Leasehold fees and the shock?

eddddy

blues wrote: »

Avoid leasehold if possible. Been there and had a nightmare with increasing charges and a sudden 4K bill for communal works.

To be fair...

I'm guessing you had to pay £4k for repairs/maintenance to the building.

If you owned a freehold house, and the building needed repairs/maintenance, you would have to pay for that just the same.

Although perhaps you feel that you would have got better value for money, if you were in control of the repairs/maintenance.

stator

boliston wrote: »

It's all very well saying "avoid leasehold" but not everybody can afford a house rather than a flat!

You can if you look in different places.

[Deleted User]

The trouble with Leaseholds is that in the past you paid your ground rent, sometimes you heard from a Freeholder sometimes not, got your repairs done and paid your service charges.

These days there has grown an industry out of Leasehold misery and Freeholders have cottoned on to big money to be made. They will squeeze and push every single penny out of a Leasholder and basically if you dont pay you can lose your home.

All the ' entities' supposedly there to help Leaseholders arent in fact on their side, they are run by and for property investors.


Taking on a Leashold is a huge uncertaintly where Freeholders can instigate works costing thousands of pounds on demand with very little support for the Leaseholder. A letter could drop through your door at any time saying works are beginning for the cost of a brand new car. Yes People will wittle on about reasonableness but who is to say what that it.

I personally will never by a Leaehold again unless it comes with the share of Freehold.

I hope the government has enough social housing ready for the thousands of Leaseholders not understanding what ticking timebombs they are living with when thre Lease comes up for renewal or extention and they cant afford the costs of it. They will be homeless and the good old Freeholder claims back the property ready to sell on again and make his money.

always_sunny

What is £1879 for? GR + Service Charge? I went to see a flat in a new build and SC was £1k / year to cover for lifts, communal lights, etc - is there a pool perhaps?

Nevertheless, even though the flat was nice I looked for something else.
When living in a building (flats) even in abroad there're some charges, but nothing as high as here!

Check that charges don't double every x years, mind you, after reading £1879 I would not even continue to read and just walk away!

Adly812

£1879 to hoover the stairs and the communal phone intercom ?!!? Yup I'm so telling them it's not happening. What a rip off in fees. Flats nothing special and won't increase in value massively?!! Estate agents and incompetent vendors?!!

boliston

always_sunny wrote: »

What is £1879 for? GR + Service Charge? I went to see a flat in a new build and SC was £1k / year to cover for lifts, communal lights, etc - is there a pool perhaps?....

Just checked the latest accounts for my own block and it's about 800 per year (67 per month) with main cost being agent fees, buildings insurance and cleaning. It was agreed at the latest agm that the sinking fund was fine as it stood so would not require funding this year. It important to attend these meetings as there was talking or re-carpeting the stairwells and corridors and I persuaded them that the carpets were fine. I would say that a block with a lift for 1k a year is not too bad. An advantage of a newer block would be a lower risk of a large section 20 bill for remedial works.

BrassicWoman

stator wrote: »

Find somewhere to live where you can afford a proper house.
Leasehold is rubbish.

For some people. I'm loving it. Window cleaner, gardener sorted by someone else, exterior just had a lick of paint, new carpet in communal areas coming over the summer and I have not lifted a finger.


Just depends what matters to you - not having trades hassle suits me best!

[Deleted User]

How many flats ? ...and where ...London ? I live in a block of four...east sussex...service charge is £20 a month...ground rent £10 a year. When I bought it the freeholder company sent me a breakdown of everything...lease length...service charge...7 year cycle of communal works (of which I was stung for £2500 as they removed asbestos facias and soffits) ....yours sounds a hell of a lot...and alarm bells would be ringing if it were me.

boliston

Deleted_User wrote: »

How many flats ? ...and where ...London ? I live in a block of four...east sussex...service charge is £20 a month...ground rent £10 a year. When I bought it the freeholder company sent me a breakdown of everything...lease length...service charge...7 year cycle of communal works (of which I was stung for £2500 as they removed asbestos facias and soffits) ....yours sounds a hell of a lot...and alarm bells would be ringing if it were me.

Are you saying that a low monthly charge yet being hit with a huge 2.5k charge is "good"?

[Deleted User]

boliston wrote: »

Are you saying that a low monthly charge yet being hit with a huge 2.5k charge is "good"?

Nah £2500 is not good....but that WAS a one off as the soffits and facias were taken down and replaced...and as there was asbestos involved the cost was high....but that's not going to be done again... overall the painting of the building costs an average of £5000 ...every 7 years...£1250 between four flats comes to £178 a year ...which I think IS good.