Woes in London town

AliceBanned

Hi


I just felt I needed to come on here to share my situation as I need to make some changes.


I have been paying down my credit cards and have paid off my loans - ongoing every month. I did some overtime this month to speed it up and get eg market research work when I can. I'm getting resourceful and have earnt £800 take home extra in the last month.


My situation is I bought a shared ownership flat just within Greater London 5.5 years ago. Mortgage fixed term will end in October. I own 40% of the flat with remaining mortgage of £41k. I pay rent on the rest so total cost around £900 per month not including council tax and bills. A ground floor flat in the same block is on the market for £94k for that share - So full value around £230-235k (estimate for askng price). It has gone up some 30% since I bought it but has remained static for two years.


I have been dissatisfied with the flat and area for the past few months. It has good features - by a marina and canal and 0.2 miles from train line 30mins to London Euston. Nice dimensions to the flat but busyish area and 10,000 more houses about to descend on the area within 0-3 miles. It has changed quite a lot in six years for the worse. The lease is getting low at 84 years and I can't extend it unless I own the whole flat.


The HA that owns the 60% doesn't charge a huge amount in service charge but some of the 'maintenance' and enforcement around the residential car park has been non existent despite me contacting them about various problems, including now 5 wrecks/not taxed or MOT'd cars taking up people's spaces for over a year. In desperation I've sent photos to my ward councillor but it is private land so I doubt he will do anything or be able to help.


I have a neighbour with some odd anger issues - religiously motivated from what I can undestand - who is big and loud (ie his voice really carries AND he gets v angry) shouts his head off to someone on the phone for two hours from 8am every morning and recently from 6.30am. I have another neighbour downstairs who can be extremely noisy but has calmed down recently - she owns her flat but the one with the shouter is rented out and has been to him and his wife for some time. I've contacted the police, and borough council about this as I am scared to approach him - has been known to throw things too (I can hear this but can't hear or see signs of domestic violence, which was my initial fear - he lives with his wife). Obviously no one has challenged him as he has got much worse over the past year, gradually. It is literally every day and my ex boyfriend (more below) actually said once 'it's not that disturbing'. !! He doesn't live here and never has.


All in all I feel ready to move on because a)all the above and b) I cannot seem to staircase to full ownership due to mortgage availability - Halifax refused to lend me more than £50k more last time.


I earn £39k and cannot see why I am in this dreadful situation other than because i have had and still have debts so am working on this and more or less for six years have been doing so. My salary increased two years ago thankfully as my situation was getting impossible.


I had a partner for the past two years who has his own house and grown-up kids who are far too old to be so lazy and dependent (mid and late thirties, hardly ever work) and one grandchild and his daughter's boyfriend living there and contributing nothing to the bills etc. I basically ended it with him because he won't change a thing to accommodate me, it is going nowhere in terms of a future living together or starting afresh as a true partner might want to do. After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing anyway I decided this is not ideal for me as I am struggling and he is retired early enjoying life and I am working full time, and it doesn't really work because I would be enjoying life more if the money wasn't so bloody tight. He has a four-bed house in London and never treats me to anything apart from the odd meal. That might sound mercenary but it's hard to explain on a forum. Money does have an impact on relationships and so does work. Iwant someone to share my ife with or not at all I think. He recently complained about me being depressed and said I need to work it out.


So my situation feels total crap at the mo. I go through these phases with depression too.


I am trying to decide when to put the flat on the market. I was initially going to struggle on and on until I hopefully could make to to the 100% share but it seems it might be better in the circumstances to have a fresh start. I would sell up, rent a room for a few months if needed in between.


This feels quite scarey but less so given that I really liked it as a home for a long time, and now I don't and I want something better. I want to live somewhere in the Chilterns or near the Thames eg Maidenhead. I even saw a wide beam boat on a marina nearby for £50k and thought I should go for that just for a while. My ex had a boat and I loved spending time on it. Just feel lost at the mo though.


Any input would be helpful, on any of the above, I just need some insight from others as I am making a big step! Thanks

JayRitchie

HI

You seem to have the story of London there. Difficult to think what you could do for the better/ best without considering where you work, how you get to work, what sort of a job it is (for example teachers and nurses would have a far easier time than most leaving London), how old you are and whether you are on a particularly good pension scheme.

AliceBanned

Thanks JayRitchie. I work in local government so similar roles come up around the country.


Wasn't particularly thinking of leaving my job yet but continuing to commute to it in north London. I only have to be in the office two days per week so can move further out.


Pension not great probably as I only started paying into company pension schemes at 40 though pretty good ones I think. Not sure of the balance but will check - two pension pots. I am 51 and thinking of dipping in a bit at 55 but not much. I hope to continue to grow my equity and work for maybe ten years or more full time. I went into property ownership quite late as this was my first one. I hope to own near enough to London for it to grow and then probably move further away later on, though maybe that's just a fear I have and I would be just as well buying and working elsewhere.


I like the countryside and so Hertfordshire suits me fairly well (where I live now) but I also prefer real countryside..the thought of moving away where I don't know anyone is scarey so might be best to move property only at this stage. I am thinking if I can do it to get a two bed place next and find a lodger. That would be ideal but it needs compromise on location.

AliceBanned

PS I drive to work and can park reasonably near the office. I work from home the other days and this has really helped financially - no train fares but still have London salary.

JayRitchie

AliceBanned wrote: »

PS I drive to work and can park reasonably near the office. I work from home the other days and this has really helped financially - no train fares but still have London salary.

Hey, cool. I know a little bit about North London local government - sound like you have a great job!

I guess your issue is that with your current flat you may have trouble getting a mortgage for the full value (assuming you would need a mortgage of £180k), but that if you don't the lease length might become a problem for the value of your share, and continuing to pay the rental/ service charge element would be an issue living on a pension.

When I've looked (over the years so not very up to date on prices) Hertfordshire area properties seem very expensive given the commuting costs if you ever needed to go to the office more days a week. Not sure how easy it is to make a real saving on £220-£230k when you take removal expenses into consideration.

It would be a great thread on the house buying board! Maybe see where people would suggest in commuting distance of London for 2 days a week (so you can cope with long days and a long sit in a coffee bar to miss the worst of rush hour). I suppose the ideal would be to look in the £150k range to allow you to clear the mortgage in 10 years with similar payments to now?

Perhaps consider places on the train routes in Kent (way cheaper than the northern side of the M25) and Essex. Leigh on sea looks a bit expensive but there are other nice small towns. Not an ideal commute but can be done and not so bad by train.

AliceBanned

JayRitchie wrote: »

Hey, cool. I know a little bit about North London local government - sound like you have a great job!

I guess your issue is that with your current flat you may have trouble getting a mortgage for the full value (assuming you would need a mortgage of £180k), but that if you don't the lease length might become a problem for the value of your share, and continuing to pay the rental/ service charge element would be an issue living on a pension.

When I've looked (over the years so not very up to date on prices) Hertfordshire area properties seem very expensive given the commuting costs if you ever needed to go to the office more days a week. Not sure how easy it is to make a real saving on £220-£230k when you take removal expenses into consideration.

It would be a great thread on the house buying board! Maybe see where people would suggest in commuting distance of London for 2 days a week (so you can cope with long days and a long sit in a coffee bar to miss the worst of rush hour). I suppose the ideal would be to look in the £150k range to allow you to clear the mortgage in 10 years with similar payments to now?

Perhaps consider places on the train routes in Kent (way cheaper than the northern side of the M25) and Essex. Leigh on sea looks a bit expensive but there are other nice small towns. Not an ideal commute but can be done and not so bad by train.

Thanks Jay and agreed, I will see if I can move it to the house buying board.


My hope is to pay up to £220k for my next move. I live in Hemel Hempstead and there are lots of flats for well below that - having said that I feel ready for a change and need to maximise my equity by retirement age, so that I can 'downsize' either in area or size of property, as my pension probably won't be enough. £220k would be the maximum I could borrow I imagine, and I would have a deposit of around £45k. I aim to be maxed out mortgage wise but with no unsecured debt. For current flat you are right - not affordable and possibly harder as it is SO so fewer lenders out there. SO has been ok but it was never a long term option.


Yes spot on re the lease - it is now down to 83 years.


I don't mind applying for mortgages with 15 years - taking me up to state retirement age - it may have to be done or I am likely to be able to overpay and retire early 60s, especially if I can have a lodger for a few years.


Yes the job is quite good, especially the flexibility as it means I have more flexibiity over where I live. I don't need to be near a train station as I drive in to work but again because I want a property that will grow in value being closer to train links to London (within a mile or 1.5 miles of a station) is ideal.

sourcrates

Moved to more appropriate board.

Cakeguts

You probably have enough equity in that that flat to buy a house in a cheaper part of the country even though you would be earning less.



The reason why people earn less in cheaper areas of the country is that housing costs are lower. You can actually earn a lot less than you earn now and still have more money to spend in a cheaper area of the country and own a house.



As you say there are local government jobs all over the country.

AliceBanned

Thanks Cakeguts - I am not anticipating leaving my job yet but maybe in a few years. I haven't been there all that long..am doing some training alongside it as well. As it is quite flexible I would rather stay and benefit from the salary for a while but I definitely want to move to a two bed flat/maisonette or a house if I can.


I think I will go ahead and get a survey done then start the process of selling up as the SO and lease aspect worries me and I think I can afford to buy without SO so I should do so, just in a cheaper area. Having said that my neighbour's flat has gone on the market which means the nomination period has passed (8 weeks) and it has not sold via the Housing Association.

JayRitchie

Hi Alice

I'm sure you've had the conversation with as many people as I have about where to live to work in London! Out of interest how much would a flat in HH (or Apsley) with one or two bedrooms in a safe area within a mile of a station to London cost?

AliceBanned

JayRitchie wrote: »

Hi Alice

I'm sure you've had the conversation with as many people as I have about where to live to work in London! Out of interest how much would a flat in HH (or Apsley) with one or two bedrooms in a safe area within a mile of a station to London cost?

One beds in Apsley at least £230k (asking price) and two beds I’ve seen around £250k by the main road but good ones at least £270k. Still one of the more affordable commuter areas give a 30 min train journey. But more and more development is happening and I fear the result will be total gridlock in a few years.

I’ve seen one beds at £199k but not sure it would be quiet or as safe. The area is pretty safe but I still prefer secure entry to a block etc! The one at £199k didn’t have this and was also tiny and dated built early 80s.

How does that compare to the sort of areas you know?