Buying a flat in a tower block

dirty_magic

Most leasehold flats have sinking funds so part of the maintenance charge paid by owners is put aside as savings for any future works. If there is no sinking fund the owners have to split the bill.

davidmcn

ruelle wrote: »

sorry if this is a dumb question but how is this different from buying a leasehold flat and the freeholder doing major works?

Because the works tend to be much more major (particularly when you compare the costs to the value of the flat).

ruelle

dirty_magic wrote: »

Most leasehold flats have sinking funds so part of the maintenance charge paid by owners is put aside as savings for any future works. If there is no sinking fund the owners have to split the bill.

Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up. So if there's a sinking fund they can't charge you extra on top?

StumpyPumpy

ruelle wrote: »

Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up. So if there's a sinking fund they can't charge you extra on top?

No that is not what it means, it simply means that the "property" has savings to offset against major work. If the sinking fund isn't sufficient the lessees have to pay the difference.

SP

ruelle

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

No that is not what it means, it simply means that the "property" has savings to offset against major work. If the sinking fund isn't sufficient the lessees have to pay the difference.

SP

oh, that's rubbish

upoiupou

Why is it rubbish? Each lessee has to pay their share of communal work. The sinking funds don't come from charity donations either - it's just the service/maintenance charge that lessees have been paying, saved up over time.

The lessees are always going to pay for the work, it's just a question of whether it's been saved from their regular payments, or it's a sudden bill, or it's a mixture of the two.

Rosemary7391

ruelle wrote: »

oh, that's rubbish

It's much better than the alternative. Sudden large bills don't help anyone, even the prepared, and not all owners will be prepared. I suspect they're also more likely to quibble over the work needing doing if there's no sinking fund.

agrinnall

ruelle wrote: »

oh, that's rubbish

Of course it's not rubbish, if you owned a detached house and the roof fell in who do you think would pay for it? It would be shared between the owners, which in this case would be just you. It's the same for leasehold, except the cost is actually shared.

hazyjo

Google the name of the estate/block - may be rumours about it being demolished.


Wouldn't touch with a bargepole for reasons above (large bills on your doormat, crime, cash buyers - especially if the market does fall, and risk of demolishment).


Of course there could be an additional problem like a short lease we're not aware of.


Jx

Owain_Moneysaver

ruelle wrote: »

sorry if this is a dumb question but how is this different from buying a leasehold flat and the freeholder doing major works?

That is what you are doing, but the council is the freeholder (as well as the owner of lots of other flats).

The problem is that councils are rarely financially responsible when it comes to spending other people's money. They can ignore maintenance for years when it would be prudent to maintain the building, then splurge on a massive and over-specified refurbishment project, all charged for at the inflated prices usually charged on public sector contracts.

Individual owners will have no influence on the process because the council will be the majority owner in the block.

And as others have said there is unlikely to be a sinking fund.