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Original poster

Should I sell my London flat at a loss or wait it out?

68 replies

ShimmyingThroughTheChaos · 08/08/2023 17:22

I've just received an offer on my flat in Zone 4 in London for £255,000. I bought the flat for £275,000 in 2016. It's 5 mins from a train station, 15 min journey to London Bridge and about 10min car journey to "nice" places like Blackheath and Greenwich. It's a very large split-level ex council property with 88 years on the lease.
It's in decent condition and we have received very favourable feedback from viewers on the condition and the amount of space, but only one offer so far (this one). However I am aware of the lease length issue, plus there's the fact that flats are now less desirable than they used to be post COVID and the cladding scandal (even though we don't have cladding , but I think it has spooked would-be buyers of flats across the board).
I'm leaning towards just taking the hit and moving on with our lives but DH thinks I'm being too pessimistic.
For context we are selling because our family has grown and the flat is just too crowded for all of us. We are looking to upsize in our (perfectly nice but unfashionable) suburb, and we can still afford to do this even if we take a hit on the sale price of the flat....
Please help!

OP posts:
sunshinesupermum · 14/08/2023 11:25

With only 88 years on the lease your buyer may ind it difficult to get a mortgage. In your position unless you can extend the lease (which takes time and costs 000's)

I'd take the offer now and not hang around, even if the Government does change things for leaseholders in the King's Speech it will take time to filter down.

DanceWithTheBigBoysAgain · 14/08/2023 12:16

In other circumstances I'd say that it's worth holding on for leasehold reform, which could be transformative, but given the state of the country and the government I honestly don't hold out much hope of any government getting anything constructive done in the next two or three years, and you definitely can't afford to wait that long, so I think you're wise to cut your losses.

CrashyTime · 10/11/2023 13:38

DanceWithTheBigBoysAgain · 14/08/2023 12:16

In other circumstances I'd say that it's worth holding on for leasehold reform, which could be transformative, but given the state of the country and the government I honestly don't hold out much hope of any government getting anything constructive done in the next two or three years, and you definitely can't afford to wait that long, so I think you're wise to cut your losses.

Good advice.

DoodleDoo37 · 10/11/2023 19:16

ShimmyingThroughTheChaos · 08/08/2023 17:28

We've been on the market since May and have found a house that we should still be able to afford that I think could be The One... If an offer is accepted. There seem to be no shortage of suitable houses coming up at competitive prices in the local area

See how much it would cost you to upgrade your lease by 90 years as were you to stay you would need to do thag anyway and taking that into account will reduce your loss. What mortgage rate do you currently have and is that portable - if it's low and portable - then better moving now as otherwise when you do come to move you could be hit by higher mortgage rates also. Can you get any potential asking price down?

DoodleDoo37 · 10/11/2023 19:22

GasPanic · 09/08/2023 10:47

Probably the right decision.

In CPI terms £275K in 2015 is worth £360K now. Add on the 25K loss, plus 6K for the lease extension plus any other maintainence/improvement charges and you are over 100K down.

Of course you have what it would cost to rent a similar place, minus the mortgage charges to factor in.

But overall it looks like a millstone to me. Better off moving to a freehold property that fits your lifestyle better and holds its value - making sure that the mortgage is affordable of course.

I think without a big increase in salary, a lot of people are going to end up trapped in starter flats and never be able to make the move up to another property.

That's not how you calculate house prices btw - they went crazy during lockdown and the cpi was quite low. You have to take into account location - condition - sq footage etc - you cannot say the OP is £100k down. Only the interest portion of the mortgage counts the rest is capital repayment and up to recently mortgage rates were dreamy and renting was way more expensive - so she could actually be up on the deal versus renting for the same period.

Palmasailor · 10/11/2023 19:25

88 years is getting tight, it will be expensive to extend and it isn’t going to get better out there anytime soon.

Id be pragmatic and take it and move on with your life.

TheCurtainQueen · 10/11/2023 19:29

Your husbands mental health problems won’t be solved by moving house.

The lease is very short. You can start the process of extending it now and the person who buys it can complete the process. The problem is, you can’t extend a lease until you have lived in the property for 2(?) years, but if you get the ball rolling that will remove that obstacle.

Potofteaplease · 10/11/2023 19:33

ShimmyingThroughTheChaos · 08/08/2023 17:22

I've just received an offer on my flat in Zone 4 in London for £255,000. I bought the flat for £275,000 in 2016. It's 5 mins from a train station, 15 min journey to London Bridge and about 10min car journey to "nice" places like Blackheath and Greenwich. It's a very large split-level ex council property with 88 years on the lease.
It's in decent condition and we have received very favourable feedback from viewers on the condition and the amount of space, but only one offer so far (this one). However I am aware of the lease length issue, plus there's the fact that flats are now less desirable than they used to be post COVID and the cladding scandal (even though we don't have cladding , but I think it has spooked would-be buyers of flats across the board).
I'm leaning towards just taking the hit and moving on with our lives but DH thinks I'm being too pessimistic.
For context we are selling because our family has grown and the flat is just too crowded for all of us. We are looking to upsize in our (perfectly nice but unfashionable) suburb, and we can still afford to do this even if we take a hit on the sale price of the flat....
Please help!

Even if you take a big on your flat, presumably you’ll get the benefit of a reduced price on the house you’re buying and in fact will effectively get a bigger “discount “ ( assuming the house you buy is bigger/more expensive
The longer you stay in your flat the more important it will be to extend your lease which could be £5000-6000

Potofteaplease · 10/11/2023 19:33

*hit not big!!

Jeannie88 · 10/11/2023 19:40

Gut feeling, negotiate price up a bit if you can, sounds like you need to move ASAP and can afford to take the loss. Not ideal I know but with the shorter lease and other factors you have described unfortunately it's not been good with offers since May. X

JulesJules · 10/11/2023 20:19

This thread is 3 months old

Potofteaplease · 10/11/2023 23:29

JulesJules · 10/11/2023 20:19

This thread is 3 months old

LOL
Well spotted!!

CrashyTime · 14/11/2023 02:23

Potofteaplease · 10/11/2023 19:33

*hit not big!!

Exactly, rates were at near zero in 2016, grab the offer with both hands.

fridaynight1 · 14/11/2023 02:27

Good luck op. You’ve done the right thing.

MariaLuna · 14/11/2023 02:36

if anyone has had experience of being a working mum and having a spouse have a mental breakdown then you will understand

I do, and sending hugs.

Aria999 · 14/11/2023 03:29

I would sell.

You can't know what will happen with the price of flats but it's been dismal for a long time and is partly to do with remote working trends that are likely here to stay.

It could as you say get worse I stead of better and in the meantime you are stuck in a property that doesn't suit you, when you could afford something better.

It's emotionally draining to be in that situation even for a short while, given you have an offer fairly close to the price you paid for it I would cut yourself free.

(We also made a loss on a flat in 2019 and sold another for less than its 2016 valuation in 2022, in both cases by the time we managed to sell i was seriously relieved to be rid of them).

Aria999 · 14/11/2023 03:30

Oops zombie thread. Well done op hope things are going better now!

Rookie23 · 18/11/2023 21:45

I personally wouldn’t sell at a loss except I was desperate for money but as you’re not desperate and can afford to move,
Rent it out for the time being and move on. It’s currently a landlord market so you should find decent renters easily.
Buy the house you intend to as it won’t be on the market forever and be at peace.

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