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Original poster

Would you consider this property?

72 replies

carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:45

Pic attached. New block of flats going up the back wall of the block will be against the wall you see here. Top floor will be above the wall, middle floor (which we're looking at) will be mostly below ground at the back. What questions do we need to ask about drainage? Do you think it will mean damp through the walls?
The base you can see is for the underground parking etc.

Would you consider this property?
OP posts:
brocollilover · 05/04/2024 10:47

no. no i wouldn’t consider for a minute

Youdontknowmedoyou · 05/04/2024 10:48

No thank you.

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:49

Why not?

OP posts:
brocollilover · 05/04/2024 10:50

honestly? too many to list!

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:52

@brocollilover not helping! DH is adamant it's the best we'll get, IL's are coming to look at the details this weekend so that is the time for me to ask awkward questions.

OP posts:
LaPalmaLlama · 05/04/2024 10:52

do you have an image of what the final building would look like?

Thelondonone · 05/04/2024 10:53

I wouldn’t as even though it will be tanked, this will eventually fail. It will be dark, presumably bedrooms won’t have windows? However, if it was all I could afford then I would. Have you got a floorplan?

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:53

Supposedly like this

Would you consider this property?
OP posts:
Thelondonone · 05/04/2024 10:55

I think that looks great but a floor plan would help to see which rooms will be dark. It looks much better than I imagined!

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:56

Bedrooms all have a window. Kitchen and bathrooms not.
I wouldn’t as even though it will be tanked, this will eventually fail.
This is my worry. Any idea how long it might take to fail?

OP posts:
brocollilover · 05/04/2024 10:56

carryavan · 05/04/2024 10:52

@brocollilover not helping! DH is adamant it's the best we'll get, IL's are coming to look at the details this weekend so that is the time for me to ask awkward questions.

but you asked would “you” consider

and no.

for many practical reasons but also because it wouldn’t be “the best” i could get

so if it is in your case, then go for it!

geoger · 05/04/2024 10:59

No. It’ll be dark and damp. Any damp proofing and tanking will eventually fail. And image the problems you’ll encounter with the wet weather and erosion.
Looks like something off Grand Designs that runs way over budget, lets the rain in and never gets finished.
No window in the kitchen is a deal breaker
Would the mortgage company even led you the money on such a place?

HarrietJonesFlydaleNorth · 05/04/2024 10:59

I'm not sure I could live without a window in the kitchen. I'd rather the bedroom was on the dark side. But then I seem to spend a lot of time in the kitchen!

MonstrousSnob · 05/04/2024 11:00

no way

it will smell of damp

ThonyDeLaRosa · 05/04/2024 11:06

It'll be dark damp and miserable. I couldn't have a windowless kitchen.

BoudiccaOfSuburbia · 05/04/2024 11:13

Privacy; will their windows look into yours?
Noise: Will sound from their open (or even closed if they are noisy) travel into yours?
Maintenance: how will either property access the walls for damp, any maintenance?
Light: how much will you lose
Noise and filth during construction

Why are the current owners selling… is it due to the above????

Have a look on the council planning portal for any planning objections / conditions pertaining to this development. Did the current owners object? Was there consideration given to rights to light? Etc.

BoudiccaOfSuburbia · 05/04/2024 11:14

Oh sorry…. You are considering one of the new flats, not the property from which the pic is taken?

OldTinHat · 05/04/2024 11:20

I wouldn't either.

I live in a 200yr old cottage that is about a metre below the pavement (where the road has been established and built up over the years). It's tanked, damp proofed and I have a dehumidifier running 24/7. I should have listened to my surveyor and the damp survey people!

Don't buy a property built into a cliff. It won't end well. And can you imagine preparing meals in a kitchen with no window?? That would put me off straight away.

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 11:22

I'm worried about the light. We have the opposite problem at the moment,( too open, no shade) which is why DH thinks it would be perfect.

Would you consider this property?
OP posts:
Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 11:24

And can you imagine preparing meals in a kitchen with no window??
Yes! I've lived in places with no kitchen window before. I do have one at the moment and spend a lot of time staring out of it...

OP posts:
GasPanic · 05/04/2024 11:27

I suppose the issue will be if anything ever goes wrong with the damp proofing it will be an absolute bugger to fix. Maybe that will fall on the freeholder. Maybe they have a chance to recover those costs from the leaseholder.

But if it is done properly then my guess is it will last for many many years.

brocollilover · 05/04/2024 11:28

carryavan · 05/04/2024 11:24

And can you imagine preparing meals in a kitchen with no window??
Yes! I've lived in places with no kitchen window before. I do have one at the moment and spend a lot of time staring out of it...

sounds lovely

a kitchen with no window though sounds bloody awful

Hoppinggreen · 05/04/2024 11:31

I wouldntwant a kitchen or bathrooms with no window so it would be a no from me. Plus it seems to go straight out onto the road which I wouldnt like either

Heronwatcher · 05/04/2024 11:59

I don’t think I’d buy it no. I’d be worried about structural issues, flooding (water running off the high ground and down the walls), and other nuisance from the street above. Is there a whole street of houses on the top of the bank? Once there’s been an issue of subsidence or failed tanking you’d never get insurance again. If you need to do repairs it would be costly and a nightmare to administrate as there are multiple properties who’d all have to agree, and probably a management company too. The fact that they are new build would also worry me as essentially you’d be guinea pigs and you’d be the ones to find out if the retaining wall had worked or not- I might be slightly reassured if it had been up for 10 years without issue. Plus if you’re buying off plan how would you get a reliable structural survey done.

Plus I don’t know where this development is but flats like this have been the ones (generally) to lose most money over the last 10 years, while older stock with a bit more character, bit of a garden etc have held their value more. Is there really nothing better you could go for- even if you have to live with dodgy decor for a few years and do it up? Could you not adjust where you are (too light and bright sounds like a nice problem to have).

Original poster
carryavan · 05/04/2024 13:30

The street goes up in hairpin bends, and the building will be in the bend. Its a residential street directly above and is a dead end so the only traffic will be to access the houses. There was a smaller house there before which has been knocked down (two flats) + garage. I assume, and will definitely check, that if there are issues within the first 5 years it will be the developer who will have to correct.
There is nothing really in our price range that doesn't need a lot of work.
Could you not adjust where you are (too light and bright sounds like a nice problem to have). Not really, again we're in flats. The balcony is a sun trap (50+ degrees in summer. Not a joke) and the neighbours have refused to let us put up shades. We're also quite exposed and worried as the weather gets more and more extreme about the roof.

OP posts: