Persimmon - Lake View

Ray_Singh-Blue

jdc23 wrote: »

When we come to sell we will simply sell the property again as Leasehold to a buyer who accepts that an annual fee of £150-£200 is just part of the cost of living there.

This narrows down your pool of future buyers. I wouldn't accept that, for example.

EssexGirl

I'm completely ignorant of the leasehold house issues. Apart from one.. on a local Persimmon estate that's been up for a year or so, there are many leasehold houses that are not selling. Prospective buyers say it's the leasehold that puts them off.

Ray_Singh-Blue

If an institutional investor wanted to go out and buy a bond which would pay £150 per year, index linked, it would cost them a lot.

For example, buying enough of this typical 10 year index linked gilt to yield £150 per year right now, rising with inflation, would cost £16,483 (based on its running yield of 0.91%)

In this ground rent, I reckon the housebuilder creates an financial asset which has that sort of value and which they can bundle together and look to sell on for that sort of money. They only need to build 14 houses, not 15, for the same revenue.

Nice work!

However as a buyer, I'd have to ask: do I want a house with a recurring financial obligation valued at around £16K? I think a rational buyer would look to discount it by at least that amount, compared to an unencumbered house, to feel that they were sharing in the benefit of this arrangement.

Mickygg

OP you have researched and sound fine with the leasehold situation. Everyone here will have views but it's yours that matters. I'd suggest going over all your research once more before buying as there does appear to be a lot of noise against leasehold. I for one would not buy leasehold, but that is simply due to wanting to own the land and not be in the pocket of someone else.

As for buying off plan, I did this once. I will never do it again. All the artists impressions won't prepare you for how it will actually look and feel. When mine was built I was so surprised how closed in all the houses were and it was a concrete jungle despite the drawings showing green and trees.

Once the house was built I realised had I viewed it built I wouldn't have bought it.

robatwork

EssexGirl wrote: »

I'm completely ignorant of the leasehold house issues. Apart from one.. on a local Persimmon estate that's been up for a year or so, there are many leasehold houses that are not selling. Prospective buyers say it's the leasehold that puts them off.

Do you have a link to that story or is this something you have heard from the prospective buyers yourself? Or just heard on the grapevine?

billy_goat

Ray_Singh-Blue wrote: »

In this ground rent, I reckon the housebuilder creates an financial asset which has that sort of value and which they can bundle together and look to sell on for that sort of money. They only need to build 14 houses, not 15, for the same revenue.

How on earth is a gilt comparable to a ground rent contract....?!

Is the government the one paying your interest? Nope.

Do you see banks stocking up on ground rent contracts to fulfil their T1 capital? Didnt think so.

Your post is absurd.

AndoJPM

In addition to the leasehold concern, can I ask if you have carried out any due diligence on Persimmon? They are a shambolic developer who have an awful reputation. It baffles me that anyone would buy a house built by them with all the information out there on them. I must have seen them on Watchdog a dozen times over the years, and most of the posts on snagging.org are by Persimmon home owners talking about their misery and awful situation they are in. RUN.

ReadingTim

Here's the floorplan for the type of house the OP is intersted in:



Comments are as follows:

• While the garage seems wide enough to get a car in, you might want to check the width of the garage door, as it'll probably be slightly narrower than the stated measurement. Even if you can get the car in, can you get out of the car?!? Otherwise, it's just an externally accessed storage space.
• There's no hallway, so any visitors have to traipse through the lounge, including to go upstairs.
• There's no window, and thus no natural light and (more importantly) external ventilation in the main bathroom or the downstairs loo.

Google "persimmon rufford house type" and you'll get a few images of what it can look like. I'd also be checking the plot details closely: while some shots show a relatively detached property, others have them pretty densely packed together, making that side window by the stairs all but useless...

Suggest you determine what the plot layout is, then try and visit a comparable site, even if it's some distance away - there appear to be several compromises in the design, which I'd want to see 'in the flesh' (as it were) before committing to buying one 'off-plan'.

teddysmum

ReadingTim wrote: »

Here's the floorplan for the type of house the OP is intersted in:



Comments are as follows:

• While the garage seems wide enough to get a car in, you might want to check the width of the garage door, as it'll probably be slightly narrower than the stated measurement. Even if you can get the car in, can you get out of the car?!? Otherwise, it's just an externally accessed storage space.
• There's no hallway, so any visitors have to traipse through the lounge, including to go upstairs.
• There's no window, and thus no natural light and (more importantly) external ventilation in the main bathroom or the downstairs loo.

Google "persimmon rufford house type" and you'll get a few images of what it can look like. I'd also be checking the plot details closely: while some shots show a relatively detached property, others have them pretty densely packed together, making that side window by the stairs all but useless...

Suggest you determine what the plot layout is, then try and visit a comparable site, even if it's some distance away - there appear to be several compromises in the design, which I'd want to see 'in the flesh' (as it were) before committing to buying one 'off-plan'.

I'm amazed that the OP is willing to buy a house without actually seeing a real building.

This video from Youtube gives a good idea of size (rather lack of it) and the lady being shown round doesn't seem too impressed by the salesman's emphasis on the 'good size'.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpiWFWAD2cU


I think those twisting stairs would be a danger for any future toddlers, besides making furniture moving difficult.

LuckyG

We went to view a Rufford a few months ago, it was ok but much smaller inside than I thought. The bedrooms are tiny, I'd say once you've got a normal sized double bed in the master bedroom there'd not be much room left for any other furniture. The other 2 bedrooms are smaller.
The living room was nice but again, very small. We would have struggled to fit our large sofa and chairs in as well as other day to day furniture like TV unit, bookcase, coffee table etc.
The kitchen was decent, if you just wanted it as a kitchen rather than dining space it would be fine. Although there's no other area for a dining table to go so that could be an issue. I know there's a specified dining area but it's far smaller than you'd think. You could get away with squeezing a 4 seated dining table in there I suppose but it would look very crowded.

Overall I'd say they are quite decent, although not what we wanted in the end. The main downside is that they're tiny. I'd definitely advise seeing one for yourself before committing.