SoF first (top) floor flat - what do I need to know?

[Innishh]

Trying to support a young relative buy a property. Seen a SoF 1st (top) floor flat. It needs totally gutting - what should they be looking out for? What docs do they need - are there management committee docs they can request? Can you find out how many are owner occupied vs tenanted - does even that matter?

It’s definitely important to find out how it’s managed (self managed or management company), see what maintenance/repairs have been done, if there’s a sinking fund, planned work etc

Being in the top floor flat, you also need to look out for problems with the roof.

Thanks JoJo - are all of these things that you can ask the EA to provide? Are you looking for monthly/quarterly meeting minutes or some sort of annual report? Is this reviewed by solicitor during the contracts process or should you review this yourself prior to an offer going in?

Not sure how much you’ll get pre offer but the agent should be able to speak to the vendor to find out who manages the property and general costs, some works done or due etc. Post-offer, the solicitor will go into details. If I was buying, I’d be looking through everything carefully as it’s easy to get burned.

Check the lease length. Solicitors will probably tell you it doesn't matter - EA probably will too but the existing owner has a better relationship with the other freeholders so it might be worth extending the lease now. People forget that you are still a leaseholder when buying SoF.