Anybody bought from Annington (ex MoD housing)

Fleeb

Has anybody here had any experience buying an ex-MoD property from Annington? If so I'd be very grateful if you could share your experiences. For instance; are there any pitfalls or things to watch out for that you wouldn't necessarily think of if buying from a different seller?

The reason I ask is a little bit of searching this morning has found that they are likely to levy a maintenance charge for looking after the estate on which the property is located, and they are also likely to apply an overage on any extensions to the property.

Neither of those are nice surprises and neither were mentioned to me when I was looking at the house. Are there any other provisions or limitations that I'm likely to experience if buying from Annington?

Fleeb

Okay, does anybody have any experience buying other types of properties with overage/clawback provisions? Did it make obtaining a mortgage harder? Did you have trouble selling later because of the overage clause?

tim123456789

How long does it last

How much is it

How negotiable are they?

And I suppose. How likely is it that someone might want to extend?

TBH. I can't see it having any effect on a mortgage as every leasehold flat is subject to a payment to FH if you want to extend (where physically possible) and no-one give that a second thought

Fleeb

Thanks for your reply, the estate agent has been in touch with Annington and has confirmed that no overage clause will be included with this property, so it's no longer an issue for me. I will have to pay a service charge though (which wasn't mentioned by the agents, or detailed on any of the listings/brochures for the property).

FWIW my mortgage advisor said an overage would make banks reluctant to lend as the property would become less desirable, so harder to sell if they ever repossessed. I guess that's because when somebody buys a freehold house they expect to be able to do whatever they want to it (subject to planning permission) and then reap all the profit from any improvements they make should they sell later on - after all they are the ones funding and dealing with the stress and hassle of making those improvements.

It seems a reasonable expectation to me, I personally wouldn't consider buying a property with an overage/clawback provision.

principessalogic

I bought an a property on a former MOD estate. I couldn't get any information until it was too late on the maintenance charges, which seem to be going up year on year.
The way the estate was divided up was very unfair and illogical. Some people pay £15/month, others like me now pay £70/month, almost equivalent to council tax. We are trying to get Anglian Water to take over the sewerage early, but we are having to go through our MP for that, as the rates charged by the MoD keep going up and are grossly unfair.
Preim, who manage our part of the estate, and are owned by Anningtons, are very difficult to work with and seem to do as they please with little regard for the shareholders.
While the properties are very solid, with large rooms and plenty of storage space, the issues with estate maintenance, and the fact that many of the houses are not well-maintained (be prepared to pay significantly more for a simple job as it will throw up numerous other issues with the house), should put you off these properties. The price does not reflect the real cost of living here.

Eponym

I have heard that these properties often suffer from damp.

System

Eponym wrote: »

I have heard that these properties often suffer from damp.

I spent 30 years living in married quarters and never had damp in any of the houses.

Look to the occupants for the reasons for damp rather than the structure

happy_bunny_2

Not from them, but from someone who bought from them.

Things to check, which our solicitor failed to mention, where service charges for the local estate upkeep. Also, major issue was potential liability for drains and roads not adopted by local council. I think of a lot of ex MOD properties may have these issues.