Cyclemonkey

Advice on the new stamp duty rates up thread was untrue. The focus was on BTL but the proposal is that a 3% extra stamp duty charge will be levied on second homes regardless of what they are used for. Therefore if the OP retains their existing flat and buys a new place to live in they would be treated as buying a second home under the new system proposed. I am not sure if the proposals will keep prices down for FTB but it is about time the very favourable tax treatment of property investment in comparison to other investments was ended. What it may also do is provide a disincentive for exactly what the OP is trying to do. One of the issues for first time buyers is constraint of supply and that is not helped by people retaining their starter flats to let out when they trade up in the hope of gaining later on from ever rising house prices.

Dog mess everywhere is an important issue. Not only is it messy and disgusting it can cause serious health problems including blindness, particularly in children.

Oh so what are you wanting to achieve? If you remortgage interest only you won't be paying off any of the capital anymore so are you relying on house price appreciation to build up equity? Secondly have you done your sums in terms of expenses? Have only recently stopped renting in East Dulwich I would say if it is a decent flat in a good location you would probably get around ?1,300 a month in rent. Out of that you have to pay the mortgage, agents fees, put aside money for essential repairs and maintenance and to guard against void periods and tax. Do your sums and see if you come out with much at the end of that. If you don't I can't see what you are trying to gain. The income stream probably won't be much and going interest only means you won't be paying off the mortgage. Are you simply holding on to it in the hope that value will rise and you will make more money selling it in several years time than now? That's a risky strategy and a lot of work for potentially modest equity gains. If I were you I'd sell and give yourself less work yo do and a better cushion of equity in your next home.

My sympathies to people caught up in this. I am astonished that the council replaces doors and windows for leaseholders. We are leaseholders in a private block and front doors to flats and windows are the responsibility of individual leaseholders to replace when they wish (with permission). I have to say we were torn between buying a flat with a small kitchen in a private block with share of freehold or an ex council flat with a much larger kitchen and an additional box room. Reading this i am very glad we went with the former as it looks like those extra few square feet could have cost us dear.

Well depends what properties you want. We wanted ideally a private purpose built flat and Brockley has a lot of period conversions that were too expensive for us. Most of the purpose built flats in Brockley seemed to be ex local authority and whilst we had not problem with these blocks my partner has been a local authority leaseholder before and was not keen to repeat the experience.

The one where you asked why people would move any further out than Deptford or Brockley. For many people ThosepPlaces are just as unaffordable as East Dulwich. We certainly couldn't find anything affordable in Brockley.

We got a letter from Lewisham Council today (I live in FH) and it just asked us to ring a number to confirm that the details they had for the people in our property who are eligible to vote is correct. I wonder if so. Eine else has registered using your address?

Ha ha did you really have to ask that question fazer? Price is the biggest issue and for many East Dulwich is completely unaffordable. We couldn't even stretch to a dingy ex local authority one bedroom flat in need of complete renovation in East Dulwich. Whereas in Forest Hill we get a two bedroom flat with garage in beautiful condition and in a lovely green location for less money.

I get the impression that the OP was interested in viewing it. I'm just rubber necking in astonishment at the asking price.

You need to call your gas distributor asap. How on earth did they get it off without causing a lot of damage and more importantly why on earth would anyone want it?

Hmm the roof was repaired recently with no damp now but they couldn't be bothered to re plaster and paint the affected walls before putting but on the market for 1.2million. Call me a cynic but anything that Foxtons describe as a development opportunity is going to need more than new carpets and a quick luck of magnolia paint.

If the cause of the damp is a leaking flat roof I would imagine that there will be significantly more water damage now than there was when those photos were taken.

It will be bought by an investor who will do it up for a profit or convert it into flats to let out.

No I'm not an estate agent, just someone who has spent too long being shown places by estate agents whose owners expect can good price but font expect to have to make the place at all presentable. To be honest if they want to get a million plus for it they do need to clear it out properly and deal with the obvious damp problem as any potential buyer is going to bargain hard on that. Also be wary of what they don't show. Kitchens and bathrooms are always of most interest to buyers as they cost a lot of money to put right. Given the quality of the rooms they have shown I fully expect the kitchen and bathroom to be total disasters.

I'd imagine it has been on the market for a while because it appears to be a damp infested shit tip with hideous carpets. At least two of the "bedrooms" appear to be pokey attic rooms with barely any light. It's also fairly ugly from the outside, the asking price of ?1.2 million is just insane.

I agree Otta. We paid around that for a very nice two bedroom flat with a garage on Forest Hill earlier this year. Miga i understand what you are saying but London is a constantly moving and dynamic city. People have to accept if they have fixed ideas about a particular location then that will affect the choice they have in terms of property. House buying for most of us is a series of compromises. House price inflation in London means we have to make more compromises and choices than most. This is a very good Illustration of why house price Inflation isn't good for anyone Homeowners or renters.

It does sound a little petulant I am afraid. At your age most people in London are still renting and haven't managed to buy their first place let alone their second. Yes you have a reasonable budget and yes it does not seem fair that you can't buy a house where you want for that. However that is the reality of the situation. You now have to decide what is more important location or space. East Dulwich is not the cheap and slightly dowdy suburb it was 15 years ago. I expect if it still was you wouldn't be living there. On your budget you can get a nice house in Catford or Bromley. Or you can stay where you are and upgrade to a larger flat. Your choice and to be honest be thankful you have the choice. Many of my friends a good few years older than you are moving out to areas you dismiss just to be able to afford a small flat.

Without knowing your budget it's tough to tell. We couldn't afford what we wanted in Peckham so moved to Forest Hill and we are very happy there but a house was still out of reach. We decided a large flat was a good compromise. You can get some houses in Catford for under ?500,000 but you'll have to be quick. Bromley is worth a look as is Beckenham.

Pat, we rented our flat from Acorn in East Dulwich and bought our current flat through Acorn in Forest Hill. Obviously we didn't have a choice in the agent but they were ok. The agents on the ground were helpful and keen to progress the sale so I assume that they might be Ok if you were choosing them to sell through.

What things? Food, clothes, going out? I use the Lidl in Peckham a lot as well as Sainsburys (who have the same prices where ever their stores are) and some of the shops in Rye Lane like Khans for cheap vegetables and spices. It is true there are a lot of chichi clothes and home ware places that are expensive but that's not really an issue as we are very near central London where you c as n get cheaper clothes and home ware from chain stores. Going out is expensive in most areas of London it is true and East Dulwich is no exception. There are however a fair few free events locally, some reasonably priced places to eat (Franco Manca is cheaper than Pizza Express), also for a cheap pub night out there are several Wetherspoons nearby (Peckham, Denmark Hill and Forest Hill)

Having done a LOT of house hunting over the last year I would say the price should be more like ?425,000 to ?450,000. Also get the details on the nature of the lease. Will the buyer be buying the freehold of the whole building in the price or is it a shared freehold with the downstairs flat. These thing matter.

Desmond I looked at your place. It's nice but frankly overpriced. Over half a million for a conversion flat with one of the rooms as an attic conversion will not appeal. You can get a house for that in Forest Hill and Honor Oak. Also if it is a freehold maisonette that will actively put buyers off as many mortgage lenders will not lend on them. To the person despairing of finding a flat for under ?400,000 look wider than East Dulwich and forget Period conversions (they are often pretty crap anyway) Our budget was ?300,000 to ?350,000 and we saw loads of acceptable places.

Re: security at the Dolls place they should use the local firm whose staff wear red ties - i think Franks and other Peckham based venues use them. The guys that work for them are always very professional and friendly in my experience.

Do you have to be a member to go there as well? It's a little off the beaten track and i'm not sure i would want to have to remember a membership card on the off chance i would want to go for a drink in a pub in Hanover Park of an evening. The location is a little strange for that type of venture it's true.

Ha Ha. Our survey identifed "limied areas of penetrating damp" in one room and suggested strongly we get the vendor to do remedial work. This held up things for a while until we decided to jsut go and meet the vendor and talk it out. Turned out it was a small area of mildew on the paintwork at the top of a window frame due to winter condensation. (the vendor didn't have the trickle vents for the double glazing open)