# Living above retail units



## DOS19 (18 May 2008)

Hi

I am about to purchase an apartment.The contracts will soon be exchanged. I am happy to proceed but it is an apartment on the first floor of a new development and I have realised that there will be retail units on the ground floor.

The retail units are still being fitted out so i don't know what exactly will be below me. Signage on the front on the developments says that there are vacancies for a creche and medical centre so I suppose it'll one of these.

I was wondering whether the fact that I will be living over a retail unit should be a cause of concern? Could the retail units change their use at some stage to something more objectionable? 

I'd be particularly interested in the views of those who actually live above a retail unit. 

Thanks


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## Hillsalt (18 May 2008)

I'd check to make sure it's not going to be a late night business (fast food, off licence, taxi office, newsagent) - some of which will require PP. If an investor owns the shop for letting out, then the occupants of the shop could change every few years.

I own rentals that are above retail units but they are all _9 to 6_ operations. 

Maybe it will be a florist!


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## liaconn (19 May 2008)

My apartment is over a creche and, while there's no major problems, there are some issues re parking and noise early in the morning (some kids are dropped off at 7am). I'd check out issues re designated parking, opening hours, restrictions on delivery times, if I were you.


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## Lauren (19 May 2008)

I'd say it depends on your location and ultimately the type of retail unit that will be below. I've seen that sign on developments, however got the impression that its a suggestion by the developer as opposed to what could actually end up there....


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## msmyth (19 May 2008)

I live abouv a row of shops, most of which were empty when I bought the place. What you need to do is keep an eye out to see if planning permission is submitted, as someone else said certain types of businesses require it. Where I live the management company tryed to sneak a chipper into one of the empty units- us residents got mad with the management company, we now have a Euro saver style shop instead. We also got the mc to put it into each lease that delivery times be restricted.

Personally, the problems I've had are with litter. Also I find it annoying that early morning I'm sometimes awoken by the sound of rattling trolleys being wheeled across pavements. We did have a word with the shopkeeper and the problem has seriously diminished since then.

Also any premises that serve food require a big loud refridgeration unit, if your apartment is going to be directly above it object (they'll need pp) as they run 24hrs and the noise can be a bit much if you're directly above it.

All in all I actually really like the convenience of over the shop living. It's so handy to be able to pop downstairs to get a pint of milk ect. However it did take a lot of effort from us residents to ensure we got retail units that wouldn't impose our lives.


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## liaconn (20 May 2008)

msmyth said:


> I live abouv a row of shops, most of which were empty when I bought the place. What you need to do is keep an eye out to see if planning permission is submitted, as someone else said certain types of businesses require it. Where I live the management company tryed to sneak a chipper into one of the empty units- us residents got mad with the management company, we now have a Euro saver style shop instead. We also got the mc to put it into each lease that delivery times be restricted.
> 
> .


I was just wondering if you have problems with gangs of teenagers hanging around outside the shops at night? I nearly bought an apartment over  a small shopping centre but this was one of the drawbacks.


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## so-crates (20 May 2008)

msmyth said:


> ... Where I live the management company tryed to sneak a chipper into one of the empty units- us residents got mad with the management company...


 
I am assuming from this that you are talking about a seperate managing company for the shop units? How can this work? The managing company is surely for the building as a whole, ergo you would be part of it as you own one of the apartments?



msmyth said:


> ... Also any premises that serve food require a big loud refridgeration unit, if your apartment is going to be directly above it object (they'll need pp) as they run 24hrs and the noise can be a bit much if you're directly above it.


This would be my biggest no-no and would completely decide me against buying anywhere that could potentially be in the vicinity of a business, plant equipment for air con and for refrigeration (which is pretty similar basically, they are all about moving heat from one place to another) is tooth-grindingly relentless and annoying. The permanent noise pollution from it would be significantly to the detriment of my quality of life since I have little tolerance for that sort of relentless, eternal background noise (curiously the trolleys wouldn't bother me near as much!). I know from experience that the first thing I do when I walk into a hotel room is simply stop and listen, if the noise level from plant equipment is tolerable it will do for the night, if not, I get moved as fast as I can because it disturbs my sleep quite considerably. If I was to be living there though, I doubt I would be happy to hear any such white noise at all as I wouldn't be leaving the apartment for a few years!


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## msmyth (20 May 2008)

so-crates said:


> I am assuming from this that you are talking about a seperate managing company for the shop units? How can this work? The managing company is surely for the building as a whole, ergo you would be part of it as you own one of the apartments?
> 
> 
> This would be my biggest no-no and would completely decide me against buying anywhere that could potentially be in the vicinity of a business, plant equipment for air con and for refrigeration (which is pretty similar basically, they are all about moving heat from one place to another) is tooth-grindingly relentless and annoying. The permanent noise pollution from it would be significantly to the detriment of my quality of life since I have little tolerance for that sort of relentless, eternal background noise (curiously the trolleys wouldn't bother me near as much!). I know from experience that the first thing I do when I walk into a hotel room is simply stop and listen, if the noise level from plant equipment is tolerable it will do for the night, if not, I get moved as fast as I can because it disturbs my sleep quite considerably. If I was to be living there though, I doubt I would be happy to hear any such white noise at all as I wouldn't be leaving the apartment for a few years!




No, all of the units- shops and apartments - are under the same management company. We've a building manager (part of management company) who's job it was to put the empty units up for lease so she pretty much got to choose what kind of businesses were going to be offered leases before we bought our apartments. It was by accident that we found out that a unit had been offered to a chipper, so the owners and other shop keepers got together and said that on the grounds of safety we couldn't possible have a chipper.

In answer to Liaconn's question, yes we have had problems with teenagers hanging around. One of the problems is that the doorways are all recessed providing a perfect place to get in from the cold, at the moment there's talks going on with the architects to have these doors unrecessed. A good point though is that the shop I live above employs a full time security guard who pretty much stands at my front door.


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