Is anyone trying to sell a London flat at the moment?

[shesaidshesleavingonasunday]

Specifically, a flat with no garden. Ours has been on since March just before lockdown with sporadic viewings and no offers. Price lowered as much as it can go. Totally de cluttered.

The problem is not the flat, the problem is the market. If you look at rightmove, no similar flats within a 3 mile radius of mine have sold since the beginning of August. None. We are talking about hundreds of flats.

I am honestly terrified and devastated in equal measure right now.

Please don't tell me oh everyone is moving out of London for the countryside, bla bla bla - I know that full well. It doesnt change how awful I feel about it.

Anyone in the same situation and want to commiserate?

In your shoes I would sit tight, and plan to rent the place out

That's definitely our plan B but I think we will try to sell it in the Autumn first; no harm in a second attempt!

I think pre Covid the numbers of aged 30 something people leaving London was at a record high in part due to high housing costs.

@shesaidshesleavingonasunday Please don’t feel so discouraged. I really sympathise with you. We bought just before Covid as FTB. A lot of our friends are in the same position, on the cusp of offering (in London) and then Covid happened. What have they done? They’ve “gone home” to live with parents in Somerset, Leicester, Herts etc. As many landlords let them out of their contracts (not sure if they were lucky or if this is a wider trend). They are all using this saving to add to deposit and are planning to buy in London when they return. It’s just tough right now with the higher lending criteria, and the stamp duty bonus is not such an incentive for FTB right now as they’re already getting 0 Stamp duty up to £300K.

I think Lewisham is probably facing this quite a lot as to me, Lewisham screams “work in Canart Wharf”, so a lot of people like my friends aren’t physically there now, but they will be back. None of my friends have said they would live outside London permanently right now having done it for 6 months (anecdata). I understand some people don’t know why you would live in London when you can work remotely, but London has so much more to offer than convenient to work. I for one, would hate to live in commuter belt where there’s a Zizzi, an Indian restaurant, a pub and a chippy And that’s your Saturday night. There are so many more like me. Please have faith, it might take a bit longer than anticipated but you will find your buyer - you only need one

lurker101

Thanks so much for your post

I for one, would hate to live in commuter belt where there’s a Zizzi, an Indian restaurant, a pub and a chippy And that’s your Saturday night.

Ha I wouldn't like to live in a place like that but to be fair I wouldn't what to spend my Saturday night in Hither Green either (sorry OP).

Ha I wouldn't like to live in a place like that but to be fair I wouldn't what to spend my Saturday night in Hither Green either (sorry OP).

I'm not offended by that, I don't tend to spend my Saturday nights here either - I go into London.

We have some lovely little pubs and cafes here, however.

@rollybokly I’ve not been to Hither Green, so can’t comment, but my point was living in London gives you much easier access (even if it’s just in your head) to a night out in Soho or Shoreditch etc. We can spend the same amount of time on a bus to get there as we would have spent going from where we used to live to the next large town over. This is what makes me think so many young people will be back to buy in London. I think young people want to be close to “life” and “action” and to me living in Zone 2/3 (jumping in a cab or getting tube/bus for 20 mins) is more likely to provide that than buying a bigger place in a commuter town (which for a lot of people would be the alternative) which involves a train and then tube/bus to central.

I have to admit, I do love the odd weekend break in the country but the lack of restaurants would put me off. I know there are some lovely pubs but I get a bit bored of pub food.

Sorry by commuter belt I assumed you meant outer zones. Which tbh often are just a fast on a train into central London as my zone 2 tube is. However I don't tend to go into central London too much anymore & happily spend my Saturday nights on my local high street because it is very buzzy & zero travel which is my ideal & hence why I put up with a smaller home/garden.

Personally I think FTBs nowadays particularly in London need to think really carefully about what & where they buy. Unless you are getting on the ladder at 25 & are positive you don't want children it's very hard to make much profit (accounting for stamp duty) if there for a short time & for most moves up the ladder require wage increases & equity.

Where are you moving to OP?

Where are you moving to OP?

Bristol, to be near my sister who is ill.

I sold a house in Lewisham in 2018. It took nine months to find a buyer and I had to keep dropping the price. That was Brexit having a very negative effect on the market. Luckily for me I was downsizing so could afford to drop the price. Prices have risen since as they always do in London.
This year with lockdown and now the stamp duty holiday is far from normal and your flat will sell but just take longer than usual. Hither Green is becoming a popular area. Good luck.

I think Covid has made people romanticise the country slightly (I say this as a country bumpkin but an ex city girl) as the weather has been lovely and they've lots of time WFH /furloughed so lots of people are thinking they want to move out of the city. A vast majority will realise that it's not all it's cracked up to be! The lovely walks and outside time is a lot different in the winter months. I would think London will be revitalised come the Autumn/Winter and many people will be itching to buy back in the city again.

Our estate agent said the market has frozen in the last 2/3 weeks slightly as a lot of people are coming off furlough soon and are potentially worried about employment so are holding off buying until they are feeling more stable.

I hope you sell quickly once it's back on

It is shit isn't it. How has renting your flat out been for you? That will definitely be our plan B but it does really worry me.

I’ve never regretted it as we moved where we wanted to move but I don’t enjoy being a landlord and I’d rather not be one. I’d still do it again in a heartbeat though as I love where we live now.

It's also August @unicornpower and a lot of people are on holiday.

I agree though that 20-somethings will be back to the market to buy these small flats when this horrible period of uncertainty is over. With the pandemic still ongoing, jobs hard to come by, recession looming, many young people stuck at home with their families, winter threatening a second wave and more lockdowns, I wouldn't have thought that many FTBs are eager to make a huge financial commitment and move into a small, city flat. Right now, no one knows what's going to happen in the next six months and don't forget we've quite possibly got a no-deal Brexit happening on 31st Dec, just to add insult to injury.

I'm sorry to hear your sister is ill. I love Bristol & we are considering moving there. I think places like Bristol are great alternatives as they can be like living in Z1 but without as hefty prices.

Not just London. We are in the same situation on the south coast. Houses have started to slow as well here. Our agent put it down to the holidays and heat wave at first (as he had reduced viewings on all properties) but I am not so sure now.

The stamp duty holiday doesn't really help us as it was always a FTB flat so they wouldn't have paid duty anyway.

We can't afford to move on with less than it is marketed for. We do not want to be landlords either. So stuck.

I think we will whack it back on in mid September and see what happens

Surely the millions of people in outer London and the commuter belt can’t get better than Indian or pizza on Saturday night

The ignorance beggars belief.

Surely the millions of people in outer London and the commuter belt can’t get better than Indian or pizza on Saturday night

I'm only basing this on my experience of staying with friends who live in those places.

There simply isn't the variety of food you get in cities in commuter belts or the surrounding countryside. It isn't criticism, just a fact.

We're in that position I'm afraid. It's a one bedroom flat in E3 and pre lockdown we had a full asking price offer after the very first viewing. The buyer pulled out in July when the bank really undervalued it due to C-19 and since then we've not had many viewings and no new offers (even with a price drop).

We made the decision on Friday to just change the mortgage to a consent to let until we can sell it down the line, and just buy the house we bid on without selling this one first. I'm aware we're fortunate enough to do that though...

There simply isn't the variety of food you get in cities in commuter belts or the surrounding countryside. It isn't criticism, just a fact.

Depends upon the area surely excluding countryside. South Croydon has probably a lot more eating out options then Hither Green. Other outer areas you would have to travel for more options just like you would need to from some inner areas.

South Croydon has probably a lot more eating out options then Hither Green

Personally, I wouldn't consider South Croydon part of the commuter belt. I would consider that London.

Since the stamp duty announcement, my development in SE London has been flooded with flats for sale. Everyone is trying to move.

It's zone 5 tbf & plenty of people I know from there say they live in Surrey 😆

What do you class as the commuter belt? I think of zones 5-6

I've not been to Hither Green for a few yrs, does it have lots of restaurants? I remember a fairly small high street with a couple of cafes & one big pub that was nice.