The Nice People No. 17

PasturesNew

chris_m said:

PasturesNew said:

Might phone up about a flat tomorrow... but it's niggling me. 
It's council tax band E ...

Band E for a flat? You sure that's not for the whole block?

Most are C/D round these parts.  In this block they are E & F, as are most of the road I suspect if I look.  Built 2001 so you don't benefit from past lower values before places were gentrified

ukmaggie45

I don't think you'd like a flat PN, and what's the point in that high council tax payment if you can't even see the sea from it? And what happens when you have galumphing kids in the flat above you? I know you're feeling a bit desperate, but even so I think you might do better hanging on a bit longer. Nothing will be coming on the market while there's all these gales, but maybe by the end of the week things might get better. Half term this week, I don't know how that affects the market.

PasturesNew

ukmaggie45 said:

...

I know... I'm just trying to be more "open minded" about everything available.  
I think half term makes things go quiet, maybe next week. 
There were many other issues re that Band E flat... 

SingleSue

There are several very nice flats along our sea front with wonderful views but I wouldn't have any that are on the ground floor and it's not down to a lack of view.....more flooding! Living near the sea is only good if you are high up.

Mum and dad's house, although not right on the sea front (it's on a side road off the sea front), was badly flooded in the great floods in 53. When they decorate, you can still see the waterline three quarters of the way up the front room wall. Their problems was that although their house is at the end of the road furthest away from the prom, it is also below sea level and the water came rushing from the sea one way and a from stream behind and congregated in the area which was below sea level. Those at the top of the road were better off as they were higher and it streamed past them from the sea without collecting and the stream part didn't even get that far up so not the same depth or danger.

This was how deep it got their end of the road, the blue line of bricks signify the depth. Their neighbour who was living next door at the time of the flood had to be rescued from the upstairs of her house, the neighbour the other side had to break through the roof to be rescued as their house lays lower in the grounds and is not as tall as the rest.

Pyxis

The other thing about being too close to a seafront is that the building takes a huge battering when there is inclement weather, and also gets more wear and tear from salt and fine sand spray.

Buyers have to be careful that blocks of flats have been built with marine-quality stuff, otherwise the deterioration could be immense. I know someone this happened to; their block was discovered,  after just a few years of being built, to have been built with windows, balconies  and other things not to marine specs, but luckily they were covered by the NHBC new-build insurance, and all the windows  and balconies in the block were replaced. However, until the work was completed, the flats were all but unsaleable.

PasturesNew

Yes, re sea front and flooding and battering.  There is one block locally where the service charges are over £7k/year and I suspect most of that is due to weather delapidations.  The block I was half-heartedly just eyeing up is at the top of a cliff, as are all in that particular spot.  Weather is the biggie though.  When I see the penthouses with their wrap around terraces I think "bet it's windy up there" even in good weather!

The main limiting factor seems to be the stumbling block of new builds' ability to stuff as many into the smallest space as possible, creating allocated parking spots in a shared car park - something I sold up to avoid!  Then, it's orientation/location, e.g. demolish one bungalow that's north facing and 100 yards from a major through road junction and squeeze two into the space with a shared drive.  Many, too, are just 2-4 new builds squeezed into the back garden of a house, using the old house driveway as the access to the 2-3 new builds, with an allocated spot each. 

There is a distinct lack of boundaries!

PasturesNew

The Wanderer's got a very nasty cough this morning, it's becoming rapidly more persistent! 
*hides in cupboard*
Oh dear.... 

Pyxis

PasturesNew said:

The Wanderer's got a very nasty cough this morning, it's becoming rapidly more persistent! 
*hides in cupboard*
Oh dear.... 

Perhaps it is time to suggest to her that she seeks medical advice. You could also ask if she has a temperature., and maybe seek medical advice yourself?

PasturesNew

Pyxis said:

 

Perhaps ...

I hide, I do not speak, we have not spoken.  I haven't seen/spoken to The Wanderer since the morning they jetted off... except one brief, 3 second "Oh you're back" upon their annoyingly/unexpected early return 10 days ago.

Anyway ... The Wanderer felt well enough to go out again today   

PasturesNew

Homes are getting smaller. Just revisited/researched one I'd previously dismissed due to it being a new build behind some council houses, where there'd previously been a bunch of garages.  Initially dismissed on location, overhanging trees and indistinct open plan parking arrangement. 
I looked at the layout and it seemed a bit odd... then I looked closer.  Bed2 had a door to the garden, the kitchen was 10'x4'.  Then the penny dropped... if you take a 1-bedroom bungalow and squeeze the kitchen (with a door to the garden) into 10'x4', opening into the living room of 16'x13' ...  then it's now a 2 bed bungalow worth £30-40k more. 
*sighs* They really do take the mick. 

What finished that one off for me was reading the planning documents.... all those trees have TPOs and there are special foundations and underground groundworks to protect those, so any thoughts of knocking it about or adding a conservatory would be right out of the question.