Southwark council as freeholder?

[slissy]

Has anyone had any experience with owning a leasehold property of which Southwark Council is the freeholder, but not in a council housing situation? I'm on the verge of putting an offer on a flat in ED which is in this situation and, being a cautious first time buyer, I wondered whether this was something that was likely to throw up issues during the conveyancing process or in the future (or, conversely, might be a good thing). Any thoughts or experiences would be very welcome.

[werdna101]

Hi,

Southwark are our freeholders. We didn't have any problems in the conveyancing process but we've got some repairs that they, as freeholders, are liable to carry out and it's an absolute nightmare trying to get them to do anything about it.

There are pluses in terms of having a large public body with elected representatives as the freeholder as at least there is someone you can get hold of to complain to etc and there are elected bodies, such as the Home Owners Council, to represent the views of leaseholders to the council. In my opinion, this is better than an absentee landlord who lives in another country who you can't get in touch with when something goes wrong.

However, Southwark Council is a massive bureaucracy - so you've got that to contend with if you want to get anything done - and they're also in a large amount of debt and massively behind with their housing stock renovation programme (about 10 years behind is the last I heard) so I don't think leaseholders are high on their priority list in terms of repairs etc. Hence our situation.

My advice would be, try and find a flat where you own a share of the freehold. It may be more expensive but at least you're in control!

[peterstorm1985]

werdna101 Wrote:

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>

> My advice would be, try and find a flat where you

> own a share of the freehold. It may be more

> expensive but at least you're in control!

Good advice if the other leaseholders are willing or able to share responsibility/cost of any repairs. A nightmare if they're not! If the flat (and the common parts e.g. roof) you're buying is in a good enough condition to survive the next ten years with no repair full employment with good salaries. (Be very careful of the retired on low incomes- they'll tug at your heart strings while you pay all the bills)

[apeplinski]

I can only second werdna101's opinion. We have a problem with our roof and it looks most likely that the council will not pay for it. The reason behind this is a clause called 'major works surcharge' which indicates that they may charge you for any repairs up to 10000 pounds.You can apply for an interest free loan, but given the bureaucracy involved it could take very long, not good if you need an emergency repair.

Check your contract, have a complete survery of the property done and then make your decision.

Good luck.

[James Barber]

If you have problems and get stuck or find the going tough get in touch with a local councillor.

For East Dulwich that's either Rosie Shimell, Jonathan Mitchell or myself.