Flat in London

MysteryMe

It's fine for a young couple, if someone can't cook a meal in that kitchen it's down to their poor culinary skills. 

hazyjo

tonyhender said:

I owe 2 flats in london both are on leesehold if i could get the freehold i would snatch their hands off. Fristly it would add more then 40% to the value of my properties. I wouldn't have a leese which goes down each year. 

You'd want a freehold flat? Really? Very hard to mortgage and not common at all. Certainty wouldn't be adding 40%! Wherever did you get that idea from?

Of course, if you owned say two converted flats in a Victorian property, one up and one down, you could convert them back into a freehold house and lose the leasehold. You'd probably lose money doing that and probably wouldn't be able to do it if you had mortgages, but hey ho. It would possibly be an option, subject to relevant approvals etc.

macman

So how do the Scots manage it, with no leasehold on thousands of purpose-built residential apartments in Edinburgh and Glasgow?

hazyjo

macman said:

So how do the Scots manage it, with no leasehold on thousands of purpose-built residential apartments in Edinburgh and Glasgow?

Not saying it's not possible. They manage it very well with shared responsibility. But in England, where I presumed this is as leasehold was mentioned, it wouldn't add value and would make it very hard to selling

zagubov

The building societies that are not offering mortgages on freehold flats down here are pretty much the same ones that offered mortgages to flats in Scotland where leasehold (and for that matter freehold) had been unfamiliar for quite some time. 

Admittedly they would presumably have employed staff with local knowledge. The Scottish banks would have recognised the differences when offering mortgages, but one of the biggest factors might have been the Scottish reluctance to buy due to the "shame of debt" that was part of the culture in the past. I suspect a giant chunk of the world would have trouble understanding leasehold.

Sistergold

If you moved further away from Finchely but still on the northern  line underground route if that what you need you will be able to get a nicer bigger place for close to your budget. Finchely is “expensive”

davidmcn

macman said:

So how do the Scots manage it, with no leasehold on thousands of purpose-built residential apartments in Edinburgh and Glasgow?

Because of fundamental differences in property law which make flatted freehold interests more problematic in England than in Scotland. Rather than reform the law, the English have fudged it by using leaseholds instead, which have spawned their own complications. 

opteron

For me, this flat is a bit too far from the nearest tube station.

Splatfoot

deannatrois said:

Bedrooms are an impossible size for normal adult life, great for two pre teen orphans with no clothes or toys though. Anyone older would complain about lack of storage (although no guarantee they wouldn't). Kitchen only suitable for someone who likes to live on takeaways and microwave meals.., again suitable for preteen orphans.  Perhaps they could barbecue daily.

And it's perfectly fine for a first time buy/single person/couple. Everyone has to start somewhere and the fact that a first property is not perfect is part of the problems today. Everyone wants everything now instead of a starter property. Nothing wrong with starting in a small flat or even a studio. You adapt.  I'd say, go for it. I've owned a shared freehold flat, no problems with getting a mortgage, wasn't even mentioned. 

hazyjo

Splatfoot said:

deannatrois said:

Bedrooms are an impossible size for normal adult life, great for two pre teen orphans with no clothes or toys though. Anyone older would complain about lack of storage (although no guarantee they wouldn't). Kitchen only suitable for someone who likes to live on takeaways and microwave meals.., again suitable for preteen orphans.  Perhaps they could barbecue daily.

I've owned a shared freehold flat, no problems with getting a mortgage, wasn't even mentioned. 

FYI a share of freehold flat is VERY different from a freehold flat.