Owning your own home

Similar situation for my block - soon after I bought in 2010 major works (refurb/redecorate exterior and interior communal areas) were proposed informally and a rough estimate of costs were suggested based on the square footage of individual leaseholders apartments. Only when the management company decided that these works were going ahead (i.e. now ) did they send out the invoices and the section 20 notice. This seriously pissed a lot of the leaseholders off as many had bought since 2010 and feel that they are now expected to pay for what has been called 'historic neglect'. It has been a learning curve for some of us as we realise that this is how it works - you make a contribution to the whole block even if your place is only a small part of it - e.g. in my case I don't even need to use the communal areas.
There was/is a reserve fund but it was never enough to cover the costs as they are now ( 200k + ) and the 8 years delay has just meant the costs have increased.
But as you say it has to happen and you would have these maintenance costs anyway if you were a freeholder.

Got any stats? I find it hard to believe it's a sole or primary driver of a significant proportion of leasehold sales.

My conjecture would be fear of a big or unpayable bill is a primary or sole factor in a small minority of sales - if say you were a 60 year old Ex LA flat owner who has no mortgage and bought in 1985 for £35k you would struggle to pay a £15k bill, so yeah, you'd need to do something radical. Landlords wanting to optimise might do it too but then they get hit with a big CG tax bill. I suppose if they have owned the place for ten years it makes sense to cash in as a medium term investment, and if you can avoid a maintenance bill whilst you are at, more power to you. You certainly wouldn't tell a prospective buyer that, though.

It doesn't make that much sense for vanilla leaseholders who can remortgage, unless you combine the concern with other more fundamental drivers, like the need to simply move for work or upsizing etc.

This seriously pissed a lot of the leaseholders off as many had bought since 2010 and feel that they are now expected to pay for what has been called 'historic neglect'

This is why it's fucking important to check for historic investment when buying a leasehold property :)

you'd need to do something radical

Depending on circumstances, wouldn't you release equity from your windfall - either remortgage, or reversion, say?

Agree but how do you check if any major works are in the pipeline if they are not disclosed ?
Apart from the fact that at some point in time you will have maintenance costs.

If you could and wanted to stay, yes I guess you would. If you are unmortgagable and are 'meh' about living there anymore then I guess you would consider moving.

Agree but how do you check if any major works are in the pipeline if they are not disclosed ?

You can't, officially.

So you gotta look at the context. How old is the building? Does it look OK? Is the paint pealing? Is the communal stuff looking smart? Are the doors modern FD30 types or ancient 70s stuff? Are they self closing? Is the pointing good? What is the history of works to the building? (if you have to go back a long way....) . Talk to the residents and see if there are murmurings about repairs and works required.

Then you can get an idea.

Problem is you learn to do this the hard way!

We've applied for a mortgage as first time buyers from Clydesdale Bank through L&C and it seems to be taking a good while to get a mortgage offer. I know it says on their website it could take up to 40 days or something and it's only been two weeks since we sent the last documents they needed but I'm starting to get a bit antsy and it seems it's only taken friends a few days to a week to get a mortgage decision from other banks. Apart from my lavish spending habits on hobbies such as cycling, can't see why we wouldn't get one but am starting to panic a bit.

Yeah, ours took well over 40 days tbh. Our mortgage adviser at L&C said we'd get one with them, no questions asked, so we went with their advice. But our mortgage broker at L&C was annoyed at the fact we'd been advised to go with Clydesdale as they're notoriously slow and often have sales fall through at the time delays. Having waited so long for an offer it's really tedious to have to wait again to confirm it via the solicitor. In relation to the offer itself - it's a good rate for now and they're apparently quite generous with what they're prepared to lend (we didn't ask for much so that wasn't such an appeal). They didn't ask us for bank statements either which was a relief. No one needs to see how much I spend on coffee but me.

It was a shitty experience with L&C who cocked up in various ways - sending incorrect details etc and then lying about having done so, not chasing when they said they would, forgetting to submit details etc. A bit of a shambles and that definitely drew the process out as every time a change was recorded with Clydesdale it went to the bottom of the pile as though it was a new application.

Oh man, that sounds like a nightmare. I hope you get it all sorted soon and get to move in to your new place without further complications.

Has anyone asked for a reduction in price due to damp in the structures? I'm not from the UK and admittedly quite hysterical about damp. We're going to get contractors to check the damage and evaluate how much it would cost to fix. The husband and his family don't seem too concerned about it :D

Depends what sort of damp and what kind of house...
Leaking roof, definitely.
Dodgy plaster under a Victorian window, not so much.

We're going to get contractors to check the damage and evaluate how much it would cost to fix.

If yours is an older property beware the people touting injection damp proof courses, "tanking" walls with fresh impermeable membranes locking the old moisture in etc etc
From my expert internet researchings it appears to just make things a helluvah lot worse

Post some pictures

Anyone had any dealings with Japanese knotweed?

In the process of buying with (a small amount of) knotweed on an adjacent (council owned) property. adjacent property is at the end of the garden (40m) and across a road.

Will sue the council as soon as we are in to force removal. Anyone done it?

Thanks in advance

"Has anyone asked for a reduction in price due to damp in the structures"

Get a quote and negotiate on price. If you didn't know when you offered then say its new info (which it is). I don't think 50% of the cost is unreasonable.

It's a Victorian terraced house that was extended in the 60s. The roof has old lead flashing and has been letting moisture in, the roof itself is not too bad apparently. The gutters are old too and not doing their job properly and the garden slabs have been put too high up, causing water to flow into wrong places (i.e. the base of the house).

Thanks, makes sense.

It is not illegal to have it on your land, it is only illegal to dispose of it incorrectly or allow it to spread onto someone else's land. So you will not be able to force the council to do anything unless you could prove it spreads into your garden. Get a survey done by one of the many specialists. If it's found on your property it is relatively straight forward to get a management plan in place to treat it and then also get a 10 year insurance backed guarantee (that guarantee costs money but combined with the management plan should make mortgage lenders happy).

Fairly typical stuff then. Is there proof of water igress from the flashing? Lots of surveys will mention it because it looks old with binoculars. Guttering is basically a day rate from a roofer + minimal parts (possibly half a day if there’s not loads). Garden slabs are probably most intensive, especially if he ground is also higher underneath but it’s not a technically difficult job. Worth getting quotes and asking for a contribution but it’s not big money to sort if they tell you to do one.

Get a weed burner, it’s deeply satisfying.

glysophosphate. it's pretty much agent orange. not even sure if it's legal anymore.

@stevo_com Cheers

@Dramatic_Hammer I tried this with moss on the lawn. It did not end well.

It is a big issue if your floor joists are rotting...

Glyphosate. Is legal and available in fairly strong concentrations. While you can treat it yourself herbicidally (in almost exactly the same way that the specialists do), you won't get the management plan and 10 year insurance backed guarantee that you will need when it comes time to sell or remortgage. While lenders are becoming more reasonable about it and it is not the demon that the Daily Mail or other sensationalists rags will have you believe, you still need the paperwork.

Guess who is currently dealing with the stuff as it looks to have come in from the neighbours garden (which is not easy to prove)...

I didn’t mean to suggest it was a sole or primary driver. I can only give the anec-data that 3/5 leasehold flats we seriously considered when buying had some section 20 threat hanging over them and 2/20 flats in our street (one freehold) went up for sale shortly after our section 20 cost estimate came through - talking to both owners it was a significant factor in their decision.

Lots of people are unable or unwilling to mortgage for whatever reason - legacy cheap tracker mortgages, one partner no longer working so would fail affordability, pre-crash interest only or self certified deals that would not pass scrutiny post MMR etc etc.

people touting injection damp proof courses

Evennfor modern properties, they're probably bollocks.

Damp will probably be due to something having failed / been changed / not supposed to be there.

(Also internet expert)