Should I stay the hell away from buying a flat for now? (Cladding scandal)

exhashdotdot

exhashdotdot

exhashdotdot

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I appreciate that I should take advice from online forums with a grain of salt.

With that said, I've currently had an offer accepted on a flat (4 storey block); the estate agent kept assuring me that the property will be having it's EWS1 form completed and recently have been told it's now booked and I can expect a result in 4-6 weeks time.

The more I read into the cladding scandal however, the more I feel I should just bounce from the whole thing. I'm terrified of the idea of buying a property and not being able to sell it down the line because of a change to safety regulations, especially when people are being hit with massive costs to update their properties to fit the regulations. In fact a block a few doors down from the one I've put an offer on (>4 storeys) now has its tenants paying for 24/7 firewatch guards because of this fiasco.

Has anyone on here been affected by this? I fortunately haven't given any money to solicitors as I'm fervent that I'll wait for the EWS1 result before I can proceed. I might just buy a house in the arse-end of nowhere.

Cheers all
 
Is it actually clad? An EWS01 is needed for buildings over 18m many are built traditionally brick and block however still need the certificate.
 
If you have the option of buying a house I would also do that.
Myself and my wife were going to purchase a flat as our first home a few years back, accounting for the ground rent (and increases) over the lifetime of the mortgage it made sense to spend a bit more initially on a house. Bonus is that we can extend and convert the loft of the house which cannot be said for the flat.
 
Maccapacca said:
Is it actually clad? An EWS01 is needed for buildings over 18m many are built traditionally brick and block however still need the certificateIf its not clad then its not a problem.

EWS1 will tell you if the cladding is safe or not but getting hold of a qualifed insepctor in order to actually get the EWS1 written up is EXTREMELY difficult and many freeholders dont want to know.

Basically, is it clad or not? Beware of brick slips too
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Don't listen to them on their timelines. Utter nonsense. The waiting list is absolutely enormous. They'll try and twist your arm to sign on the promise but there is no legal backing for you if it never shows up.
 
Small house all the way if you can, even if it means living further out. Far easier to sell when the time comes. Some flats have big ground rent bills and can often be a false economy.

The way I see is, flats cater for a very specific niche and almost anyone who was happy to live in a flat would also be happy in a small house/bungalow but the same couldn’t be said going the other way.
 
It depends on the location of where youre buying i guess. A house is always better than a flat but in places like london, you dont really get a choice unless you can afford the high prices. My parents live in a flat in ealing and they are having their cladding redone as part of the warranty but they live in a new build. Just do the research on everything before you commit and decide what is worth it for you.
 
By "arse-end of nowhere" do you mean isolated farmhouse or cottage, or slum in the middle of a run-down housing estate in a deprived ex-mining town?

If the former, then definitely, if the latter, then probably not!
 
I was looking at a development, where the EWS1 form for quite a large new development of flats turned out to be fraudulent.

The form had been completed and apparently signed by a qualified person, the person did exist and have the correct qualifications but after investigation turns out the person named never actually had anything to do with it.
 
BUDFORCE said:
I was looking at a development, where the EWS1 form for quite a large new development of flats turned out to be fraudulent.

The form had been completed and apparently signed by a qualified person, the person did exist and have the correct qualifications but after investigation turns out the person named never actually had anything to do with it.
Click to expand...
They are like rocking horse poo.

https://oliverfisher.co.uk/what-is-...t-how-long-does-it-take-and-why-do-i-need-it/

42 months waiting list.

Walk away, Op. Or, get it priced in if you are going to stay there a long time.
 
I would almost certainly choose a house over a flat and reduce my expenditure elsewhere /pay more for it.

Really though, without knowing the differentials in location it's a bit of an unknown.
 
I will never buy a flat again. It's not just cladding you have to be wary of. It's also useless managing agents and freeholders who if there was any morality in this world would be behind bars. Scum the lot of them - Becoming a leaseholder is to put yourself into a position where you are responsible for everything financially yet have little to no control. The law is heavily weighted in favour of the freeholder and usually they'll have infinitely more resources with which to press this advantage.

That's without even taking into account the more obvious downsides of living in a flat - lack of private outside space, noisy neighbours etc.
 
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