What’s wrong with this property

Albermarle

trevormax said:

Oh gawd, if you click on street view for the second one, it loads up INSIDE the garage :-P

I am perpetually astounded by the price of tiny little London flats (often basically just half a house). I'm in the process of buying a 4 bed house in Cardiff (I know, its not London) for £315k, which comes with large bedrooms, large other rooms, and a large garden, and off road parking for 2 cars. I can't comprehend why people are so happy to pay such prices to live in a hell hole such as London. 

Some parts of London are quite nice, and definitely not a hell hole.
The SW suburbs for example, but still very expensive. A 2 bed Victorian Cottage with only 80M2 and a tiny garden will be around a Million in somewhere like Barnes.

newsgroupmonkey_

ReadySteadyPop said:

Emmia said:

Ybe said:

Emmia said:

It's a one bed with that horrendous kitchen/lounge/diner combo. I think one beds are hardest to sell, as many people want a second bedroom to work in if they work from home.

If one with the same layout (and presumably in similar condition) sold for ~£20k less recently, it's probably still overpriced.

They all sold as a new build 5 or so years ago for over 400k, some well over. But I guess new builds tend to be overpriced and the market has cooled since then. 

5 years ago was pre pandemic? I'd say one beds are much less desirable now as people work at home more and often want a separate space for that.

I know of a zone two, one bed flat on at £300k,  no cladding issues and a 3 minute walk to a well connected tube station with a frequent service that's had no offers, and limited viewings. 

WFH for most people won`t work out, big banks etc. want the bulk of their workforce in the office, these flats are just ridiculously overpriced, that is what it boils down to, the flat under discussion is reducing price so at least the sellers understands that much about the current market for flats.

Blimey Crashy, out of touch again?

Most companies (and I'd say the majority) who have office workers will allow WFH at least one day a week.

Not everyone in London works for "big banks".
And I'd like to see some evidence of this "bulk in the office"
Barclays have changed up their rules to say 3 days in the office now. But 2 WFH
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/barclays-tightens-working-from-home-rules/

Nationwide have said 3 days at home
https://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/benefits/hybrid-working/

Nat West seem to mix it up
https://jobs.natwestgroup.com/pages/remote-and-flexible-working

Lloyds say 3 days (but up to 5 in summer)
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/careers/culture-and-inclusion/agile-working.html

HSBC have said 2 days in the office now.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/hsbc-employees-warned-of-office-attendance-link-to-pay/

And that's before we start with other companies. In IT supporting said big banks and public sector, for instance, many of our staff are 5 days from home. Our policy suggests that we should all meet in person quarterly.

GDB2222

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Emmia said:

Ybe said:

Emmia said:

It's a one bed with that horrendous kitchen/lounge/diner combo. I think one beds are hardest to sell, as many people want a second bedroom to work in if they work from home.

If one with the same layout (and presumably in similar condition) sold for ~£20k less recently, it's probably still overpriced.

They all sold as a new build 5 or so years ago for over 400k, some well over. But I guess new builds tend to be overpriced and the market has cooled since then. 

5 years ago was pre pandemic? I'd say one beds are much less desirable now as people work at home more and often want a separate space for that.

I know of a zone two, one bed flat on at £300k,  no cladding issues and a 3 minute walk to a well connected tube station with a frequent service that's had no offers, and limited viewings. 

WFH for most people won`t work out, big banks etc. want the bulk of their workforce in the office, these flats are just ridiculously overpriced, that is what it boils down to, the flat under discussion is reducing price so at least the sellers understands that much about the current market for flats.

Blimey Crashy, out of touch again?

Most companies (and I'd say the majority) who have office workers will allow WFH at least one day a week.

Not everyone in London works for "big banks".
And I'd like to see some evidence of this "bulk in the office"
Barclays have changed up their rules to say 3 days in the office now. But 2 WFH
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/barclays-tightens-working-from-home-rules/

Nationwide have said 3 days at home
https://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/benefits/hybrid-working/

Nat West seem to mix it up
https://jobs.natwestgroup.com/pages/remote-and-flexible-working

Lloyds say 3 days (but up to 5 in summer)
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/careers/culture-and-inclusion/agile-working.html

HSBC have said 2 days in the office now.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/hsbc-employees-warned-of-office-attendance-link-to-pay/

And that's before we start with other companies. In IT supporting said big banks and public sector, for instance, many of our staff are 5 days from home. Our policy suggests that we should all meet in person quarterly.

I think the days of drawing a London salary but living cheaply in the sticks are now over. 3-4 days a week in the office has put the kibosh on long distance commuting. 

Having 1 day a week WFH means you have to allocate a space at home for working, but you are still travelling to work 4 days a week. 

Albermarle

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Emmia said:

Ybe said:

Emmia said:

It's a one bed with that horrendous kitchen/lounge/diner combo. I think one beds are hardest to sell, as many people want a second bedroom to work in if they work from home.

If one with the same layout (and presumably in similar condition) sold for ~£20k less recently, it's probably still overpriced.

They all sold as a new build 5 or so years ago for over 400k, some well over. But I guess new builds tend to be overpriced and the market has cooled since then. 

5 years ago was pre pandemic? I'd say one beds are much less desirable now as people work at home more and often want a separate space for that.

I know of a zone two, one bed flat on at £300k,  no cladding issues and a 3 minute walk to a well connected tube station with a frequent service that's had no offers, and limited viewings. 

WFH for most people won`t work out, big banks etc. want the bulk of their workforce in the office, these flats are just ridiculously overpriced, that is what it boils down to, the flat under discussion is reducing price so at least the sellers understands that much about the current market for flats.

Blimey Crashy, out of touch again?

Most companies (and I'd say the majority) who have office workers will allow WFH at least one day a week.

Not everyone in London works for "big banks".
And I'd like to see some evidence of this "bulk in the office"
Barclays have changed up their rules to say 3 days in the office now. But 2 WFH
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/barclays-tightens-working-from-home-rules/

Nationwide have said 3 days at home
https://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/benefits/hybrid-working/

Nat West seem to mix it up
https://jobs.natwestgroup.com/pages/remote-and-flexible-working

Lloyds say 3 days (but up to 5 in summer)
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/careers/culture-and-inclusion/agile-working.html

HSBC have said 2 days in the office now.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/hsbc-employees-warned-of-office-attendance-link-to-pay/

And that's before we start with other companies. In IT supporting said big banks and public sector, for instance, many of our staff are 5 days from home. Our policy suggests that we should all meet in person quarterly.

As I mentioned earlier, in my area close to M25, there are more completely empty offices than full ones. A couple are newish ( planned before Covid) and have never been occupied.
A family member works for a large multinantional, who have abandoned their very large offices for a smaller one, and staff only have to attend two days a week,

A number of the empty offices locally have been ( or are being converted) to mainly one bed flats.
Being offered at just under £300K, ( < 50 M2) which seems ambitious, considering it is outside London, although the area is well connected with trains, motorway etc.

Herzlos

Of course a return to office mandate doesn't necessarily mean folk have to live near the office. Lots of people (generally those further up the tree) still work from home a lot more in reality than on paper. 

Ybe said:

MeteredOut said:

Herzlos said:

What's your end goal here? If I recall correctly you keep asking advise about current/future value of a host of random flats around London, possibly with the view of investing in one.

So are you trying to buy for yourself or as a BTL? What's your criteria for either?

This is an important question. I'd not be buying a 1 bedroom flat as an investment nowadays, unless I could buy it significantly below what I thought the current value was (which, in itself, would probably be lower that it was being marketed at).

Buy for self to live in. Near tube and no work required are my main requirements. 

Ignore the office diversion from CrashyTime. It's not relevant and just something he does. 

Which one of the flats suits you best in terms of where you'd like to spend time and is convenient for your commute?

I understand you're trying to make a careful purchase such that you'll make money moving later, but focus on what's best for you now. We all have different requirements so can't really advise on that part

ReadySteadyPop

SarahB16 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Albermarle said:

Smalltownhypocrite said:

The flat market has stalled/crashed... especially in London. 

Everything has hit the ceiling, the ladder concept is not tenable, leasehold, fees, stamp duty are extortionate and stricter laws and worries after grenfell have put people off which means resale will be harder and possibly result in loss as the demand falls. Most are looking for more long term or permanent homes that are freehold instead.

Although where I live ( on the fringes of London/M25) there are a number of empty offices that have been converted/ are being converted to one bed flats. So must be a market for them. Maybe flats in converted offices are cheap ?

 Likely corporate owners who took a massive hit on commercial space trying to claw something back, be interesting to see how many sell, maybe companies will buy lots of them for putting staff up on business trips instead of paying for hotels?

I would agree the owners will most likely be selling to developers who will then do the office to resi conversion.  In my humble opinion unlikely that companies will buy lots and put staff up on business trips as the location of these office to resi conversions is not usually the best (trying to be tactful).

The majority of these conversions will very likely be sold on to landlords to rent out (typically that is what I have seen).  However, with all the increased regulation for landlords I do wonder what appetite there will be for landlords to purchase these conversions going forward.  

Exactly, we have been hearing for years though that landlords are "selling up", not sure that is true but can`t see there being a rush for basic office type space to convert into basic skyboxes that nobody wants except at rock bottom prices.

RHemmings

GDB2222 said:

newsgroupmonkey_ said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Emmia said:

Ybe said:

Emmia said:

It's a one bed with that horrendous kitchen/lounge/diner combo. I think one beds are hardest to sell, as many people want a second bedroom to work in if they work from home.

If one with the same layout (and presumably in similar condition) sold for ~£20k less recently, it's probably still overpriced.

They all sold as a new build 5 or so years ago for over 400k, some well over. But I guess new builds tend to be overpriced and the market has cooled since then. 

5 years ago was pre pandemic? I'd say one beds are much less desirable now as people work at home more and often want a separate space for that.

I know of a zone two, one bed flat on at £300k,  no cladding issues and a 3 minute walk to a well connected tube station with a frequent service that's had no offers, and limited viewings. 

WFH for most people won`t work out, big banks etc. want the bulk of their workforce in the office, these flats are just ridiculously overpriced, that is what it boils down to, the flat under discussion is reducing price so at least the sellers understands that much about the current market for flats.

Blimey Crashy, out of touch again?

Most companies (and I'd say the majority) who have office workers will allow WFH at least one day a week.

Not everyone in London works for "big banks".
And I'd like to see some evidence of this "bulk in the office"
Barclays have changed up their rules to say 3 days in the office now. But 2 WFH
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/barclays-tightens-working-from-home-rules/

Nationwide have said 3 days at home
https://www.nationwide-jobs.co.uk/benefits/hybrid-working/

Nat West seem to mix it up
https://jobs.natwestgroup.com/pages/remote-and-flexible-working

Lloyds say 3 days (but up to 5 in summer)
https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/careers/culture-and-inclusion/agile-working.html

HSBC have said 2 days in the office now.
https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/hsbc-employees-warned-of-office-attendance-link-to-pay/

And that's before we start with other companies. In IT supporting said big banks and public sector, for instance, many of our staff are 5 days from home. Our policy suggests that we should all meet in person quarterly.

I think the days of drawing a London salary but living cheaply in the sticks are now over. 3-4 days a week in the office has put the kibosh on long distance commuting. 

Having 1 day a week WFH means you have to allocate a space at home for working, but you are still travelling to work 4 days a week. 

I know people who do long distance commuting. E.g. from Sheffield to Leicester by motorcycle three days a week. I would have no problem living in, say, Milton Keynes, and travelling to London 3 days a week for work, on the train. 

Lucky_Duck_2

The practical problem is that three days is usually the break even point for a season ticket so ignoring the buggeration of travelling in there isn’t likely to be a cost saving

Ybe

These are all great comments. Things I’ve not noticed. Any similar comments on the below ones? 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156910880

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160283273

bouicca21

Lucky_Duck_2 said:

The practical problem is that three days is usually the break even point for a season ticket so ignoring the buggeration of travelling in there isn’t likely to be a cost saving

Some train companies do a sort of part time season ticket - I think Thameslink do. Besides I could commute to central London for nowt by bike from where I live in zone 4, easy peasy from zone 2.