House or Flat?

sweetsand

bucksbloke said:

For me, house every time. 
Did you say £2100 per annum for the service charge. I would be expecting them to have a free gym for that kind of money. 

Service charges can easily be that and are in london. This is one of the reasons I would not want to live in an aprtment as service charges can sky rocket and almost make it impossible to sell on or at much reduced rates.

JGB1955

sweetsand said:

bucksbloke said:

For me, house every time. 
Did you say £2100 per annum for the service charge. I would be expecting them to have a free gym for that kind of money. 

Service charges can easily be that and are in london. This is one of the reasons I would not want to live in an aprtment as service charges can sky rocket and almost make it impossible to sell on or at much reduced rates.

So...... your vote is for the house then.  Sorted!

blue_max_3

It absolutely depends on the actual property. A nicely converted flat in a large property in a central area can be very desirable. An ex local authority house near a busy road could be hell on earth. Neighbours can be unpredictable where ever you live.
I had a detached bungalow in a commuter town, where I lived for three years. I spent two trying to sell it. Then I bought a large flat in North London and stayed thirty years (and only moved because of divorce). I owned a share of the freehold, so no service charges.
For me, it's location x3. I've been tempted to move to other parts of the country, but still ended up looking at an apartment. A spectacular one, but never the less.
Obviously if you have a family with pets, the decision is biased towards a house. But for one, or two people, having four bedrooms makes little practical sense.

NameUnavailable

Service charges are meaningless. They say it's £2100 but that was for the last year. They might decide to do a lot of work next year and the service charge could be £20K. Read about the impending changes to building fire controls and you will see that you will soon be facing an additional annual charge for fire safety, as well as potentially a large up front bill for 'improvements' and then theres the EWS1 certification.......

I would tread VERY CAREFULLY if considering a flat right now.

cybervic

Go with the location and neighbourhood, those are the factor that tends to hold the value of a property. I'd love to live in a house but my desirable location is expansive I can only get a flat. I have no regret buying a flat in the area I absolutely love. The convenience of being able to walk to everything (supermarket, high street shops, cafe/restaurants, bus/train station, park) is just amazing. Resale value has never been a problem in my block despite a high service charge (£3500 including £500 reserve funds). It sounds hefty but perhaps that's also why there's 90% owner residents in the building, thus people are nice and respectful to each other.

Young_Turk

blue_max_3 said:

I bought a large flat in North London and stayed thirty years (and only moved because of divorce). I owned a share of the freehold, so no service charges.

I'm owner-occupier of a flat with share of freehold too. Don't you still pay something like a service charge? We each (it's a house converted into four flats) pay something (I think it's referred to as a maintenance fee) to cover the costs (regular costs are insurance and lighting, and then occasionally painting, repairs to the roof, replacing windows, etc.). 

NameUnavailable said:

Service charges are meaningless. They say it's £2100 but that was for the last year. They might decide to do a lot of work next year and the service charge could be £20K. 

But how does that help comparing the costs of houses with flats? If the service charge isn't a good guide, a house has absolutely no guide at all about the possible costs.

NameUnavailable

Young_Turk said:

blue_max_3 said:

I bought a large flat in North London and stayed thirty years (and only moved because of divorce). I owned a share of the freehold, so no service charges.

I'm owner-occupier of a flat with share of freehold too. Don't you still pay something like a service charge? We each (it's a house converted into four flats) pay something (I think it's referred to as a maintenance fee) to cover the costs (regular costs are insurance and lighting, and then occasionally painting, repairs to the roof, replacing windows, etc.). 

NameUnavailable said:

Service charges are meaningless. They say it's £2100 but that was for the last year. They might decide to do a lot of work next year and the service charge could be £20K. 

But how does that help comparing the costs of houses with flats? If the service charge isn't a good guide, a house has absolutely no guide at all about the possible costs.

Any property will need regular maintenance but some flats don't have a regular service charge and or are self managed so you're not paying other peoples wages for their time to get quotes and send demands, or inflate charges with 'commission'. 

If you own a freehold house then there's no service charge (unless you live on an estate where you have to pay for upkeep of communal areas). You simply get quotes for work as/when needed or do the work yourself, which you can't usually do if you live in a flat.

jcrennie

I am in a similar position and looking to buy a flat as a single FTB. The houses in my budget all need 20k+ work doing in them, sure it will add value but I also don't want the hassle of living in somewhere that needs a lot doing to it.

Surely to all the "my flat isn't selling" is just a state tp the current market? People aren't wanting to buy flats at the moment and a lot of flats, especially new builds were sold at premium prices. The are not selling as they are overpriced, it's harder for FTB to get mortgages and people want garden space after lockdown. You could probably get 20% off the asking price of a flat if you were not in a hurry to buy.

NameUnavailable

jcrennie said:

I am in a similar position and looking to buy a flat as a single FTB. The houses in my budget all need 20k+ work doing in them, sure it will add value but I also don't want the hassle of living in somewhere that needs a lot doing to it.

Surely to all the "my flat isn't selling" is just a state tp the current market? People aren't wanting to buy flats at the moment and a lot of flats, especially new builds were sold at premium prices. The are not selling as they are overpriced, it's harder for FTB to get mortgages and people want garden space after lockdown. You could probably get 20% off the asking price of a flat if you were not in a hurry to buy.

A lot aren't selling because mortgage company valualtions are coming back as zero, yes zero, due to the lack of an ESW1 form, and in many cases it will be impossible to get the form as freeholders are not obliged to do so.

Young_Turk

NameUnavailable said:

Young_Turk said:

blue_max_3 said:

I bought a large flat in North London and stayed thirty years (and only moved because of divorce). I owned a share of the freehold, so no service charges.

I'm owner-occupier of a flat with share of freehold too. Don't you still pay something like a service charge? We each (it's a house converted into four flats) pay something (I think it's referred to as a maintenance fee) to cover the costs (regular costs are insurance and lighting, and then occasionally painting, repairs to the roof, replacing windows, etc.). 

NameUnavailable said:

Service charges are meaningless. They say it's £2100 but that was for the last year. They might decide to do a lot of work next year and the service charge could be £20K. 

But how does that help comparing the costs of houses with flats? If the service charge isn't a good guide, a house has absolutely no guide at all about the possible costs.

Any property will need regular maintenance but some flats don't have a regular service charge and or are self managed so you're not paying other peoples wages for their time to get quotes and send demands, or inflate charges with 'commission'. 

If you own a freehold house then there's no service charge (unless you live on an estate where you have to pay for upkeep of communal areas). You simply get quotes for work as/when needed or do the work yourself, which you can't usually do if you live in a flat.

Yes, on the one hand it's seems like flats are likely to cost owners more to maintain for the reasons you give. But on the other hand, there is a lot more to maintain in most houses, especially detached houses. How should a buyer of a house try to think about likely maintenance costs?