Buying a flat with difficult parking

r4and0mno5

Hello,

I'm currently in the process of purchasing a property. On the face of it the flat is good value: spacious for its price, low charges, well decorated, close to town and railway station.

However there is a problem: parking is non-existent. The flat is on a busy main road, there is a private car park next door but it is only for use of the adjacent block and there are signs up saying so with potential fines. There is no free parking nearby, but there is a public open-air car park 0.4 mlies away for which you can purchase an annual pass which comes in at £75 per month.

I was told by the estate agent that I could get a residents parking permit which, after checking with the council, is not the case. That's why I can't park nearby. I was originally shown around by the seller who said there was lots of free parking a few minutes away, but when asked later to specify where exactly it was, it turned out to be short-stays and clamping risks. So essentially, the parking options are this public car park or an industrial area a mile away. I use my car for work out of town multiple times a week.

To make matters more difficult, FTB, budget is modest. I have a very good mortgage rate fix offer which I will lose if I pull out of the purchase. The cost of this is roughly equivalent to the price of the car park. I'll also have to pay some solicitor fees, etc.

Short version: Flat is very affordable, good size and location but parking now looks to be a bit of nightmare. What would you do?

Martico

Personally I'd bail on it if I couldn't find problem-free parking and knew that I needed a car.
A hassle that would annoy you every single day risks making you resent the place where you live.  

Edit: first I'd check with other residents in the block to see what solutions they've found

user1977

Depends on the location and how accessible it is - obviously it's pretty commonplace in cities to have poor/no parking, but if your essentials are accessible by foot/bike/public transport, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker.

If there's the car park within walking distrance, and you're not driving every day, that at least seems feasible?

Section62

r4and0mno5 said:

What would you do?

Not consider it any further.

Parking - if needed - is one of the few things it is really difficult to change about a property if parking isn't already provided, or has an area of land attached which could be (lawfully) converted to a parking space.

All other options, such as parking on-street, using a private car park, or parking some distance away, would leave you vulnerable to third-parties changing the way that parking operates and you findingyou've got nowhere to park your car.

Penguin_

I bought a mid terraced house & there is a row of parking spaces than run 3/4 of the length of the terrace in front of the house. It has spaces for 7 to 8 cars but it isn't permit parking so anyone can park there. 

Some days there will be 3 or 4 spaces then others it is impossible to park there, you end up parking round the corner in a Cul-de-Sac & it annoys me that I didn't think a bit more about parking before I bought the house. I end up getting really agitated when I can't park outside.

If it's on your mind now I would walk away.

r4and0mno5

user1977 said:

Depends on the location and how accessible it is - obviously it's pretty commonplace in cities to have poor/no parking, but if your essentials are accessible by foot/bike/public transport, it's not necessarily a dealbreaker.

If there's the car park within walking distrance, and you're not driving every day, that at least seems feasible?

It's a large town rather than a city and the town centre can be reached by foot. The main reason I'm even still considering it is I made a similar situation work before, however, parking was only £60 per year and my main place of work was only 5 minutes down the road so I rarely used my car then. But the rent was a lot more so...

I don't work in this town, I have no idea how annoying it would be to walk 5-10 mins every time time I want to use my car and be paying £75 per month for the privilige. Also, there are things I currently take for granted like being able to wash it, or load things in, etc. Can trades people/ deliveries even be made? I suppose they must be able to.

Ath_Wat

It's a flat for someone without a car.  If you buy it, sell your car.   If you can't live without a car, don't buy it.

If you factor in the fact that it is a flat for someone without a car, is it still good value?  That will knock a large chunk off the price when you buy it and when you sell it.

freesha

I'd pass on it, as I need my car. That's probably why it's cheap.

r4and0mno5

Martico said:

 
Edit: first I'd check with other residents in the block to see what solutions they've found

This is a good idea and if I lived closer I'd do it today. But I've been going backwards and forwards on this for a little while and I said I'd try to let the agent know by the end of the day. I think I know which way I'm leaning, I just don't feel great about it.

r4and0mno5

Ath_Wat said:

If you factor in the fact that it is a flat for someone without a car, is it still good value?  That will knock a large chunk off the price when you buy it and when you sell it.

I'd say probably, just about. But only relative to where the market currently is. If you had asked me if I would have put in the offer if I'd known how difficult the parking was beforehand, I'd say probably not.

I actually asked to renegotiate the price following my discovery but they don't want to as they think they can get more for it, so I guess it's either go or no go. Truth be told, I'm probably as bothered by potentially losing the decent interest rate as the apartment itself.

eddddy

r4and0mno5 said:

This is a good idea and if I lived closer I'd do it today. But I've been going backwards and forwards on this for a little while and I said I'd try to let the agent know by the end of the day. I think I know which way I'm leaning, I just don't feel great about it.

Have you told the agent what the issue is?  Has the agent used their local knowledge to suggest some solutions to the parking problem?

A good estate agent should know their 'patch' and be able to tell you about local facilities - like parking, as well as supermarkets, schools, stations, etc.