AIBU to be gutted my house has lost me money?

In reality it's not that long. Basically there's hardly been any growth since around 2020. And possibly you bought it overpriced.

My flat grew from 2015 - 2020 but hasn't changed much in value since 2020, maybe 5% if that.

Also I think you are really overestimating if you were expecting property growth to outstrip inflation. Inflation has been very high in last 5 years compared to last decade before that. At best I'd hope for it to slightly beat inflation, but then there will be times when it doesn't so on balance it just goes in leaps then stagnates.

It's one reason why property isn't actually always the best investment compared to say passive index stocks and shares. There's been financial studies that show this.

t! If I were you I'd either rent it out or Airbnb and use the money to help pay a mortgage for a bigger, better property. Give it at least 5 years before you decide to sell, inflation is slowing down and investment is ramping up.

Given a service charge of £300+ per month and windows that don’t shut properly and let draughts in, it doesn’t sound that attractive to rent or Airbnb either!

You could try advertising it at the price that you want to sell it for and see whether anyone is interested at that price.

That’s true but no point beating yourself up about it. Think about it differently. If you had invested you would have had to rent. In 8 years you would have sent more than £200k on rent ( with all the uncertaintity that comes from that).

you were lucky you inherited so could be a cash buyer IN LONDON. Bit unreasonable to come on and expect sympathy. Consider the alternative: I expect your friends have mortgages and I also expect that cost will largely equal any material gain.

If you stay in the same area, and bigger flats there also haven’t gone up in value, you shouldn’t be any worse off at all by buying a larger flat in the same area

With the amount of new flats the government and foreign investors are building lately, the price could very well go down.

Socialism in a country as populated as this requires a lot of high earners to the heavy lifting for the economy but those people are leaving in their droves. If loads of people pay tax, the bank of England can loan more easily, and people can get big mortgages more easily and so property values go up. Lately the bank of England hasn't been too happy with the nations finances so no low interest rate for us :(

Here's a crazy thought, what if OP did keep the cash in 2017 and put it in a savings account with 3.5% ROI, she'd have £262,000 now which could buy her same apartment plus a cool 62 grand... I know it's a stupid suggestion because she probably never had that much cash but it's showing one of the many flaws of property investment in turbulent or declining markets

Yanbu. I get it. Our place hasn't risen in value at all, it's reduced over ten years. Whilst I'm grateful to have a roof over our heads and that's the main thing, it's limited our buying power if we wanted to move to another area.

I do focus on being grateful, but our area has had a huge increase in density and I'm starting to want to move somewhere more pedestrian. However, at the rate they're building, we've gone from a sedate, fairly posh suburb to somewhere more edgy and urban, whilst somehow avoiding gentrification. The newer population seem much poorer, the high street has started to be full of slummy looking shops, and so I guess our area is going downhill.

I'm a bit annoyed at the council for allowing so much development and therefore the relative prices have gone down. But I know young people need to have affordable development. Dunno - my socialist principles are being challenged by the speed of change and personal deficit. 🤣

I'm really curious as to what borough this is... But yea, London and England in general are not in a good state in terms of investment, back in 2017 things were booming, interest rates were low and everyone was buying stuff so it was a good time to sell property. Now it's a good time to buy property so please don't sell it! If I were you I'd either rent it out or Airbnb and use the money to help pay a mortgage for a bigger, better property. Give it at least 5 years before you decide to sell, inflation is slowing down and investment is ramping up.

Yep I’ve lived in my house 17 years and it’s not worth anymore than I paid. In fact some on the street are selling at less than I paid. Until recently I was paying a mortgage which is now paid off due to inheritance. For over 10 years I couldn’t remortgage from our original deal when the fixed rate went to variable as there was no equity. I eventually did get a remortgage deal due to the fact I’d paid off some and had some equity due to that.

Due to circumstances now (divorced,
part time working, kids) I’d never be able to sell and use it as a deposit for something bigger. I couldn’t afford the repayments on even a similar mortgage amount to what I initially borrowed as the monthly payments were about to more than double when mortgage rates went up just as I was able to pay off the mortgage in full.

My house is worth less than £100k. And to be honest, any house offering more than my current house on the same area is about 3 times the price of mine. I’m in an older property, 1 bathroom, no driveway to park on, 3rd bedroom is a box. Needs a rewire. The rest of the town has boomed with new builds but those new builds come at a much higher price. The only people buying in my area seem to be landlords. I’m nearly the only one left on the street who is an owner occupier.

Flats have not generally gone up in London, just be thankful it wasn’t a new build (which are over priced when they come tot the market and lose the new build premium). People prefer outside space post-Covid and are willing to live further afield as they only come into the office 2-3 days a week.

Housing isn’t a one-way bet, and it’s only a problem if what you want to buy next has shot up in price, otherwise it’s just the difference in price you’re exposed to.

Thanks..he is on waiting list for nhs diagnosis but we are paying now so he can get his meds and get better

But that was your choice. I own a leasehold flat but the residents own the freehold and dh is also a director of the residents management company. The other directors are animal lovers so they allow everyone to have dogs even the tenants.

Of course I don't live in nw3, I live in finchley, and my flat is worth 400k to 425k and it's not a mansion flat, just 1930s purpose built. My dh would love to live in a block which doesn't allow dogs and cats as he doesn't really like animals, he tolerated my caged pets as they lived in a cage.. I had a hamster and later gerbils so for me it was important though eventually I became allergic during pregnancy. All the flats I viewed allowed pets, some blocks didn't allow dogs but to be fair it's hard to toilet train a dog in a flat..

Thank you for sharing this. I’ve been putting off renewing as I’d struggle to even afford £10k 😔

How much would 8-9 years' rental in a flat of equivalent size and standard have cost?

Yes, rather agree with this. The repayments on a £500k odd mortgage (assuming the buyer has a decent deposit of £100k+) will be pricey enough without adding on another £330 a month for service charge. Not to mention the requirements for work on the windows etc.

It may be the service charge that’s limiting your market. On top of a mortgage (or even if mortgage-free), buyers will have to she’ll out £4k a year. Thinking about your market it’ll either be first time buyers, singles/couples post-divorce/downsizing or landlords/someone buying as a pied-à-terre/second home/holiday let. The latter will likely be put off by the service charge, as it’ll eat into their profit.

Savvy first time buyers go for places where they can add value and sell at a profit. Yours won’t appeal to them as you’ve done all the work. It also depends if the improvements you’ve made are to most buyers’ taste or if they’ll feel they have to replace things, which is more cost and hassle.

Ask agents who the most likely buyers will be and present it in photos to appeal to that market or as wide a market as possible, e.g. add a (mocked up) single bed or desk rather than a cot in a second bedroom.

See what other similar places have recently sold for. Sometimes agents underprice for a quick sale, as their commission is a percentage, so £10 grand here or there doesn’t matter too much to them. They’d rather get more sales through the books to pay their costs.

With a service charge like that, it's unsurprising that the value has remained stagnant. That would put off most buyers.

People are preferring houses or at least share of freehold flats currently due to the unreasonable service charges in leasehold flats. FYI a friend in a lives in a large shared of freehold flat in London and each freeholder puts £50 a month in the 'kitty' which easily covers everything, with money left over. There is no justification for £4k a year! Quite rightly, buyers are voting with their feet.

You may not have made profit, but presumably the next place you buy won’t have either? So you can still afford the same home?

It's harder to climb up the ladder

https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/buying-mortgages/upsize-flat-to-house-price-difference-london-b1213421.html#:~:text=It's%20becoming%20increasingly%20difficult%20for,faster%20rate%20than%20flat%20prices.

Exactly this. You may not have made profit, but presumably the next place you buy won’t have either? So you can still afford the same home?

Id much rather be moving up the ladder now than down.

The problem is flats just don't go up in value as much as houses and in London, there's plenty on the market so demand is lower. There's only so much you can do with a flat, whereas you can extend in a house, and if you have a garden it's worth more.

If you've not made a loss, I'd sell up and buy a house. With the new renters rights, there are plenty of landlords selling up now, more choice. Good luck.

How? Can you explain your maths OP?

That's what I thought.