If anyone is looking for a 2 bed flat in Worthing...

[TeddyBeans]

Here's ours 🤣

Feel free to critique the listing, we had a fluke viewing the day after it went live and radio silence since... Would love to sell, the kids need their own rooms and we desperately want a garden

Looks like the flat is no longer on the market?

I think it’s been relisted https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/93941586

Looks good, initial photo is more appealing, but the price can"t start with a 2 if you realistically want to sell IMO.

I have to agree, a 10k reduction on a flat that needs to be starting at 30k cheaper isnt going to make any difference. But wish Teddybeans luck non the less. You never know, could get lucky.

The service charge is almost £2K a year and that could increase at any time.
This is why people do not want to risk buying a flat now.

£200 a month at that end of the market, plus council tax etc is a lot of money.

Well, yes and no. Any homeowner should really be saving (at least?) 1% of their property value per year for future maintenance costs. So in that respect the service charge is sensible. People just hate not being given the choice!

When they do get the choice and choose to avoid maintenance then severe consequences can result such as the Surfside Condo collapse.

The thing about having a leasehold flat is that you are at the mercy of the freeholder. As @MacNCheesie says, the service charge could go up at any time and almost all do on a yearly basis. And of course you have the internal maintenance to pay for, for a flat you’ll never own.

But management companies are not saving the money they collect from flat owners for future maintenance! There’s no such obligation.

We both know that there are good and bad examples of management companies - including those run by the flat owners. That's why you and your solicitor should be doing due diligence on purchase. Good ones create a sinking fund to cover future costs. A sweeping judgement helps no one.

So you have never heard of tenants being unable to sell or pay service costs because they are so high? This is why leasehold is being phased out.
There is no limit at the moment to service charges and it's a gamble buying a leasehold flat. You never actually own the land it's on- you're paying for the use of it.

The other point here is they are relatively low value properties and anyone buying it is likely to be on a low budget- and adding £200 a month (out of their control) to their outgoings is a significant amount.

Yes, ongoing and future maintenance is a cost of ownership that many people neglect to consider when purchasing a property too expensive for them to manage.

Except you never really own a leasehold property. The monthly cost is the lease. This is why leasehold and the laws around it are being changed as they can be a disaster.

It's a seperate issue. Currently you have bought the right to live there until death or until the end of the lease. You really want to make sure that the place where you live remains safe and comfortable. That requires you to pay maintenance.

The proposed new laws for fleecehold / leasehold properties don’t go far enough because service charges will still have to be paid and those charges can go up anytime. Perhaps the government don’t want to piss off the freeholders too much. Hope this isn’t going off topic - I do think it may be a factor in why this flat isn’t selling. People are wary about the ongoing charges involved when you ‘buy’ flats. Even if the reform goes ahead I would likely never buy a flat.