Exchanging this week but riots near flat!

RS89

Absolutely bricking it....!

What would you do?

I'm checking out the area to see how badly its been affected later this week... any other precautions?

DVardysShadow

Me? I would pull out. Even if I still wanted the place, it is bound to reduce property values, so I would leave it at least until 6 weeks after the rioting season is over and then maybe make a revised offer. I wouldn't bother even checking it out until there has been 2 weekends of peace and quiet.

ognum

I am sorry for the stress this brings you and everyone who has lost their home or livelyhood.
I would pull out Im afraid or at the very least delay at least a month and then rethink.
This could badly effect property prices and also blight a neighbourhood for a few years. Think hard if you want to live in this area
You may have had a lucky escape, maybe time to reevaluate, look on the positive (for you not the vendor)

Annisele

I agree with DVS and ognum. I'd tell the vendor that I was nervous about the riots, that I wanted to think for a few weeks, that I was happy for them to put the place back on the market, and that I'd get in touch if I decided I wanted to buy after all.

RS89

Thanks. I should add that the area I am buying in wasn't particularly badly affected i.e. it wasn't anywhere near the scale of croydon or tottenham, and is generally considered a very nice area to live.

I think we will see how things pan out over the next few days, certainly if there is more rioting in the same area we will have to reconsider.

hazyjo

tbh, it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference to me. I'd never have touched Tottenham with a bargepole anyway. Anywhere else was affected by mindless idiots who've travelled in from other places. I personally don't think that places like Chingford Mount or Enfield will be affected long term.

Jx

DannyboyMidlands

It wouldn't bother me. The thing with London is that you have totally different communities living side by side so that even a very desirable area with £750k + houses is likely to have a grotty council estate around the corner. From what I can see the kids are currently spilling out of these estates and smashing stuff up. These are the same kids who'll make you feel nervous when walking home at night or might stab you in the butt cheek if you make the mistake of choosing the top deck of the bus.

Frankly I think London is a rat hole but if you've accepted this already then I don't see why the riots would make any difference.

abankerbutnotafatcat

I think it depends on the specific area. Unfortunately, Tottenham will be further scarred by this and any recovery it may have been doing since 1985 has vanished, probably gone backwards.

Peckham and Croydon et al always had their challenging parts, but will probably recover to where they were before with a lick of paint and a few years.

However, last night's events did spread to some very gentrified areas of Wandsworth and even to Fulham, I believe. I doubt whether these areas will suffer any medium-term impact - they are areas with natural attributes (rivers, parks etc) and good transport links and people will still want to live there despite a one-off (hopefully) rent-a-mob event.

On a separate note, what are the insurance implications for car/home/business owners? Isn't civil unrest usually an exclusion?

dazeruk

RS89 wrote: »

Absolutely bricking it....!

What would you do?

I'm checking out the area to see how badly its been affected later this week... any other precautions?

I'm in exactly the same position.

Just about to buy a flat in Walthamstow, which had some trouble on Sunday night. Can't find much information on exactly where the trouble was. Survey and search fees paid, mortgage already approved.

kingstreet

It may be a bit glib, but it appears you'd be very unlucky to be affected unless you're buying above a branch of Footlocker, Curry's or a supermarket fag counter.

Bullfighter

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

It wouldn't bother me. The thing with London is that you have totally different communities living side by side so that even a very desirable area with £750k + houses is likely to have a grotty council estate around the corner. From what I can see the kids are currently spilling out of these estates and smashing stuff up. These are the same kids who'll make you feel nervous when walking home at night or might stab you in the butt cheek if you make the mistake of choosing the top deck of the bus.

Frankly I think London is a rat hole but if you've accepted this already then I don't see why the riots would make any difference.

That sir, is precisely why there is mindless anger and violence on the streets of London...