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

I have looked at dozens of details for flats recently for my son - different city though - and my immediate thoughts are:

• don't like ground floor flats and that entrance from the communal garden doesn't look particularly secure
• the development appears to be marooned on that spit of land, unless you are always driving, how do you access it? Is it safe to get there at night? How close to public transport?
• the second bedroom has a sliding door to the living room, no-one is going to be getting to sleep in that room if someone else is watching TV in the living area
• not a fan of access to the master bedroom via that open bathroom
• the kitchen cupboards are placed such that you are never "out" of the kitchen because the fridge extends half into the living space, makes the whole room claustrophobic
• apart from the fact that there is some water to look at, the rest of the view is very underwhelming
• communal "garden" is stretching it a bit, when it's all stone and gravel
• BBQ is all well and good but not if you end up being the only flat who cleans it! It's an odd and not particularly useful amenity to add in my opinion

Can't comment on the price or service charges as I'm not familiar with the area. service charges seem in line with flats I have looked at. The lease at 104 years is just about acceptable but if you sell in 5 years it is under three digits which is not attractive.

Newham is a dump. You can likely get a freehold house for the same price there.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a depressing looking flat. Avoid.

No I’d try to live on the other part of Bow nearer to Victoria park. Somewhere like this: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156134279

I can’t remember the exact details but you’ll struggle on the mortgage front with ground rent at that price. Ask for actual service charge bills going back a few years. There are many more safety rules in place than a couple of years ago and it’s taking time to filter some of those costs down the line. Our service charge has gone from £1.5k per year for the last several years to £3.2k for this year. No major works planned - they have said all the additional costs to administer the new rules. They are hoping it will go down slightly after this initial high year but it’s very possible that won’t happen.

That's much nicer.

It's an ugly building, the concrete needs a good clean, the green water looks stagnant, the 104 year lease is very short for a newish building and it's in the middle of nowhere really, there's much nicer places.

Agree.
The OP's flat wasn't designed as a two bedroom imo, only explanation for those weird doors through to the kitchen /living area and the poor layout of the kitchen.

Ground floor, by water, opposite a Tesco, near rubbish bins, you’ll have a serious rat problem.

Imagine you’re living there now OP, it’s a really hot evening and you want to go to bed. What are you going to do, sleep with that door open onto the balcony? I’d never buy a ground floor flat as a woman I think they are inherently unsafe but that one I think is particularly bad.

I used to live very near there a little over 20 years ago. It wasn’t nice then and I can’t imagine that it has got any better. The area really doesn’t have any redeeming features (yes zone 2 and near the tube station but there is nothing there at all, it’s a tube ride for everything).

I actually think the flat itself looks really nice. The current owners have it set up odd and their furniture doesn’t fit, but from the floor plan you can see that there are ways of making it work, especially if you are planning to renovate the kitchen. Overall it’s a good size for a two bedroom flat.

I wouldn’t like the idea of having the communal outdoor area right up to my doors/windows like that.

River=rats