Assessing resale difficulty

Ybe

Is this 1 bed flat likely to be difficult to resell in future? Given its band E council tax and also ground rent which escalates by £140 every 25 years? First increase already happened in 2019 and now sits at £280.  

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156177482

Newbie_John

Here is the same or similar flat history:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-123255299-15927805?s=6c89e0eb2bbce74cdfecd4c213a85dd908070870e7cffb785733e82a7dd2aae1#/

Maybe not difficult to resell, but adding all the sale fees it won't gain much value - so you're looking to get back what you paid after 5 years.

Bigphil1474

It was sold in 2014 for £332k, so current price seems a bit low, maybe a reason for that? Current occupier has been there 11 years. Not sure you need to worry about the ground rent - if it went up in 2019 it's not due to go up until 2044, to a massive £420pa, and it's currently only at £23 a month? 

Bottom line - if you are interested in it, why wouldn't someone else be when you come to sell. Can't comment on price as I don't know London that well. Given where I live you could get a 4 bed detached for that money, it wouldn't interest me in the slightest.

GDB2222

As this is London, the key ground rent figure is £1000, rather than £250. There’s room for another 5 increases whilst still keeping below £1000. 

I don’t know whether band E is wrong for this flat. If it is you can ask for it to be altered. 

Obviously, the outgoings are quite high and will likely put people off a bit. 

user1977

GDB2222 said:

As this is London, the key ground rent figure is £1000, rather than £250. There’s room for another 5 increases whilst still keeping below £1000. 

And those limits are just about to be abolished anyway.

DullGreyGuy

Ybe said:

Is this 1 bed flat likely to be difficult to resell in future? Given its band E council tax and also ground rent which escalates by £140 every 25 years? First increase already happened in 2019 and now sits at £280.  

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156177482

Why do you think it would be? You're interested in it after all, are you that unique? 

£400k for a zone 4 small one bedroom flat seems toppy to me but then I've not ever seen the attraction of North Finchley etc. You could get more for less and closer to central London if you wanted but ultimately there are reasons why N London is more expensive than E & SE London so it comes down to preferences

Ybe

DullGreyGuy said:

Ybe said:

Is this 1 bed flat likely to be difficult to resell in future? Given its band E council tax and also ground rent which escalates by £140 every 25 years? First increase already happened in 2019 and now sits at £280.  

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156177482

Why do you think it would be? You're interested in it after all, are you that unique? 

£400k for a zone 4 small one bedroom flat seems toppy to me but then I've not ever seen the attraction of North Finchley etc. You could get more for less and closer to central London if you wanted but ultimately there are reasons why N London is more expensive than E & SE London so it comes down to preferences

Interesting. Which areas of central london out of interest? 

Ybe

Bigphil1474 said:

It was sold in 2014 for £332k, so current price seems a bit low, maybe a reason for that? Current occupier has been there 11 years. Not sure you need to worry about the ground rent - if it went up in 2019 it's not due to go up until 2044, to a massive £420pa, and it's currently only at £23 a month? 

Bottom line - if you are interested in it, why wouldn't someone else be when you come to sell. Can't comment on price as I don't know London that well. Given where I live you could get a 4 bed detached for that money, it wouldn't interest me in the slightest.

It’s a buy to let investor 

Ybe

Newbie_John said:

Here is the same or similar flat history:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-123255299-15927805?s=6c89e0eb2bbce74cdfecd4c213a85dd908070870e7cffb785733e82a7dd2aae1#/

Maybe not difficult to resell, but adding all the sale fees it won't gain much value - so you're looking to get back what you paid after 5 years.

Interesting. Do you think it’s reached its limit of appreciation? 

I think also flat 20 is much larger looking at the EPC certificates. Flat 20 is 68 sq m whereas this one is 52 sq m. 

GDB2222

user1977 said:

GDB2222 said:

As this is London, the key ground rent figure is £1000, rather than £250. There’s room for another 5 increases whilst still keeping below £1000. 

And those limits are just about to be abolished anyway.

I hadn’t noticed , but I am glad to hear it. It is, of course, unreasonable that a £400k flat could be repossessed over a small amount of ground rent arrears. 

ReadingTim

Flats in that block seem to have had between 3 and 6 owners in the near 30 years since it was built, suggesting people quite like living there rather than any kind of difficulty selling up.  

Furthermore, you're not a beautiful unique snowflake - there are plenty of others in London in exactly the same position as you're in, so if it's of interest to you, it'll be of interest to them too.  And that's just as true when you come to sell it as it is when you're buying it.