Please help me with this property

[Minimini0001]

Hi, I’m a ftb and considering purchasing this place. It’s located in the beautiful greenery place in zone 2 with a super Tesco right in front of it. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/162504083
with some misinformation, I had to ask some clarifications

1. Service charge £36,000 / Ground rent £600 (no steep increase) with underground parking
2. EPC D - monthly energy bill is around £250
3. No dishwasher / need some renovation work to be done in the kitchen
4. Ground floor looking at a part of a rubbish area
5. but also with an easy access to a communal garden.

should I go for this option? Or did I miss something? What would you suggest? How much should I offer? I like this place but high running costs are my biggest concern.
Thanks in advance

On a flat that price, the service charge is insanity.

Updated: oh, I see it's £3.4k not £36k. What do you get for it?

Think you’ve got the service charge wrong OP it says £3,400 on the details not £36k

Not a chance in hell.

You can tell they have been making it look bigger by how they take the photos. On one the glass top table looks really long, but a lot smaller at a different angle. The bath looks odd too.

'One of the perks of ground floor living here is direct access to a beautifully maintained communal decked terrace with BBQ and sun loungers,'

is the possibility of having all your neighbours from higher floors sitting on sun loungers / having bbq's right outside YOUR windows a ' perk ' ?!!!

At half a million pounds I would expect that area to be private...

Over £550 a month on top of your mortgage plus council tax and water is a lot. I have family that live close to that area and I wouldn't want to live there but I'm not buying the flat so it doesn't matter what other people think really OP. If you have the salary that can afford it and love it, then go for it.

I'd never buy a ground floor flat.

I would not want to live opposite a Tesco.

I don't like that you have to walk through a bathroom to get to one of the bedrooms.

No idea how they get £250pm utilities. My gas and electric in a three bed terrace is vever over £120pm even in winter, it's currently more like £50pm.

I think you could find better for that money.

Why is the lounge furniture in the kitchen?

Where does it sit when it comes to flood plains and future flood risk? The flat itself might not flood, but it might get somewhat cut off should the worst happen.

For a flat in zone 2 the price and size is decent. I would think carefully about the atmosphere, privacy and safety - none of which I can tell from seeing it online. Who else is using the outside space and what are the implications for your privacy? How safe is the walk from tube? How does the gated development feel? Who is the management agency and is there a residents’ committee?

will you need to redo the kitchen completely or just take out a cupboard and put in a dishwasher? I would certainly factor in those costs and knock them off the asking price.

but if the answers are mostly positive then I see a lovely flat with lots of potential! Good luck!

Ah yeah I got it wrong. The vendor said it’s £3,600 for the service charge only and another £600 for ground rent. I think they wrote slightly lower on purpose but it is £4,200.

The energy price per month seems absurdly high for a flat with other flats around it. It’s considerably higher than our six bed semi costs to heat and we have it on all the time!

Have you been and looked round? I would suggest taking someone with yiu. Thet can be the second pair of eyes. Personally a Resco Superstore opposite would not feel like a perk to.me. I would be thinking about the noise, neon lights and traffic

Half a million is a lot of money to sit looking at a fridge freezer.

All your neighbours will be smoking, cooking burgers and playing music outside your windows all summer.

Does the river smell?
Anything that falls from the terrace is lost forever.

It's overpriced imo

I wouldn’t want to live in a ground floor flat anyway but deffo not outside a communal area

Ah that’s good advice! Thanks!

That was my concern too but there is an enough distance betweenand the rubbish container in the middle which helps to keep privacy.
Also the way to get to the communal garden is not easy for other flats due to the direction of the main gates of the buildings so the ea emphasised the communal area is almost used by only current vendors.
but yes if there is parties or events, I wouldn’t feel comfortable

"the rubbish container"? That sounds unsightly, what and where is it?

EAs, by the way, will have no idea who uses the outdoor space, that's a line they're spinning.

A ground floor flat with a communal area directly outside is not a perk when your neighbours are having a barbecue and you want to work/sleep.

I wouldn't like a flat where I can only access the main bedroom through the ensuite (and there's no door between bedroom and bathroom).

Is there development taking place over the river? Lots of noise from that if so. Mortgage lenders get twitchy about leases less than 100 years. Not necessarily a problem for you, but what about when you try to sell?

I wouldn't touch a leasehold ever. Not even a shared one.

I actually used to live round the corner from there (a good 15 years ago, though!) And if it's near the big Tesco, it's also near the very very busy road. How close is it, and can you hear it?

Is that giant mirror hiding the en-suite shower? The layout of the main bedroom and access through the bathroom/corridor is bizarre.