Would you buy this ex-council flat?

[wordyoutalk]

Thinking about buying a flat (first time buyer). Would like to live centrally but don't want an enormous mortgage. Also want a 'spare' bedroom to rent out if money ever gets tight/lose a job.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142869377#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP, have you actually viewed it?
Why do you think it’s taken so long to sell?
Also, @NewmummyJ surely the Council pays the communal service charge on behalf of their own tenants and the owner occupiers just pay ‘ one share’ ? That’s how it works in my city. If 101 flats in the block you pay 101th of everything.

The central London property market is very slow at the moment. Cambridge Street is lovely. Pimlico is probably my favourite part of London. Ex council can often be a bargain, and better built than modern private blocks.

Really? It’s always seemed a very boring part of central London. By the river but neither Westminster or Victoria are participating nice areas to actually live or just hang out generally. I’d much rather be in Chelsea or Kensington if I was going to live in central London - they’re much nicer which is why they’re much more expensive !

I like the Community feel in Pimlico, perhaps helped by the mix of private and council and the absence of large landowners like you get in Belgravia or Mayfair. There is a Leisure Centre, a good market with butcher and fishmonger, largish Sainsbury’s and some good local restaurants that have been around for ever.

Chelsea is too slick and I can’t afford the shops. Pimlico is more central so relatively easy to walk home from the theatre etc. Westminster to me is dull.

By Pimlico I mean from Victoria Station to the river, including Cambridge Street, not the posh Pimlico Road bit.

Each to their own.

Pimlico is fab, nice and villagey, a real community yet so central - walkable to fun places in any direction - Battersea PS and Park, St James Park, Sloane Sq, Westminster Abbey....etc etc. Good choice. (Much more central and connected for transport than Chelsea!)

And I think we can claim a bit of Pimlico rd because it's so pretty. (Sometimes I even borrow the first half of Elizabeth St at a pinch if I'm feeling posh).

Your pick OP is not a bad choice, but the building is not as pleasant as the Erasmus (or Cureton st) linked up thread.

I lived in an ex council fiat as a leaseholder for about 14 years and was never asked to contribute anything over and above the very low service charge.

I used to live near there- pretty sure that's the Peabody Estate building? Pretty to look at and very central but the area has an underbelly that really needs to be spoken about more. Go and visit it I'd say.

And what 'community' are people referring to? Pimlico/Victoria are commuter central- people travel in and leave again- they don't have time to socialise after work. For those that do live there- The area has a demographic that is very diverse and people stick to their own. Also, beware of the train station being forced to shut down at peak hour due to congestion- argh, the most frustrating wait ever.

Also, beware of the noise- the area comes alive at 4am- I remember having the best sleep of my life once i moved away!

Where is that in the uk? My goodness that's a huge amount of money for ex council flat! Is it London?

"That kind of money debt is beyond most people's wildest dreams nightmares"

Ftfy

It’s good value for a 3 bed in central London but there’s a reason for that. I would worry about noise & annoying neighbours in such a big block and thinking ahead to resale, values don’t increase as much in ex council or part council properties.

It is big though and the service charge not bad for central London & Westminster is a good local council it’s true for relatively low council tax , daily rubbish collection etc. I think it’s because so many politicians own properties in Westminster!

Peabody have never had RTB, have they? So how would they come into private ownership?

You can't assume that purchases = owner occupied. Many of those types of flats in London are investment buys/private rentals.

This is on an estate so absolutely not

It’s Churchill Gardens Estate. Very old estate but nice. Nice area too.

FTB as well! I was shocked

Which station closes ?
I live there- there are lots of communities and it is a pretty friendly place. When the workers go at the weekend it is pretty quiet which is great.
It is diverse- again that is what I love about it.
I have neighbours who have lived here fro 80 years.
No socialising after work- I assume that you have never tried to get a drink in a Pimlico/Victoria pub on a Thursday night! Packed to the rafters everywhere

Daily rubbish and reclining collections- usually Sunday as well
Loads of resident on street parking. 10% congestion charge.
Walking the dog around Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace at 6 am on a summer morning is pretty cool as well.
You do get to see a lot of horses living here.
And never more than a couple of minutes from a police van!
Regency cafe for breakfast.
25 minutes walk to Covent Garden past some of the most iconic building in England.

There is a homeless shelter (which I assume is the underbelly people are referring to- but you get to know them and I have never seen any kind of incident/trouble but you do see drug use in the tube. Sadly I did find someone who I think had passed away near Victoria on an early morning dog walk- luckily the police were 20 secs down the road and I alerted them) Bodies tend to wash up near vauxhall Bridge as well.

A friend lived on that estate and got shafted with a £30,000 bill for “renovations”. They can essentially charge what they like. She said it seemed an endless money pit. And the lift never worked properly. She did like the flat, though!

My first property was an ex-council maisonette which was lovely, nice area, great community feel on the estate etc but the maintenance fees were horrendous. I swore I would never buy leasehold again if at all possible after getting stung with an enormous bill (over 10k) for renovations on the estate. We lost money on the property as the bill was higher than what we made over the few years we were there (we bought and sold at a bad time!) but we moved because we couldn't risk another huge bill! Especially as the paperwork we got prior to sale said that the maintenance bills which came every 5 years or so averaged around £1000.

I think @mightymam is talking about the massive Churchill gdn estate on Lupus St which, tbf, I wouldn't choose to live in. The building op has linked to is in 'the grid', on Cambridge St.

I don't know what 'comes alive' at 4am but I have never heard it, or indeed been invited, so maybe there is another community I am not part of.

I'm not sure which station closes? Not Pimlico. Do you mean Oxford Circus? (Which is a handy 3 stops away from Pim)

Any major works are notified well in advance (3 plus years in our case)
The process of tendering is very transparent (unlike a private management company)
You get to pay over 5 years if it is owner occupied (ie not let out)
They advise you of any pending works when you buy through the management pack.

I like the flat and the area.
With costs you'll need to factor in £250 per month (and increasing) service charge. Plus contributions to sinking fund for repairs as pp's have mentioned (which could be £10,000's). How long is the lease? If it's short, then you may struggle to get a mortgage/have to pay out for an extension.

It's a nice spacious flat.

All flats have serivce charges and contributions to maintenance. The difference with ex coucil is thet don't have sinking finds like many private blocks so you can get more levies. Also you are beholden to the wider council works schedules and their contractors which means there is little control over when things happen - compared with my private block where we are sitting down next week to decide which how to schedule external works.