Going ahead or pull out

cherry76

Those who have been following my thread say know I want to advise my brother re his purchase of a flat in a desirable location in Islington. 

Flat above  commercial property, two council tenants above, he will be the only leaseholder.
Section 20 served for fire doors initially est was £12,000  but reduced to £6,000 on appeal.Seller said she will pay, recent purchase fell through due to section 20. Still very expensive and makes me wonder what future estimate of majorvworks work will be.
Survey flagged windows replacement at £8,000 to £10,000
Damp issues. And some other issues.
Have not seen official report yet.
Being careful  and more experienced I have my reservations.I want to tell him to walk away. When the work is completed on section 20, it might be more than £6,000. The windows need replacing and the frames are rotten internally and externally with wooden shutters. They are single glazed and he said he could wait when Islington does major works and replace all the windows in the block with double glazing. He could not replace the windows himself as he will need scaffolding and will be more expensive if he does it solo..
He has been looking for years and if he pulled out it is likely he will not find  a  flat that he likes. It’s not cheap £390,000 for 1 bed but that the price in that area and he offered £5,000 above asking price as there were other buyers interested. My concerns with Islington as the freeholder, all the major works will be more costly than a private landlord. The flat is in Drayton Park near Arsenal stadium. It’s not something I would buy myself but he likes it. The owner has lived there for 11 yrs is professional. She has also soundproof it.Its a beautiful flat but am concerned about future expenses whether he could afford it. This is stressing me, solicitor advises to consider the negatives carefully. Here I am on this forum asking about your opinions and experiences having the council as freeholder. He values my opinion he said if I tell him to pull out he will. I do not want to do that, the decision must come from him. This is my dilemma what to advise him. Thanks 

_Penny_Dreadful

cherry76 said:

Those who have been following my thread say know I want to advise my brother re his purchase of a flat in a desirable location in Islington. 

Flat above  commercial property, two council tenants above, he will be the only leaseholder.
Section 20 served for fire doors initially est was £12,000  but reduced to £6,000 on appeal.Seller said she will pay, recent purchase fell through due to section 20. Still very expensive and makes me wonder what future estimate of majorvworks work will be.
Survey flagged windows replacement at £8,000 to £10,000
Damp issues. And some other issues.
Have not seen official report yet.
Being careful  and more experienced I have my reservations.I want to tell him to walk away. When the work is completed on section 20, it might be more than £6,000. The windows need replacing and the frames are rotten internally and externally with wooden shutters. They are single glazed and he said he could wait when Islington does major works and replace all the windows in the block with double glazing. He could not replace the windows himself as he will need scaffolding and will be more expensive if he does it solo..
He has been looking for years and if he pulled out it is likely he will not find  a  flat that he likes. It’s not cheap £390,000 for 1 bed but that the price in that area and he offered £5,000 above asking price as there were other buyers interested. My concerns with Islington as the freeholder, all the major works will be more costly than a private landlord. The flat is in Drayton Park near Arsenal stadium. It’s not something I would buy myself but he likes it. The owner has lived there for 11 yrs is professional. She has also soundproof it.Its a beautiful flat but am concerned about future expenses whether he could afford it. This is stressing me, solicitor advises to consider the negatives carefully. Here I am on this forum asking about your opinions and experiences having the council as freeholder. He values my opinion he said if I tell him to pull out he will. I do not want to do that, the decision must come from him. This is my dilemma what to advise him. Thanks 

The council being the freeholder would put me off and I'd also be put off by the commercial property underneath. 

When the council is the freeholder your brother wouldn't have the ability to band together with the other leaseholders (because the other two flats are owned by the council) for the right to manage.  The council could effectively blockade any proposed changes.

I believe that when the local authority is the freeholder the leaseholders don't have the right to decide the scope and timings of any works or to request quotes from alternative contractors.  Local authorities appear to lack the interest or ability to control costs.

The commercial property below would concern me because many mortgage lenders don't like lending when there's a commercial property below which could not only be an issue if your brother needs a mortgage but for his buyers if/when he comes to sell.

However, if his heart if set on Islington and his budget is under £400,000 then perhaps these are compromises he will have to make.

I wonder if the seller soundproofed the flat because of poor construction which allowed normal, every day sounds to travel, or because of nuisance neighbours.

cherry76

Very good points noted. He does not seem to be bothered about commercial property below, this a no, no for me. I think it’s because of the noise  when I asked him whether he can hear people upstairs. Monday will be decision depending if other issues flagged by building survey.