Owning your own home

Hello, any recommendations for Removals companies? We're not based in that there London and will not be moving to London so anyone with National recommendations would be great.

Also, if you have any tips on getting good prices (packing yourself etc) let me know. Thanks for now.

Good luck with the research trip by the way @trashcan

If I was going to buy somewhere 4-500 miles from London I'd be looking in the other direction - too much weather in Scotland for me :)

I've used Simply Removals (inc their packing service) twice now and they've been excellent.

They 'specialise' in London removals so can't say what their nationwide service is like but worth getting a quote...

My lawyers asked if he'd be willing to extend the leasehold and add it to the cost of the flat prior to the move.

He's obviously in a bit of a rush to sell, and appears to be a bit of a delicate little snowflake to boot, so instead of saying 'no' he threw a hissy fit.

How long is left on the lease and are you then just going to extend it yourself after 2 years?

Going to do the same myself next year.

If it is part of a housing association, in theory they will agree to wave the 2 year thing so you can extend with them as soon as you purchase, we just got it in writing from the association (Amicus Horizon) for our buyer that they could do it as soon as they moved in.

66 years and it's going to cost about £24k. The pain.

But also I could'nt get a 2 bed in London for the price I'm paying so I'm just seeing it as deferred ownership.

Good shout. The freehold is owned by a private company so I don' tbelieve they'll do me any favours but it won't hurt to ask.

If they want to proceed after all, great, But suddenly your offer is sadly not what it was - reduce it by 5%. If they want to sell quickly they'll take this instead of going to all the hoohah of remarketing.

Our will be in it's final year of having 80 full years left after next March and we won't have owned it for two years until July. As far as I am aware, the clock stops as soon as you serve the s.42 (I think).

That being said, you only have two wait two years if you need to go the statutory route (90yrs, peppercorn ground rent and reasonable premium all protected by law).

You can approach the freeholder anytime you want but if they're not reasonable they could and up offering shitty terms, ridiculous premium and a meaningless length of extension as they are not bound to offer anything reasonable by law.

Worth a punt as asking informally first does nothing to harm you if you do need to go the statutory route later.

If they want to proceed after all, great, But suddenly your offer is sadly not what it was - reduce it by 5%

THANKS BREXIT

whilst I own a house in London (with a small-ish mortgage) if I were a first time buyer looking to buy a modest flat/starter home - I wouldn't touch the London property market with yours at the moment.

its always going to be expensive to buy in London. however I would wait another 2 or 3 years to see how the tax changes unwind the lower end of the market and whether the government decide to do any further tax raids on the property market which will be particularly aimed at investors not owner occupiers.

property, even in London, is an illiquid investment with has enormous entrance and exit costs - its not a decision to be taken lightly. I appreciate that regrettably most people are intrinsically greedy and irrational when it comes to property (which has led to us getting into the lamentable state we are in at the moment) but I would hold fire for at least 2 years or so if I were a first timer. The upsides will be limited if you get in now but the downsides could vary from "a bit" to "oh fuck" on the sliding scale of misery. I think the upside is that rates will probably stay low for another 10 years or so - historically low. I suspect the tax grabs on the London market, aren't over by a long chalk..

Must be just about to fall again as I'm looking at buying another place and I always seem to buy at the top of the market.

In other news, I've had my approval in principle granted this evening! Absolutely over the moon.

Remember, it's all about time in the market not timing the market.

Well said! I've never been forced to sell any places that I've bought and consequently, they've always ended up worth more than I've paid.

you moving to south cres soon?

Just trying to iron out the purchase price.
It's an older man that's retired that's selling so he's not really in any hurry to sell (been on the market since August and already turned down an offer). Offered him £15k below the asking. Didn't accept. Brought the offer up to £5k under the asking. He hasn't said no but they're playing a waiting game with me to see if I'll bring me offer up to full asking I suspect. You can tell he has a huge emotional attachment to the house. I'll probably ultimately loose and cave in and ring tomorrow and offer the full asking as it's now 2 weeks till baby's due and we have nowhere suitable to live. £5k over 25 years really isn't a lot. It's got 3 sheds, yes, you heard me THREE SHEDS!!! :)

It's got 3 sheds, yes, you heard me THREE SHEDS!!! :)

The most important thing!

I live just up the road and so does @Sparky and @ChainBreaker
@mk1mark has just moved in to hither green, @6pt is O.G.

I hope you have somewhere to live for the first six months of baby?

Waves hello from Nunhead....

We can stay where we are currently for as long as we need so that's OK but it's really far far too small for 2 adults, a 9yo and a baby.
Reason that we've had to wait so long is that my girlfriend is self employed and has only just got her first years worth of accounts.
We've been busy getting as much of what we don't need into storage and can manage for a few months but it will do my head in if I had to wait much longer :)

That's some forum royalty right there. What are the best pubs in Catford / Hither Green /Lee?

Lee has the Crown on Burnt Ash Hill, which (with the footbridge over the railway from the cemetery) is probably the 'closest' for you. Good solid chain pub. Also the Lord Northbrook up by Lee station. Antic have the Baring Hall Hotel down by Grove Park station which is a good pub in an ok area (but if you spend too long down that way you might bump into @amey or @chainbreaker so be careful). Catford has another Antic offering with the Catford Constitutional Club, which is by most accounts great although we preferred its sister pub The Ravensbourne slightly further up the A21, now closed. The CCC is the other side of the gyratory from you; on the gyratory and up a bit is a spoons-a-like (Black Horse and Harrow) and a spoons (London and Rye). Service is nice in the BHH, locals not so much. Can't speak for the spoons. The Corbett Estate, which is where we are and between you and Catford proper is covenanted, so no sit down boozey places permitted, although there's a bar (Ace's Bar, I think) on Verdant Lane. Can't speak to the quality of the place, but its clientelle, at least in the early days, caused a few headaches for the residents association.

There's also hidden gem under Eros house Pizzeria Italiana, as well as Sapporo Ichiban for good Japanese. A pizza van also appears on the north side of Hither Green station most evenings towards the end of the week that's worth a visit, and you can pop into The Station Hotel for a pint after. You're smack bang between two middle-class-caff epicentres, Archibalds on Manor Lane and the other Archibalds on Sandhurst Road parade. Manor Meats for quality butchery has just shut down by most accounts; but Dave on Muirkirk is worth a chat. Good Food on Sandhurst is my source of overpriced tasties and pastries (and yer fancy beers).

That should be enough to get you started :)

@hoefla 's also in this neck of the woods, as is @1_n. It's pretty dense with retired fixieskidders tbh.