House Vs apartment – why should I pay rip-off apartment service charges?

LeafGreen

If only it was possible to get a house that was all laid out on one level... you'd have the best of both worlds... I'd call mine a Lowabung ;-)

pinkteapot

Tr1pp wrote: »

I appreciate how you feel about management fees, I dont like them either but they have their advantages and not everyone sees them as a rip off.

you say you will be living in this place on weekends and holidaying in it?

I assume the place will be empty during the week?

Agree with everything Tr1pp said. Ordinarily, I'd say house over flat - no brainer.

But, if the property is going to be empty five days a week, go for a flat. They're MUCH lower maintenance and won't mind being left empty so much. With heating on in the rest of the building, they won't get too cold when empty in winter.

One other thing to think about - only a handful of specialist insurers will insure properties that are empty most of the time. Either put cheap stuff that you don't care about in the property, or check the costs of insuring it before you buy.

Another advantage of a leasehold flat in this instance - the freeholder has buildings insurance so you only have to worry about your contents.

hodd

Thanks folks. I had posted originally with my mind made up to opt for a house, but some of the practicalities written above have certainly made me think.

I am still concerned, though, about the issue of a 70-year lease. Most of the apartments I am looking at (in London and Herts) have this sort of lease period. I am not disrespecting propertyman's words below, but if lenders are reluctant to give mortgages on such properties, will the property market not face big problems as these lease periods get smaller and smaller?

propertyman wrote: »

I would not be buying a lease with 70 years its almost impossible to mortgage and should be worth significantly less than comparable flats with leases of more than 90 years.

michelle2008

Personally I would go for a house. I lived in a new apartment development a few tears ago and found the management company incredibly frustrating. They did not undertake any of the services we were billed for - I cut the grass myself!! In the end the row over the fees became so stressful that I moved - I will never live anywhere that has a management fee again!

That said I know people have had great experiences. But for me it losing so much control of your immediate environment is a big risk.

carefullycautious

What about a small block or conversion flat?
wouldnt that reduce the outgoings somewhat.

my friend owns a flat in a local authority block of 4 the other three are renters. She has a really low service charge and would have to pay a third to any bills that come up.

I know the big blocks of LA flats are a no no due to the maintainence costs which can reach astronomical amounts so do beware of this.

Whereabouts are you looking as this will have some bearing on what you will pay.

This one would have been ideal in a good location in the midlands
http://www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/FullDetails.aspx?CID=PRETALVE&AID=PRETALVE&PID=PAP00859

if you read through you will see what a bargain it is. Extended lease, low ground rent and really low service charge.

hodd

carefullycautious wrote: »

http://www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/FullDetails.aspx?CID=PRETALVE&AID=PRETALVE&PID=PAP00859

.

Could you modify the link, please, as it doesn't work.

I'm looking in London and Herts, but I'm still curious to see the link.

carefullycautious

whoops how do I modify link?

http://www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/fulldetails.aspx?cid=PRETALVE&aid=PRETALVE&pid=PAP00859&src=rightmove

Does this work?

it works for me

Bogof_Babe

Link works for me, but so did your first one.

I don't consider £750 annual service charge to be all that cheap! :eek:

carefullycautious

What i meant was compared to some service charges I have seen written about on here. Up to 3,000 in some cases

tia86

I can't remember who it was that said about the high service charge that is set by the directors - where I am we were able to become directors and therefore discuss/control this. I have found this valuable as if I hadn't been at one meeting the cost would have gone up greatly as other individuals have a higher income and were willing to pay more!!

Personally I like my flat as I am a single person and it is good to know there are other people around and added security of other people walking past and seeing if anything odd has happened if you are away for any length of time. Like others have said I don't need to worry about cutting the grass or painting the building. Our maintanence charge is £760 per yr which includes cleaning of communal areas, gardening, heating in hallways, building insurance plus we are trying to build up a reserve as we are a new build.

There was a few issues with some neighbours being noisy at first but this now seems to have settled down. We also have no issue over parking...yet.