Please give your opinions on why we have not had any viewings on our flat? Listing included

[househelp2025]

Hi there,

We are trying to sell our flat and have not had a single viewing. I know that this is typically either due to the price a property is listed at or something to do with the way it has been marketed.

I would be enormously grateful for any feedback on the listing and what (if anything) might deter you from booking a viewing?

It is a long lease - just shy of 999 years, and has a designated parking space in a private secure car park under the flat.

Is it the photos? Is the price too high? Something else?

Thanks in advance!

Flat listing

It’s hardly London.

I don’t like new build or leasehold. Don’t know the area, so can’t comment on price.

So the Service Charge alone, is £600 per quarter? That's what the issue is. Unless you have Right to Manage, that's uncapped and it will continue escalating. With a concierge and a gym on site, those facilities will heamorrage money from your service charges. And if your GR rises ( doubles) periodically, this will seriously put off buyers.

Doesnt seem to have much storage space either.

I read somewhere recently that there has been a big slump in the number of flats being sold. Maybe it’s something to do with that?

The living room / kitchen combo would be a definite deal breaker for me. The view from the balcony is grim too, BUT not a deal breaker.

But I'd never bother viewing a living room/kitchen layout property.

Hi
probably the high service charge. Flats are often difficult to sell due to this factor.

If you live in a house and you have a council who comes and maintains your front and back gardens, vacuums your hallways, replaces your roof etc then please lmk where you live as it sounds like heaven!

In seriousness I manage a leasehold block with other residents so I know what I'm talking about and the costs that we service via service charge are absolutely not things a council should do. They are to maintain and repair our private property. From trimming hedges to cleaning communal areas, fixing leaks and also things like installing, servicing maintaining communal fire safety services (which can be complex), plus building up a sinking find for major works (although you'd hope there wouldn't be too many of those on a new build, if a lift breaks or there's a problem with a roof etc it gets expensive very fast).

They say that as a homeowner you should expect to spend 1% of the market value of your property a year on maintenance, so a £300k property owner should be setting aside £3k a year for maintenance (eg a new roof every 20 years) if they own outright. When you own a leasehold, or commonhold, a lot of that maintainance will be covered by your service charge, so it isn't as much of an incremental cost as you might think.

The photographs are terrible, looks like they’ve been taken on an iPhone. You need better wide angle and brighter photos. The listing needs to mention the service charge also.

Concrete view. Flat. Tiny. Price

Flats nearly always are leasehold, NoBots, and new builds are fine for young people who not have th time, or want, to do a place up. It's nice to move into somewhere and just live there when you are young, you can make it your own with your possessions and in a couple of years there will be things that go wrong and need fixing but not as much as a house with garden. It is a smart, young flat and just right for the right couple or person.

I have to say I'd have loved somewhere like that when I first married rather than the two bed 1930s terraced house we bought that needed endless modernisation and maintenance. Our lives would have been so much easier for a while, before starting a family.

The service charge takes care of building maintenance and insurance, often water rates, cleaning of common parts, lift, external area, all sorts,

It's a suitable home for someone who fits it but not a forever home.

Is there really only one tree in the car park, which looks like it's been hit by a car? And one bench across from it to look at the sad tree? :( The current standard is more trees, some grass, shrubs, planters. I bet they showed more planting on the architects' impressions in the sales brochure.

While it's not within your remit, if I lived there I'd push your landlord to improve the greenery for everyone's wellbeing - or take up guerilla gardening.

For me it comes across as a commuter crash pad for 2 people spending most of their time in London.

The bedrooms look like double beds have been squeezed into single rooms. It might be better if you show one of the beds against a wall to demonstrate there are options for layouts rather than it's so narrow you can only shoehorn a double bed in by putting it against the window.

The view from the balcony is bleak and very overlooked. I would feel very exposed on the balcony and wouldn't use it so that would be off-putting.

The service charge would be very problematic. Does anyone use the communal lounge? The gym? If they aren't used that makes the charge less justifiable for a prospective buyer. If the gym is used, when is it busy? If the only time you can get in there is 10am weekdays, then people working in London are not going to get any use out it. If the communal lounge is used as a meeting place for drinks, or book clubs or whatever I'd get the EA to mention it in the description. It might not appeal to everyone but would make the service charge better value for money.

As a pp said it might do better as a rental property.

The view over the balcony and the fact that it’s Leasehold. When I was selling my Freehold flat last year the estate agent said people are becoming less and less keen to buy Leasehold properties particularly if they include service charges. The annual service charge and ground rent add close to an additional £2500 a year on top of the mortgage repayments. This would be off putting for a great deal of people.

I agree with PP the price is off putting.

If you don’t want to drop the price yet, having the photos retaken on a brighter day might help.

Agree bathroom lack of windows, nothing you can do about that though or some of the other issues (outside aspect and view).

Also, your agent plays a large part in this. You’re paying them to find a buyer for your property. Sounds like yours is lazy - missing details on the advert, underwhelming photos…. did you go for one of the cheaper agents that is just sat on your property and not actively finding and sending buyers to view?

DP is selling his property. We had several agents round and there was a marked difference in their attitudes, the packages they offer and of course their price. We actually went for the most expensive because they really were on the ball, offered a good package, proactive in finding buyers and matching them to potential properties, and also didn’t tie you in for 12 weeks, you can walk away whenever. So it’s in their interest to get people through the door and get that property sold!

As it happens I bought my current house from this same agent 9 years ago - as a result of one of their staff proactively showing me this house, I’d not even seen it advertised!

Is there no mirror in the first bathroom? Is that why there’s a tiny little mirror on the ledge? If so I’d fix that as well. Install a nice mirror over the sink and make sure it’s in the new pictures.

If you don’t people will just think of it as another thing they would have to do as soon as they move in.

The house I currently live in was advertised as offers over. I offered the price advertised £210k (2013). I was told it was offers over by the agency, I told them that was our offer, in cash. From viewing to making an offer and having it accepted took 45 minutes. I personally hate offers over, or priced between say 250k - 275, far too hit and miss. I prefer “offers around”, it’s more user friendly to me, gives a little more flexibility, 🤗

Why would you bother? You’d take a mirror with you and viewers know that.

The problem is London flats have stagnated so people could buy in parts of London for the same price or not much more. General affordability, £200 on top of a mortgage is pretty hefty. I also read FTBs are prioritising houses over flats. It's a tough market OP.

No?
what council tax covers cleaning inside the building, or gardening for my garden or repairs to the roof?

I think parts of it are lovely. Three things would put me off: 1) the view from the balcony / lack of privacy when sitting there. I’d put a privacy screen over it. B&Q do a 3m roll of a wicker one for £50. 2) The flats opposite seem to look right into the bedroom window. I’d put a very light privacy gauze curtain on a pole to hide that but retain light. 3) the bed headboards obstruct the windows. This makes the rooms look like they are tiny and that beds don’t fit properly in them. You need beds with a lower height or to change their positions in the room entirely.

It’s the photos in my opinion. They make the flat look small and dingy. You say it is bright inside and from the measurements, it isn’t poky at all!

Don’t worry about the bathrooms or the open kitchen, those are normal and not deal breakers in flats like this. Same for view and being overlooked, people want to live in flats like this for convenience not views. spell out that it is deeded parking, that is important. The rest is bad pics/staging. Rearrange and take new pics hopefully on a brighter day. The two sofas make the room look smaller IMO as does the way the table is set up. The rug is also too small. The tv in one of the bedrooms with the wire and the plastic shelving looks like student accommodation. Definitely plants and something to brighten the kitchen. The small changes can make a huge difference. Also show the laundry and the hallway/storage. Good luck!

It’s tiny, soulless and depressing.

You could buy a 4 bed detached house with a garden for that price where I live.