Average service charge for London flat? HELP!

[Lilylo]

Hi all, I am curios about what a "normal" service charge for a new build London flat is.

I am about to move into a new build flat in a compound with several facilities/ amenities and I am getting a bit concerned about how hefty the service charge is potentially going to be.

Anyone with experience in this? Opinions?

Many thanks for your help!!

Well, in that case all is well, no? Your £1,000 will cover everything, but PIL unfortunately won't get much rent at all left over, it really will be quite "peppercorn". So you actually have a pretty good deal of a London flat, plus gym/sauna/swimming pool etc etc for £500 pp pcm? Sounds lovely to me!

This makes me wish PILs decided to purchase a normal flat in a normal building instead of going all fancy...

Average for new builds is £2777 apparently. OP's development sounds like it'll be at the higher end though.

www.theguardian.com/money/2016/mar/09/service-charges-soar-to-average-2777-per-year-for-new-build-flats

Shite- is that one of the Audley complexes?

Given that you're talking service charges have you factored in ground rent too? It's generally not that expensive, but you'll want to take it into consideration with your monthly commitments.

Are you moving to the new "Embassy Quarter"?

SwearyGodmother

Shit, how much is ground rent supposed to be? I feel really clueless

No I am not moving to the Embassy Quarter, I am moving to a development called London City Island.

It's not much in my experience - ours is £400 per year, but it is one of the costs of flat living. Don't panic, it'll be fine, it really will. Just find out all the costs and work out what you can afford with the ILs before you move in.

Squirrels is right - £1K / month will cover everything, but there won't be much left over to pay PiL your "rent". You'll effectively be living almost rent-free in a very swanky property - lucky you!

I would worry though, that as it's clearly an investment for PiL, that if and when they decide to sell you will find it impossible to rent an equivalent property for the same money. Are you going to be able to save for a deposit while living there?

London City Island

Also known as Canning

JillyTheDependableBoot

Even though the place was originally bought as an investment (it was purchased before we moved to London!), I think now PILs decided that it will be our (DH's and mine) family place.That is why they decided to put DH's name in the deeds, so that when the time comes it will be easier for him to inherit the place without paying crazy taxes, while other properties will go to his siblings. That means that that particular place is already meant to be his, when the time comes.

And honestly there is no way we would be able to afford a London property in the foreseeable future, even though we do save quite a lot of our income. London properties are just so unaffordable!

I think we would just move out of London if DH's family did not have property here.

Laurie Yeah the area is not great at the moment, but the development looks really nice and supposedly the whole area is undergoing major regeneration so perhaps in a few years it will be better (?).

Honestly, that is not the type of property and area I would have personally bought. But hey, it wasn't my call!

It looks lovely! I'm well jel

Huge service charges though

Thank you Laurie!

Still worried about such a hefty fee though... I hope it does not get any pricier!! I understand that we'll get a lot of facilities that will have to be maintained, but £4000 a year really is a lot of money. Especially if you consider there are 1700 households in the development that will contribute towards it maintenance!!

That is a lot of households. Our one at £8,500 is expensive sure, but there's only 18 apartments in comparison

South London, 3 bed flat, new build, 5mins from tube station, communal gardens and children's park.

Service charge is £1200 per annum, block charge is about £300 per annum and ground rent is £200 per annum