Adding a floor to an apartment block

Hi

Not sure if I'm in the correct forum so apologies if I'm not. Myself and other apartment owners in my block of apartments are considering the possibility of building a new floor on the top of our building. Idea would be to construct and sell the apartments on the new floor with the money being used to upgrade the block and leftover profit split between the owners of the block thereby adding value to the properties and giving a bit of a return to all the owners.

Has anyone any experience doing this? Advice re pitfalls etc would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

S

Saudi I'm no expert but I can see one major flaw in your thinking ... planning permission!

I know it's all dependant on planning permission, just wondering how difficult the entire process is before we start spending money on architects and applying for planning permission

Also you may need agreement from all the other owners to get it through without legal issues arising, I am not clear when you refer to other owners does this mean them all and that everyone is in agreement or is this something some of the owners think is a good idea but has not been proposed to everyone yet? You also say your block, are there other blocks in the development too? The owners in these might not be too happy to be living in a construction zone when they get no value.

Also bear in mind that while upgrades might add value to the overall block owners on the floor that is currently the top one will probably lose some value by having someone overhead.

You might want to look at the management company agreements/convenants etc. to see whether they impose any restrictions.

So far it is a number of the apartment owners who are talking about it, it will be proposed to the rest of the residents to see if there is interest. The block is on it's own and there are only 20 units.

Take your point about top floor apartments (I'm actually on the top floor myself) but the roof is going to need to be repaired soon so we would all have to shell out for this. Pay money for a new roof or lose a tiny bit of value by not being on the top floor but get some money and improve the overall look and value of the block.

Saudi, I don't know if this is any use to you, but the Iveagh Flats on the corner of Kevin St/New Bride St Dublin 8 had an extra floor built oon top and (from the outside) they've done a smashing job. You might like to take a photo to show your residents. Anyway, it's a precedent for PP!

Saudi,

This would be a major development, and may not be possible while the apartments are occupied.
The weight of the extra floor would have to be carried down through all the extra floors so depending on the construction of the apartment block , it may necesitate strengthening columns on all the floors below to carry the extra weight. The other work to provide the services (electricity, water, sewerage, etc) would have to go through the floor below. The stairs (and lift if applicable) would have to be extended.
Additional fireproofing may be needed on the current top floor.

All these would have to be considered, so it certainly is possible to do this, but not without major disruption.
I may be wrong, but i think the Iveagh Flats were undergoing a major refurb and would all have been unoccupied at the time anyway.

The only way you are going to know if it is possible is to get a structural engineer to examine the current building and do a feasability study on the cost etc of the project. It may not pay for the inconvenience to all the current residents.