Buying 2 bed flat with HTB scheme, should I pull out?

Thrugelmir

Is the completion date of August 2021 still a realistic possibility?  More likely you could be looking at 2 years time. That's with the caveat that the developer is still in business. 
How much deposit are you having to put down on exchange of contracts? 

francesco_lbn

numbercruncher8 said:

I know the area quite well. This isn't what I'd consider the nice end of Walthamstow. 
Put it this way, there are flats down the road at Hawker Place near the Homebase which I think you could get for around £150,000-£170,000 less for a 2-bed. 
Sure it'll be a bit further away from the station, won't be 'new' or as modern, probably less nice landscaped grounds, but that kind of price difference seems silly to me. Either the Hawker Place ones are vastly under-priced or the new builds are vastly over-priced. 
I don't know if you're simply looking for someone to tell you to go ahead, but it is fact that paying £500k for a 2-bed flat will be literally top dollars for this location. If you're there for the long-term then fine, but in the event the market does fall I think this will be one of the harder properties to sell, because they are priced unfavourably to a house with gardens and (most likely) they come with large service charges that houses do not.

Now I know what you're going to say... you're not interested in a house, but when it comes to thinking of reselling it is a bit of an error to think that everyone may think like you. There is a block of flats next to me that has had the same type of fate.... brand spanking new in 2016, flats were snapped up for anything between £450k-£480k for the 2 beds. There have been quite a few listed on Rightmove, but no sales in 2 years according to the Land Registry. Listing prices start at prices like £500k, get reduced and reduced and then taken off.... the only one I saw SSTC was one that went to £395k. A reason may be that there are lots of other new builds underway now and people may be attracted towards those.

That was the answer I was looking for, because that was exactly my fear. You just confirmed what my wife has always thought and after reading a little bit more, I think that Help to buy is not even a good deal, especially if you can afford to pay 10% of deposit. Thank you so much everyone for answering my question and help me decide, I sent an email to pull out from an overpriced selling.

GDB2222

Can you get your £500 back?  Otherwise, I cannot see how you have gained by pulling out now, rather than next February?

francesco_lbn

Yes I can get my £500 back

GDB2222

That seems a good move to me, then. You can see how things work out in the next year, and I cannot believe that they would turn you away if you want to go ahead later.