Would this be a money pit?

[guineapigslave]

Link. Very representative pics and floorplan.

I love the location, small size of the block and size. Do not love the broken floor, sad single toilet, lack of a second bathroom and unsure about layout (I think the 4th bedroom and hallway is a bit of a waste given small kitchen).

No kids yet and could afford to do a bit of work but not loads and loads. Would ideally like to open up a fireplace, block off the adjoining bedrooms, save the wooden floors, and maybe make a family bathroom (by knocking through). I guess a sink in the loo and some new tiles etc. might suffice for now.

FTB so not sure how much of a headache this would be. Do you think it's worth the effort? Also interested in any other ideas.

How are works done communally? You may not be able to knock down walls. I would not buy a flat ever having owned one when very young due to the communal having to agree on works nature of a flat. Plus there will be stuff like outside must be painted every x years. Obviously if a flat is what is affordable then a flat it is. We had a management company which I ended up being the main voice of, I was just 21.

As above poster suggests, look carefully at the capex plan and service charge projections for the block and at how decisions on spending are made. I’ve lived in a two bed flat in London for twelve years and over that time our service charge has risen from £1500 pa to £6000 per year. It absolutely is a money pit in that respect and we’re now struggling to sell it as a result.

Agree also that it may not be possible to do the sort of structural works you have in mind.

I assume as you are a first time buyer you haven’t done a renovation project? They are soul breaking- just a warning. Especially in flats. You could wait for months for a permission to knock any wall, and in the end you might not be able to.
It’s got a shortish lease too.
Doesn’t say how much service charge is.
The floor in the reception room will be extremely creaky as you can see it’s from the times when they still used nails to secure it in place.

The bathroom is very sad 🥲 but those type
of old flats always only had originally just one bathroom so it’s not unusual. Would you keep this kitchen? It looks very ‘rental flat kitchen’ if you know what I mean.
But the space is big and bright so that’s a bonus.

For that budget perhaps look for a house ( if possible) the only reason I say that is because flats with neighbours in close quarters can be very hard! Perhaps you would like a cat/ but there’s rules, or, perhaps ( like I experienced) there’s a bossy nosey elderly lady who tracks your every move ( I was told off for having a walk in the garden with a cup of tea in nice stylish pjs because apparently I was ‘not dressed’- it’s just a headache these kind of buildings unless you win the neighbour lottery.)

It would be hard to get a house on Foxgrove Road for under 500k. My friend lives just round the corner from this flat, it's a lovely road. I think it's a good space and you could make it lovely but you would need to do a fair bit of work which could get pricey.

I think the lease is ok at 125. But I did buy somewhere with an 86 year lease. We paid 15k to extend it but it was a hassle.

I live very locally. Nice area.
I would worry about doing those sorts of structural works in a flat, and needing permission from the freeholder. If you do go ahead I can recommend a good builder who has just finished a loft conversion for us.

Could you go slightly further out (eg West Wickham or Bromley) and get a house instead?

Thanks all for the advice. Will definitely have a very close look at the lease/service charge. The last place I set my heart on was 6.5k/year (ex council!!!).

Would love to buy a house, but haven't seen anything near this size in a such a good area.

I don't think I'd 100% have to tear down walls to make it nice, so maybe it's better to keep the layout how it is for the most part... maybe the weird adjoining bedroom could become the office/wardrobe spillover rather than faffing around blocking up doors? The kitchen worries me a bit because of the exterior door limiting layout options. Would definitely want to replace eventually as it is indeed identical to many shabby rentals I've lived in, but I think is fairly liveable for a bit.

One option would be to only half move in, and stay in my rental for an extra month or so while big work is going ahead (DP also rents and lives with me 90% of the time, so it would still save a bit of money overall).

Personally I wouldn’t go for it. It’s leasehold with only 125 years left on the lease. There is also a significant amount of work required. Kitchen is OK but for that size of property, I’d expect a better specification.
Budget around 75k-100k for works but chances are unless lease is renewed you would end up in negative equity when you sell.

My friend had a similar place and wasn’t able to do any structural work. Bear in mind materials and labour costs are very high at the moment

The electrics are very poor.

If you are looking around there be aware there are a lot of properties that have suffered subsidence and not all owners are upfront about it. Many years (decades) ago I was in the process of buying a house on that road and ended up stepping away following engineers reports / cameras down drains etc.

What about this terrace house in Beckenham recently reduced for £395,000 at auction?

Or this one https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/65223326/?search_identifier=9cd948041d1aa60880e10834c82599eb99c85242d4f43e1ffc83bcb70a105d55

OP, what is your budget and where do you need to get to for work?

Obviously check service charges etc.

But if buying a house is out of budget, and removing walls is impossible in that block, you could swap the master bedroom and the living/dining room over, and swap bathroom and kitchen over, with the washing machine going into a hived-off corner of the bathroom, so that at least the kitchen & dining are adjacent. You cant eat in the kitchen as it is anyway, so smaller but with washer and storage elsewhere could still work.
I would keep the big entranceway if youre considering having children there, as itll be handy for pram/ pushchair/scooter/ bike/
trombone / shoes, etc.

I dont know the area at all, but the block does look nice and you sound v enthused about it! However, it may well be that this one just isnt the one for you.

PS - so the plumbing all stays on the same wall.

Check the lease as most flats will require consent to alter from the freeholder, even for relatively minor changes. And knocking down walls, you'd need confirmation they are not structural for a start.

We've had 2 flats in our block make fairly expensive alterations to change the layout without consent (one put up a wall to divide a room into two bedrooms, the other installed an ensuite) . Both have had to remove them; one wasn't able to sell his property until he did it, the other couldn't extend the lease until the changes were reversed.