Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

To ask you all what you think about this property?

81 replies

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 18:57

Would be interested in buying this -

m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/43569518

What are your thoughts on this property?

Thanks very much :)

OP posts:

mselastic · 19/04/2017 20:26

Council tax is £134? Is it really that cheap?

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 20:28

MiniMaxi it's ex-LA, and now privately owned.

OP posts:

anothermalteserplease · 19/04/2017 20:29

It looks like a decent flat for a flat share. Decent sized rooms and great transport links. I'd hope there's not a problem at nighttime though like a pp alluded too

Shadowboy · 19/04/2017 20:30

I like it. It looks fun. That was the feel I got- young and fun. Nice and light too.

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 20:31

Me too anothermalteser - feeling a bit nervous now about what it might be like at night

OP posts:

MiniMaxi · 19/04/2017 20:32

Thanks OP, realised that when I belatedly RTFT

I think it's a good idea to visit at night, the whole area - including walks from the stations you'd use - not just the block. KT is buzzing but also a bit rough around the edges.

I actually have walked behind this block (on Anglers Lane) every weekday for 5 years and not known it was there - had no idea!

SparklyLeprechaun · 19/04/2017 20:37

It's OK, it depends how much money you've got to bring it up to scratch. Things that would put me off:

bathroom is yuk
galley kitchen
can't see any storage space on the floorplan

-sash windows are expensive to replace - they might be in good shape for now though

decor is dated but that's easily fixed

thisismyfirsttime · 19/04/2017 20:41

You need to be very very careful buying in Kentish Town. This is a council estate (your bit might be privately owned but the rest isn't) and it is close enough to Queen's Crescent for the trouble from there to bother you. You also get a lot of the foot traffic late at night from people coming home from Camden, it's noisy and there are fights and rows well into the early hours. I'll assume you're the sibling buying with the poster from the other day as the story is so similar and my suggestion to you would be to come away from the main roads and start looking in the back streets. More towards Bartholomew Rd/ Gaisford St, away from Queen's Crescent and Prince of Wales Rd/ High St.

SuperSheepdog · 19/04/2017 20:47

I like it but not keen on the layout - the living room isn't next to the kitchen. As kitchen and living room are both quite small, even for a flat, it's a shame they aren't adjacent to each other then you could knock through and have a bigger kitchen/diner/living room all in one.

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 21:05

thisis yes, I am her sibling. That's a really good idea about looking in the other streets instead - thanks :) Sparkly there's a storage cupboard at one end of the hallway. To be honest, I am nervous about the fact that it's a council estate.

OP posts:

IsadoraQuagmire · 19/04/2017 22:01

I wouldn't live in a council estate either, but I should think 3 bedroom flats in Bartholomew Road are more expensive, it's much nicer than Prince of Wales Road.

hiddenwhale · 19/04/2017 22:13

I live on a council estate in Hackney and it's quite rough - the one in the OP looks nicer but Camden has issues as well. You have to be careful of the hidden pitfalls with ex-LA properties - bills for major works, risk of redevelopment. I think the building must still be owned by the council as it has the familiar green signs. The building itself is quite old and it doesn't look like the windows are double glazed. If the council ever do decide to install double glazing they will put it in all the homes and just send you a bill. An old block like that probably won't have a lift and it's on the 3rd floor - which is probably fine for most days but a real pain when you want to move in furniture or if you ever have a leg injury or elderly parents visiting...

It's a good, central area though and there's lots of natural light. Personally I think it is better to live centrally in a place like that than live further out even if it would get you a bigger house.

pinkdelight · 19/04/2017 22:15

I was wondering what the catch was and seems it's not the lease or service charge, so not sure what it is! But if there isn't one, I'd snap it up if I were you. Possibly making a cheeky offer tonight start off because, well, why not? Ex-LA in that area wouldn't bother me at all.

There's a property section under homes & gardens btw. Plenty of traffic there.

zoobaby · 19/04/2017 22:18

I'm pretty sure that's council! It has Camden branding and signs all over it.

I already mentioned this fact on your sister's thread... at that end of the road, you can feel the tube trains going through every few minutes. We used to feel them in our 2nd floor office. Seriously.

missjuniper · 19/04/2017 22:18

Queen's Crescent isn't very close to that block and anyway saying 'the trouble from there' makes it sound like a raging riot zone! I've lived 2 minutes away for the past five years and have brought up children quite happily around there, as have many other people. It's rough around the edges but not nearly as bad you imply.

Westfacing · 19/04/2017 22:19

Are you sure the whole block is ex-local authority, and not just some individual flats?

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 22:25

West I think the whole block is ex-local authority. The daughter of the current owner of the block still lives in the flat that I looked around today (she wasn't in the flat at the time though).

I actually was also in Queen's Crescent today. I'd originally planned to look at a flat there, but the tenants weren't in at the time of my appointment, so the estate agent suggested looking at this property instead. I think that Prince of Wales road seems a bit quieter than Queen's Crescent (from what I've seen of both roads so far in the daytime, so around 5:30/6pm).

I've also looked at the prices of flats on surrounding streets, and they seem to be much, much more expensive (at least £700,000).

OP posts:

Westfacing · 19/04/2017 22:30

I've never known a whole block to be sold, seems unusual.

Over the years individual flats would have been bought by the tenants and then many of them come on to the market but I just don't see how one man could own the whole block. And as others have pointed out, it still has LA signage.

smu06set · 19/04/2017 22:32

One thought that occurs - as it is leasehold it may be not be permitted to do an airbnb arrangement for the third room. Worth clarifying before you purchase?

Westfacing · 19/04/2017 22:33

It's an estate agents wheeze to describe a block as 'ex-LA', when they know full well that it's the flat that's ex.

hiddenwhale · 19/04/2017 22:35

Some flats within the block are certainly still owned by the council - this is their choice-based lettings system (although from last year)

camden.homeconnections.org.uk/property-detail/45496-188366

This is some discussion about major works bills - something you really need to watch out for with ex-LA leasehold properties. Camden council wouldn't have been doing those works if they didn't own the freehold.

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 19/04/2017 23:04

Thanks hidden and West - good point about leasehold on flats in a block. I have to admit that I interpreted it as the current owner of the flat owning all of the flats in the block, but I agree that this does seem unlikely.

OP posts:

hopsalong · 19/04/2017 23:10

Good advice from thisismyfirsttime about the area, which is very mixed and changes abruptly from one street to the next. What floor is it on? How much would the noise from the buses bother you? It basically seems like a good value buy to me, but living right on a bus route a couple of years ago nearly drove me mad.

Original poster

Pariswhenitdrizzles · 20/04/2017 00:25

Thanks hops - I think it's either on the third or fourth floor. In all honesty, it did seem to be very quiet when I visited. It's on a side road rather than a main road (the nearest main road is Kentish Town Road, which is the next road along), and it's set back further from the side road in a courtyard-type arrangement.

I'm really curious to find out what it's like at night though. I really like it at the moment, but would be very wary of going any further into the buying process if it was unsafe or dodgy at night. If anyone on here has lived on Prince of Wales road before or nearby, I'd be really interested to know what you think of it at night time.

OP posts:

FeliciaJollygoodfellow · 20/04/2017 01:10

How odd - I was looking at this very flat not two days ago!

I'm not in love with it, but it's near some decent transport links and I liked Kentish Town back in the day.

Note: I have lived in the NW for 15 years but have family from that area so my memory may be slightly off and maybe a bit rose tinted!

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread