Cannot get rid of this one bed flat in 2022/23!!

[Littlewiseone]

Quick summary and longish post:
Living in a one bed, GF flat with partner and 16 month old. Been here since I moved in while six months pregnant with the view we would move out to a house asap. We met just before lockdown so things moved quickly. Fast forward to 2023 and we cannot seem to get this flipping flat sold!! Am at end of tether, we both are.

-situated in London, not far from Essex
-Ground floor with lovely garden
-leasehold (Freehold is the local Council)
-90 years left on the lease and had started the process of paying to extend this through the council to make it more attractive to buyers.
-good sized flat and well maintained with a new £8k kitchen installed in 2017. Lovely.
-okay area - not the best unfortunately but like everywhere in London, you go half a mile down the road and to £1m houses for sale.

Since December 2021, we have had THREE offers on the flat accepted. They all fell through, through no "fault" of ours. We are currently on the fourth buyer and suspect it's game over too, as of today.

-First one ghosted us as the sale went on too long. The top seller gazumped their buyer, so we all suffered. But for months and months, we thought it was all going ahead.
-second buyer a housing association. Pulled out after 8 weeks due to lease length. We did everything we could as mentioned above but in the end it didn't work for them. Why didn't they check this earlier!!
-third buyer non committal. Wanted 20k off the property weeks after accepting it.
This is due to the fact that major works were carried out on the block in 2022. Scaffolding up for MONTHS, work could have been done in weeks. Don't get me started on that. The major works bill for my partner's flat is 10k. Can you imagine? You buy the cheapest flat going to get ahead, and the council send bill after bill for works they just have to do all of a sudden after 35 years of nothing.
As it stands we are going to pay the charges ourselves, rather than a new buyer taking those on. It's not a good sell. I get that. But we won't actually benefit from the work.
Third buyer pulled out.
-Fourth buyer, offered two weeks ago and we accepted. Should have know it was a no go as our (new!) Estate Agent really had to hunt her down to get that offer. Again, non-committal and has not appointed a broker or a solicitor yet and never answers the phone. Hasn't officially said she is pulling out but we have been here before.......

I cannot put into words how INSANE we feel about the whole thing. We stayed with our firsr estate agent for three rounds. We had to move to a new one as it was just so diabolical in the end.
We have also lost four houses now. Our potential fourth in Chelmsford where we really really want to live. As I said, fourth is not officially a no go but I am 100% prepared.

What I would like specific feedback on:

-similar experiences in the past 2-3 years and outcomes
-advice on how to sell a leasehold - can we be doing anything differently? Are there any loopholes you know about to help sell a leasehold or make it more attractive?
-why do you think so people make offers, then don't even have the manners to send a quick email to say "I'm out". I don't get it.
-any other words of wisdom or comfort most welcome. I'm really feeling so incredibly low today. We just cannot get out of this awful cycle!

Thank you x

To be brutally honest, the combination of a 90 year lease plus impending major works is going to deter a LOT of buyers. You need to get the lease extension sorted out asap. It's good (for buyers) that you'll cover the major works cost but it may make buyers nervous that there will be more significant costs like that to come.

I assume these major works mean there's no sinking fund left so no provision for future major works? How much is ground rent and your service charge? These are all things buyers will be thinking (or should be!) and it may explain why they suddenly back out (or drop their offer) if they haven't fully thought through the financial implications. You need to be able to explain the major works to buyers and reassure them that it means they'll end up with a flat in a well maintained building (assuming it is after the works are complete).

Have you looked at nearby properties to check your pricing is realistic given the complications with your flat?

If you feel brave, you could post a link here for feedback from everyone but I appreciate that you might not feel up to that just yet.

Everything will sell at the right price. You need to accept the market is moving downwards. One big cut in price now will get you a committed buyer. Better than death by a thousand cuts. Been there….don’t slowly chase the market down.

extending the lease is a good idea. 90 years is getting into problematic territory.

Thank you. Yes, we have explained to the last buyer that we would cover all charges. The ground rent is £10 per year and service charge is £70-100 per month, I need to check that.
And agree, the threat of additional charges will put people off.
The Council have decided to do major works, window upgrades and boiler upgrades, and who knows what else of the next number of years. Reference to this is in the management pack for buyers, which we were so pissed off about. A vague reference to non specific charges in the future that could be substantial. Why put that in?? Be specific or the flat will never sell. The council have shafted us too.

Pricing is realistic. My partner is selling it for the same price he bought it for. £205k
But, we may have to drop lower.... We just can't really afford to!

90 years will be a big deal for many in combination with cost of works once it is explained to them, particularly for st time buyers who will know less about property stuff up front. I would really prioritise the lease extension.

More generally do you have the option to sell this without having a chain and buy when completed? Eg living with family for 6 months?

Thank you. I think we are going to need to look at reducing the sale price.
But with taking on £10k of council charges, and several £k for the lease extension, and say £15k off - that's a massive chunk of our deposit gone.

Ps no sink fund!!

You need to get as much as detail as you can about future works. If they're doing the windows and the boilers, what else needs doing that could be a major cost? Roof? Doors? Decorating? Guttering? You need this info to either be able to reassure buyers or realise that actually you're overpriced.

You mention the service charge but that sounds quite low. Is there part of that charge that includes a sinking/reserve fund contribution or no provision is made?

Just because you're selling for what it was bought for doesn't mean it's priced competitively. When did he buy the flat? As the previous poster says, the flat market in London has dropped a lot. I live in E1 and I've lost £100-150k of value off my 1 bed flat since the start of Covid.

Oh dear. That's not good news. Sorry OP.

start with the lease extension. You’re not going to get a serious offer before that’s done.

Can you rent it?

Now it will be the threat/promise of a falling market.

Last time there was a marker crash, flats became impossible to sell because first time buyers could suddenly afford a house.

Get the lease sorted and drop the price, quickly.

Is therr any option of part exchsnge by biying a new build, or getting buy to let and renting out for the longer term assuming prices will drop and take a long time to come back?

Otherwise its lease and price drop

We had a similar situation, although two bed in an east London borough, council freeholder etc. Lease was about 87 years so not too far of yours, we paid to extend it before we put in the market. Cost about £5k but it was worth doing.

Ps on the market in November, offer in February, sale went through beginning of June. Questions about the lease took ages.

Extend the lease or at least start the process
however I would never buy a flat where the council
are the freeholders and bcc would tell anyone else the same

Thank you. The service charge was £80 and went up to £170 over the past couple of years..
Bought the flat for £205k in 2017

If you are selling for the same price as you bought it for that combined with the lease length and major works coming up make it a very unattractive prospect. Rightly or wrongly many people view flats - especially one bedroom ones - as a stepping stone to build up a bit of equity before they upgrade so your flat looks like a bad investment. Is there any way you can move to a buy to let mortgage and rent it out instead?

I agree with @Luana1 . As a buyer looking at your flat its value hasn’t increased in 6 years, you are paying £10k in repairs and who knows what else is to come, it has a short lease left, the service charge has more than doubled in 6 years. It’s practically unsalable.

If you need more space I think all you can do is rent it out and rent something else that fits your needs.

Do you have to sell now OP? Could you let the flat? And get the lease extension sorted out?

Leasehold and the freeholder being the council (worse type) and buy to let investors are running a mile now.

I have a beautiful BTL with very long lease and groundrent but I’d find it hard to sell now. In part, it’s because leasehold reform was promised so raised the profile of the problems, but the govt didn’t deliver the reforms.

really hope you get a buyer.

Get yourself on the National Leasehold Campaign on FB. There is a wealth of info on buying/selling leasehold properties.

@Littlewiseone watch out for major works! we own a GF 3 bed ex council (leasehold) and all the windows in the estate have just been replaced. Ours are costing £28k 😫 and we have no choice in the matter. Will be paying it off for life.

Even without the major works and the lease length, in the current market the flat is probably worth less than the 2017 price. Prices have plummeted for 1 beds in London. Add the major works, plus what sounds like a risk of further works and the lease length, it doesn't look good I'm afraid.

Service charges are rising (since costs are rising) but have you understood why yours has more than doubled? You (or your DP) need to understand what you're paying for and why. Have you reviewed the details? Buyers (at least sensible ones) will look at this so you also need to understand whether the service charges are reasonable or if buyers will consider it a another red flag. There is so much noise these days around leasehold flats and charges that it's important to understand what the costs and implications are. This also matters if you end up staying there!

Thanks all for your feedback and guidance, much appreciated.