What will happen to city centre apartments?

The_Prince_3

Jonbvn wrote: »

IMHO a lot of NB flats will finally end up in LA ownership.

Anyone for Mandella house? Rodney you plonker!

Yep. Today's 'luxury city centre apartments' will be tomorrows social housing. As sure as night follows day.

simcla

bluejake wrote: »

Not only are there lots of apartments in places like Manchester city centre but lots and lots of apartments have been built in the outlaying areas in places like Wigan advertised with a Manchester postcode - but a long way from the city centre. I saw flats on sale for 120 or 130k - you can still buy a semi-detached house in the same area for that price. They appear to have dropped to about a 100k but still you can be a terraced house for 65k or 70k in the same area.

Because of my job I have visited many of these flats and noticed many are owned by people who live far away in places like London - I guess investors who thought they were buying Manchester city apartments but were actually buying a flat in Wigan on the outskirts of Manchester with a Manchester postcode. Complete idiots. Many of them are empty, of the ones that are occupied, they are occupied by housing benefit claimants.

To answer the original posters question, 'Would buying a city centre apartment (once the prices have bottomed out - of course!) be a good move or would it be a total no no?' Yes if you want to live next door to housing benefit claimants, families on Income Support and everything that goes with that, and be stuck there because I don't think prices are going to be rising for a very long time in that type of property.

City centre living I can understand in London which is a big city where your next door neighbours will be employed people who simply cannot afford a house. In the north of England, Manchester is a lot smaller and less interesting city to live in, and why not if you have the choice to buy some kind of house instead which is more flexible, more likely to increase in value at some point in the far future, and more likely to appeal to a wider variety of buyers.

The second question, 'What do you think will happen to these type of apartments once their prices have bottomed out? Will there be a massive rush to purchase them or will buyers stay well clear?' - Housing benefit claimants, anti-social behavour, tatty flats in poor state of repair....

I think that the high end apartments in Manchester centre may not end up as DSS lets (look up Beetham Tower on wiki and check the Architects apartment) ... If I worked in central Manchester then I would rather live in the Centre than in a lot of the suburban areas of Manchester, especially with the proposed congestion charge. I can see that the multitude of small apartments built in satellite towns around manchester may well end up as DSS lets.

amcluesent

I'd never commit money to a city-centre place unless it was gated and there was a covenant preventing sales to HA/LA so DSS/'seekers' etc. couldn't colonise.

RecoveringAlcoholic

My current strategy for new build flats is to buy one flat on each floor. I will then let them to my friends and then pick up the distressed sales in six months time.

BobProperty

simcla wrote: »

I think that the high end apartments in Manchester centre may not end up as DSS lets (look up Beetham Tower on wiki and check the Architects apartment) ... If I worked in central Manchester then I would rather live in the Centre than in a lot of the suburban areas of Manchester, especially with the proposed congestion charge. I can see that the multitude of small apartments built in satellite towns around manchester, but may well end up as DSS lets.

I tend to agree with this. There are some very nice apartments in central Manchester which will probably stay in line with property prices. But there are others which I can only see as having the following history:
New Build - sold during boom to BTL/FTB
Repossession / Forced sale at massive discount
Only worth renting to HB claimants
Only now valued at HB tenant value
Go back 2 or 3 lines, rinse and repeat.

Ike1

OK - So the overall advice is to try and buy a 'high-end' city centre apartment once house prices have bottomed out?

Thanks for the help - hopefully the high-end apartments will fall to a level that we can afford!

Ike

Kez100

...and keep a watchful eye on who you are sharing the block with. That will ultimately determine enjoyment living there, future rises in value and the ability to resell.

jamescredmond

Ike1 wrote: »

OK - So the overall advice is to try and buy a 'high-end' city centre apartment once house prices have bottomed out?

Thanks for the help - hopefully the high-end apartments will fall to a level that we can afford!

Ike

hang in there Ike, hang in there.

won't be long now.

Austin_Allegro

I think it's the better blocks that will be used for social housing - the worse ones will be used as bail hostels, half way houses for the mentally ill, accommodation for asylum seekers etc, in the same way that ailing seaside B&Bs were used in the 1980s.

However, it's possible you might get a bargain as a renter. The rental prices seem to be dropping for new builds, and if it does turn into Urine Towers you can just up sticks and move.

clobber_2

Following links from the Beetham thingie, I found this from the same architects:

http://www.westbridgeliving.co.uk/

Crikey.

I know that area quite well, it is a bit ropey and dominated by massive horrible roads/roundabouts/junctions. Leicester also does not have a single pleasant stretch of water to go for strolls alongside (as far as I know). It is also not a particularly wealthy place.

It does look nice but I cannot imagine there being that much of a market for it.