax band so it’s nothing to scoff at.

I mentioned under 40sq m to avoid going down the planning route as that would make it more costly. From a capital value point of view on your asset, if you invest 100k on this, I think the maximum value it could increase it by is 50k and that’s being generous. It would give future buyers the option to combine both parts of the house but if your doing something like this as mentioned. It’s the long game so it would make no sense to sell within a 10yr timeframe. From a social aspect, this could also be useful. Maybe if they have kids, they could stay in the studio or when the parents are at retirement age, they could stay in the studio and allow the younger generation to stay in the house.

I suppose there is multiple ways to skin a cat and it’s always good to be informed of all your options and look at all avenues with your eyes wide open.

ionapaul

Would it be easier to build a tiny studio/convert a brick shed? Something like this:

https://www.daft.ie/dublin/studio-apartments-for-rent/sandyford/sandyford-hall-sandyford-dublin-1845708/

4ensic15

ionapaul wrote: »

Would it be easier to build a tiny studio/convert a brick shed? Something like this:

https://www.daft.ie/dublin/studio-apartments-for-rent/sandyford/sandyford-hall-sandyford-dublin-1845708/

That wouldn't be allowed by the planners as it is effectively a granny flat with no granny. The o/p wants to put the unit in front of the house. That wouldn't be allowed at all, at all.

Gumbo

ionapaul wrote: »

Would it be easier to build a tiny studio/convert a brick shed? Something like this:

https://www.daft.ie/dublin/studio-apartments-for-rent/sandyford/sandyford-hall-sandyford-dublin-1845708/

Guarantee you that doesn’t have planning for habitable use. It’s a garden shed (albeit a decent one) been used to generate income for the house holder.

My questions on these begin with, if a fire started and the insurance company investigated, and they found out you were renting out a shed, what would happen?

April 73

ionapaul wrote: »

Would it be easier to build a tiny studio/convert a brick shed? Something like this:

https://www.daft.ie/dublin/studio-apartments-for-rent/sandyford/sandyford-hall-sandyford-dublin-1845708/

God, that is miserable. For a grand a month!

Interestingly my neighbour commented two weeks ago that they are thinking of converting their garage into a self-contained apartment to rent out. It’s at the front of their house with the house to the right of the driveway & the garage to the left. The back wall of their garage forms part of the boundary with our property.
Would this be an outright no if they sought planning permission?

4ensic15

April 73 wrote: »

God, that is miserable. For a grand a month!

Interestingly my neighbour commented two weeks ago that they are thinking of converting their garage into a self-contained apartment to rent out. It’s at the front of their house with the house to the right of the driveway & the garage to the left. The back wall of their garage forms part of the boundary with our property.
Would this be an outright no if they sought planning permission?

Most likely!

ted1

April 73 wrote: »

ionapaul wrote: »

Would it be easier to build a tiny studio/convert a brick shed? Something like this:

https://www.daft.ie/dublin/studio-apartments-for-rent/sandyford/sandyford-hall-sandyford-dublin-1845708/

God, that is miserable. For a grand a month!

Interestingly my neighbour commented two weeks ago that they are thinking of converting their garage into a self-contained apartment to rent out. It’s at the front of their house with the house to the right of the driveway & the garage to the left. The back wall of their garage forms part of the boundary with our property.
Would this be an outright no if they sought planning permission?

As the kitchen does not have a 4 ring hob it’s also not legal to rent out