👉🏽 My Free Intentional Spending Tracker - nischa.me/intentionalspendingtracker Thank you for watching :) Please note, the content in this video is specific to England & Wales
Right, in Spain there is not such thing as lease holders, everything is Shared Holder, and the price of the maintenance services are set by the owners of the flats, so you have control over that somehow. OTOH that is why when you buy the property, the square meters are listed including your proportional share of the communal spaces, or in best cases are listed with two measurements, your total space including the communal spaces (metros construidos, builted square meters) and the ones that you have just for yourself (metros habitables, livable square meters). That way it is always cheaper to maintain a flat, even if you have lots of more services like pools, tennis court, concierge, private security, heating etc... And insurance is a must to have 2 policies, one that it is included with you communal bill that covers the communal spaces, and one for your own property, that way home insurance is also way cheaper and with lots of coverages. Not everything done in the anglosphere is the best way to do it. ;-)
More property and investing in property videos would be great, for example comparisons of different opportunities with property such as buy to rent, HMO, etc.
What the Grenfell Tower situation has done to privately owned flats has completely put me off ever considering a leasehold flat. We have two tower blocks in my town which have been wrapped in plastic and scaffolding for years, because the freeholder had all the insulation removed on safety grounds (rightly so) and imposed a phenomenal cost (over £10,000) to each leaseholder to pay for he remedial work which the owner company cannot afford to pay upfront. These unfortunate leaseholders now have flats which are unsaleable, cold and damp, and covered in plastic so they can't even look out of the windows. It's a scandal; my heart goes out to these hard working people.
You can summarise the two property types as follows: With a freehold house, you own the building and ground it sits on. These two, generally, become more valuable over time. With a leasehold flat, all you ever own is the right to live there. And that right steadily becomes less valuable over time - unless you pay to stop that erosion.
Service charge is the main difference I think between a house and a flat - if you own a house you can DIY it if you own a flat it can be extremely expensive plus it includes things like lifts that you wont have in a house. to be honest it often feels like I'm still renting despite paying a mortgage to "own" my flat. Downside of a house in London and elsewhere - more likely to be broken into.
This is a unique UK scenario. In Australia all apartments the land is part owned by the owners (scenario 3). There is no such thing as leasehold. This makes buying apartments a solid choice to get into the market. The only major cost is body corporate fees and maintenance levies (~$2k pa)
Its only in England. I think in North Ireland and Scotland it's owned partly owned by person buying the flat. Also there are no council charges and water bills like in London. Downside of owning a house is most are 1930s if not than 1970s built and there are lots of unknown works like changing entire kitchen unit, double glazing windows, flooring, and energy bills. Most houses are old and energy runs £7000 per year. Also it's too cold or too hot. And the prices are expensive that one might end up paying somebody else's retirement. Also the houses are not near to the station or high street and the good ones those are cost twice. As soon as one enters a house one feels they have moved to the 70s because the houses itself are so old..
Not just Australia mate, in all civilized countries the people who buy the flats own part of the land the building sits on. And there's no or little council tax. I've lived in 3 other countries and the UK is the only one where this level of condescending ripoff happens.
Yes please do make more on property. What you already are doing is great and very helpful and you make it easy to understand and therefore easier to make a decision what is right for me. Thank you for the great advice and content! Love it!!
Some other things to consider: there is no such thing as leasehold in Scotland. If you own a flat, you own it. There are still maintenance costs involved, but houses need maintenance too, including the whole building. If the roof leaks on a flat,you pay a portion. If a roof leaks on a house, you're responsible for the whole thing. Flats will have lower capital gain, yes, but higher return in rent. And finally, while you can theoretically add value to a house, it still requires planning permission, architects, engineers and builders, and most extensions do not recoup their cost in added value.
I love the freedom and privacy of a house .. front yard .. backyard with no neighbors .. etc I also have condos that I rent out and the association fees per month doubled over the last few years. Another excellent video
Lease is not always bad, I have a 900+ years lease, my ground rent service costs are less than £20 a year. For £20 a year the landlord is responsible for the outsides. We’ve been here for 13 years. So leasehold is not always bad.
@@peterparker7738That’s wrong, self-defeating and misleading, you’ll own nothing and realise what it is like to not own your own accommodation in the uk…..especially as you grow older. Just wait n see
@@Michael.P247 sorry I'm a little confused could you elaborate? My comment was a repetition of our current popular culture. I wasn't saying you'd actually be happy owning nothing, if anything the middle class has been eradicated and we're going to work until we die which is extremely depressing. People are slowly waking up to that reality but precious little is changing. Those that regulate and make laws don't seem to care to change it either. Life isn't as full as it was for prior generations.
When you 'buy' a flat, the service charge and the maintenance costs - so the example of the lift which you mentioned, the charges would also increase in time as well so if the bill was £300 for every leaseholder, then in a few years time, it will be £500
Please make more videos about renting!! I'm highly considering renting instead of buying because of how much housing prices have skyrocketed in the last decade :(
What you're teaching should honestly be taught in schools as a regular lesson from a young age but i've got a sense the government and companies wouldn't like most people knowing what you're teaching (not to sound like conspiracy head Lol) but I'm glad i found your channel and honestly, thanks for the videos, educating us and sharing your knowledge
Wow! This was absolutely fascinating. I automatically thought a flat would be better because it's cheaper, but I had no idea how much impact being a leasehold has on a property. Not that I can afford a flat or a house at the moment😅, but this is all good info for the future. Thank you! And yes, please to more content on this topic!
In Spain, if you own a flat, generaly you own a % of the Lot. It's not always the case but generaly that's it. You can't sell the flat without the % of the lot but, if the Building ever goes down you will be the owner of that lot in the determined %. (Many rules apply.) And also your propiety is not temporary. You own the flat with no time limit and your family can inherit the flat with no time limit. There are mandatory costs of maitenance and reparations but it seems like a good deal to me. (Almost 67% of spaniards live in flats)
Also worth mentioning that if you move into a flat as it’s cheaper, then move into a house, you’d have to pay stamp duty twice. Probably more applicable in the south where prices are higher.
I was having this exact same debate on another video earlier today. Personally, as a primary residence I would always choose a house _unless_ it was a _seriously swish_ flat - I'm talking concierged at Canary Wharf with a tremendous balcony and jawdropping views, for example. I actually knew someone who lived in a flat like that. His rich uncle owned it, and he was allowed to live there so long as he paid the mortgage in lieu of rent. He was paying something like £900pcm (rich uncle got a very favourable mortgage, plus this was in 2011 or so) when the rental value would have been more like £2300pcm. In a more realistic scenario, say I was in Glasgow, Derby or Cardiff with £180k in my pocket and there was a house and flat for sale at the same price, the gap narrows. I'd probably have the house and just progessively renovate it, if it's looking tired at the £180k price point. That's because I've been renting flats for a while and have frankly become fed up of it for varying reasons and there are too many drawbacks and nuisances for me to drop that kind of money on a property which has service charges, no storage, no serious renovation options, people coming and going all the time etc. Buy a house and you get some kind of private outdoor space where you can erect a shed to store your junk in, you probably get an attic (or can extend into it), there are _probably_ no service charges if it's on a regular street, you can extend or build a conservatory or whatever. There are also no petty rules governing your laundry, your BBQ, or your smoking (if you do that) etc.
Yes, property videos will be very helpful, also letting your property as an additional income stream will be an insightful topic. What to consider while buying a property to let in the future?
Thank you for sharing with us the factors that i would not have even thought of when deciding between buying a flat or a house. After this, my vote definitely goes to buying a house. Keep up the great work and videos! 😊
I’m considering shared ownership because the house prices are wayyy too high! Please can you do pros and cons of owning / shared ownership and what costs to look out for etc. where to find a property etc
I managed to find a house just outside of London for the same price as many flats (and maisonettes). You get your own allocated parking and visitor parking (which is rare in new build flats nowadays), dual aspect (again often rare with new build flats), a garden, and as Nischa said freehold, with no additional charges like ground rent and service charges. Of course, the compromise is location.
Hey, where did you find your house just outside of London please? Would be great to share the location as I want to downsize my house and move just outside of London as it's too expensive to remain within London. Thank you.
@@DaisySK43 Hello, Hertfordshire. You will have to research what town/village suits you best, but it's more family-friendly, greener, easy and quick train links into London, access to motorways etc.
@j.smith.8915 hello 👋🏻 thanks exactly what I'm looking for I'm done in the city of Croydon from birth! I need a change with greenery and good links to London. Which area in Hertfordshire is it if you don't mind me asking please? Thank you 😊
From experience, try and avoid buying a flat to live in. Service charges go up yearly, any general repairs to the flat by the freeholder, you will have to contribute. Buy a house if you can even if it's in a cheap area. It is a better investment
Free hold house with a drive and garden is the best. Flat is a nightmare: lease, service charge, ground rent. Value of the flat doesn’t go up like the house. My house went up 40k in value in 2 years. My flat went down 20k and then went up 15k so down 5k in the last 5 years.
I remember when you had like 20-30k subs. So amazing to see i knew you were gonna blow up love the content keep it up. Who cannot like content from someone like youu
Thanks for the video, different from here in Paris where you own a share of the land if you buy a flat. Public service taxes equals roughly 1k euros/year for a 1 bedroom apartment and it will cost you around 1,5k euros per year for the "frais de co-propriété" ( for co-ownership expenses like fixing the elevator, "concierge" etc ...) ... and you always own you property (not 125 years or ...)
I would never buy a leasehold after what happened to a friend. The freeholder decided to build another floor on top of the block of flats and this couldn't be objected to, work started, the roof was removed and due to a number of issues the flats below became flooded and unliveable due to lack of diligence during the build work. The freehold is in a limited company, the director of that company refuses to pay reasonable compensation (only £20k of £100k of damage) and has suggested they will liquidate the company if necessary. Environmental health, the council, the planning departments, tenancy bodies all cannot help so it is now going through the courts leaving 4 leaseholders homeless for over a year now. If you rent a flat, you have legal protections against the landlord. If you own the flat via leasehold you are at the mercy of the freeholder.. not somewhere you want to be!
100% agree. No one should ever ever buy a leasehold property, in my opinion. Awful system. Freeholders and managing agents get away with murder and the law is always on their side. The normal person has no chance. They can effectively do what they like and charge what they like and if you try to stand up for yourself and fight them, it will be long, convoluted, cost you money, almost certainly cost your mental health to some extent.
Service charge in London is getting insane. It’s not uncommon to find new builds in canary wharf charging 400-500 pounds per month. That sounds like a second mortgage.
Please make a video on freehold houses and their disadvantage for the old people. It's not safe for an old couple to live alone. I know so many senior couples are selling their houses and moving to flats where they don't need to care for the maintenance, etc. Some people are finding a solution to this problem by renting the top floor to young people providing them with some emergency help and daily interaction opportunity. My parents sold their house as my father's health deteriorated and they moved in a flat of my younger brother. Of course, they are not happy but there is no other choice. In contrast, my in-laws are renting out the parts of their house, and the tenants provide immediate help in case of some urgent need. So beyond money, there are other issues as well. I have to take this decision 10 years from now. So I keenly watched your video. I don't like living in flats for the reasons you listed and I fully agree with it. It's a great video that you have made. I don't see many people discussing it.
Super helpful! I just dodged a major bullet on a leasehold, the freeholder dropped a 100k maintenance bill on all the owners and has really upset everyone. I'll not waste my money on a leasehold now, just bite the bullet and go for a house.
could you do a video about WHEN to buy? What signs to look for when entering a deal (location, market crash, price...), where you could go for good deals, what to avoid etc.?
Freehold is better in my opinion. Having a house myself with a mortgage you are right I am free to renovate and repair if and when I see fit. More control over costs with not too many price hikes apart from mortgage interest rates from time to time. Thanks for another great informative video Nischa.
Great video, clear points, well made. This is something that I am starting to consider again now i'm looking at getting back into property ownership, so it's good to remind myself of the pros and cons!
Your ground rent changes to zero when you extend your lease, via a statutory lease extension. New builds also do not have service charge. Service charge on a leasehold exists to ensure maintenance and repairs. If you own a freehold you have to still bear these costs but they're just managed by you. It's not necessarily cheaper. If a roof on your freehold house needs replacing that's your cost. If you need to fix your driveway that's still your cost and you need to pay 100% of the cost, and organise it by yourself at your own time. You need to have lived in a flat 2 years to extend the lease. You can have this deferred to you on purchase by the vendor if they have lived there for two years.
Thanks @nishcha for sharing the interesting topic. I think this analysis have dependencies whether it is landed house or flat. It is much appropriate to England & Wales. For other countries, in terms of investment to property ladder, the complexity of governmental approval, consumer behaviour, the security, the ROI bet LH and Flat..etc., need to be factored in. plus the T&C of mortgage on flat & landed house is crucial.
So what happens if you own a flat leasehold, and then one day in the future the government/council decide that they want to tear it down to make room for something else? Do they have to buy it off you first, or do you just loose your property with no compensation since you were not the freeholder? Also, I would love to see more property related videos on this channel. Especially since the property game seems to be constantly changing so rapidly nowadays. It would be nice to get your opponion on this to keep up to date with it all.
If you can, please upload more videos about property. I may still have something to learn, god knows…😀another few things to consider: 1-Yes, flats are the cheapest way to move on the property ladder, however the value of a flat doesn’t increase as much as a house. A house pretty much doubles up in value every 10 years, but for a flat, the increase is nowhere near. 2- some people think that moving to a house from a flat will be better because you will save on maintenance charges bill from a flat. However, take in consideration that depending on the the tax band of the new house you moving into you will already ruin those savings either partly or entirely. 3- finding the cheapest contractor, I disagree. You buy cheap, you buy twice. Don’t ask how I know.
I find leaseholds with a half decent property manager are a paradise compared to a lot of freeholds. Local authorities / councils don’t give a toss about neighbour disputes, noise, dogs barking at 2am, etc. and there is very little you can do to compel them to do anything about such things. Whereas for a leasehold, your building manager has a responsibility under your contract to deal with these issues, and would be in breach of contract if they don’t… which you can in theory sue them for, which I suppose they might try to recover via the service charge, but if they start to take the piss then you can sell your flat before that happens and leave your neighbours with the bill for being a nuisance to begin with.
Hi from UAE 🇦🇪 ,I can tell one general advice for real-estate investors globally, before you buy (whether apartment, house, retail, shelter or even Hut) try to consider the running costs and see the opportunity of High demand. this is an ABC rule in real-estate investing.
flats in uk can suck if you live in a family. Often times the flat walls are just cardboard everyone can hear your conversations, they can hear your steps. If unlucky, you're gonna have to deal with complaining neighbours all the time.
Do you mean to tell me that, in the UK, you never end up owning your apartment? That's awful! Definitely not the situation in some other European countries.
If you pay it off, you can own the flat, but if the flat is a leasehold, then you don't own the ground beneath you. So people usually extend their lease when it runs low (approaches 80 years remaining).
I bought a flat for investment 16 years ago at the top of a property bubble here in Ireland. It still hasn't recovered it's value, I'm paying 2200 per annum service charge and in I pay 50% tax on all rental income. Wish I'd bought a house instead it'd be worth way now more than I paid then.
Good Video! here in Australia houses tend to hold there value better being more desirable. Whilst most of the time its cheaper upfront to buy an apartment the upkeep is actually a lot more then a house. also resale a house will be easier to resell if you really need to move it on. The other negative with apartments is you cant control the costs as you mentioned, we also have strata fees in Australia on top of rates for apartments and that can really stack up on top of sinking funds and repairs as stated. You generally don't have a choice either when it comes to the external structure on if it gets repaired or not and costs are divided up between the owners and organised by the strata companies. Not to mention the strata company will tack on the administration fees on top of the repair fees.
There is a little caveat to a freehold as you are actually never a full owner in the UK. Under UK legal system, the Monarch, as head of state, owns the superior interest in all land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In most cases, this is usually irrelevant but it can become relevant if a freehold property becomes ownerless. If this happens, freehold land may, in some circumstances, fall to the monarch as the owner of the superior interest. This process is called 'escheat'. Some other countries even in EU have laws where they also can confiscate owners land in certain circumstances.
This is helpful. I’m saving every spare penny this year, and my original intention was to then put that money into a fixed savings account. But I’m now considering investing that as a deposit on a property.
Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!
Valuable info dear Nischa. I don't normally comment but I hope this may also add on some info.I have to say that Location is the key whether house or flat for long term growth. House do cost alot to fix too at a lump sum cost although U can choose when to fix the problem but as house gets older, the value depreciates too unless you renovate which cost heaps too whereas with Flats/Apartments/Condo... You pay a body corporate or Strata fees every month or quarter to keep the place in good order but it is not in a big lump sum of money. In hindsight, the maintenance fees for both House or Flats comes to the same over time. If you own a freehold flat, the body corporate fix the building problem unlike owning a house, you would have to do the hard work, running around looking & waiting for tradies to come to fix your House so most retirees sell of their home to downsize moving into Flats for that reason, lock up and peace of mind not having to fix anything but just paying the quarterly maintenance fee. I hope this helps people to decide more of which to buy depends on their circumstances and lifestyle.😊
Another great video with very important points pointed out ☺️ It would be very interesting to learn more about real estate through your videos, so please keep sharing your knowledge about this topic. I'd be interested if you ever thought about the opportunity to buy property abroad? In general: Thank you so much for your very valuable work Nischa - absolutely love your content ❤
Thank you for your insight. One thing I'd add regarding AirBnB and freeheld houses: as an architect in the USA, I've found that many jurisdictions are rather restrictive about allowing house owners to use their houses for short term rentals. When I built my house, there was an added fee for, and no guarantee of obtaining, permission to use part or all of my house for short term rentals. So that's a potential damper. This likely does not apply everywhere, but it is good to check with the local community development department what their rules are.
Hello Nischa Ji....I must say I am your biggest fan ever....i just love your videos but more so your narrations and the way you speak......it's so interesting.....I feel I can go on listening to you forever.....thanks for sharing such insightful information.....m sure these are prevalent and relevant in all kinds of economy and in every country....👍👍👍👍👍
Great video Nischa! My friends keep asking me to make a video about the UK property market too so this is a really good one to show them for the meantime!
I think it just depends… I have a house and the rent is okayish because of the location, in Manchester City centre the apartments are brand new and around the same price but rental income would be way higher because of location and condition
I’m actually wondering whether to buy a property at all. The UK market is a crazy place atm. Given the increasing costs of utilities, taxes etc. they seem like a money pit to me. That, combined with effects of climate change ( ground source heating, insulation, de-commissioning of power stations ) would not encourage anyone to get on the so called property ladder. Perhaps if The Government insisted home loan providers changed the payment period from monthly to fortnightly buying a place might just become a little more affordable for some. If I were to buy anything it would be a terrace in a nice area that needed some tlc. Near the sea would be even better but not too close!
It would be really helpful if you could address the changes in the Buy to Let market and how best to approach the decision on whether to proceed with a B2L property.
Yes speciific to your place. I have never heard about "free holders". Here houses/buildings/flats are tied to land ownership. Except your last house at the cemetery, you rent the land. It's in case you change you mind, I guess.
Good timing with this video as I’ve been wondering the pros/cons with House vs Flat as I’m hoping to buy a 2nd property soon! I think location has a key factor in flat vs house too from an investment point!
Despite them being very rare, I would never recommend ANYONE buy a leasehold house. Leasehold flat is fine if you can handle it, but you absolutely want to own the ground of the house you buy, 100%.
👉🏽 My Free Intentional Spending Tracker - nischa.me/intentionalspendingtracker
Thank you for watching :) Please note, the content in this video is specific to England & Wales
I love your content. You provide valuable insights that I try to implement in my own daily living
thank you its relatable worldwide
please make also a video on this topic about the US
Right, in Spain there is not such thing as lease holders, everything is Shared Holder, and the price of the maintenance services are set by the owners of the flats, so you have control over that somehow.
OTOH that is why when you buy the property, the square meters are listed including your proportional share of the communal spaces, or in best cases are listed with two measurements, your total space including the communal spaces (metros construidos, builted square meters) and the ones that you have just for yourself (metros habitables, livable square meters).
That way it is always cheaper to maintain a flat, even if you have lots of more services like pools, tennis court, concierge, private security, heating etc...
And insurance is a must to have 2 policies, one that it is included with you communal bill that covers the communal spaces, and one for your own property, that way home insurance is also way cheaper and with lots of coverages.
Not everything done in the anglosphere is the best way to do it. ;-)
Thank You For Sharing All These Informations. I Have Always liked Your Contents Here On TH-cam. Please Share with Us.
More property and investing in property videos would be great, for example comparisons of different opportunities with property such as buy to rent, HMO, etc.
We’d also be interested in these kinds of videos 👍
Yeah there are so many considerations here ✨Will aim to give as much value in my videos as well !
HMO is when a property is in disrepair and has to be fixed, buy to rent u need more deposit down to rent a property out
I'll save you the hassle - landlordism is morally reprehensible and you should avoid it
Would definitely love to see more homeownership videos. Specifically how you started and how you manage your properties
+1 !!
What the Grenfell Tower situation has done to privately owned flats has completely put me off ever considering a leasehold flat. We have two tower blocks in my town which have been wrapped in plastic and scaffolding for years, because the freeholder had all the insulation removed on safety grounds (rightly so) and imposed a phenomenal cost (over £10,000) to each leaseholder to pay for he remedial work which the owner company cannot afford to pay upfront. These unfortunate leaseholders now have flats which are unsaleable, cold and damp, and covered in plastic so they can't even look out of the windows. It's a scandal; my heart goes out to these hard working people.
Not all flats are in huge tower blocks
You can summarise the two property types as follows:
With a freehold house, you own the building and ground it sits on. These two, generally, become more valuable over time.
With a leasehold flat, all you ever own is the right to live there. And that right steadily becomes less valuable over time - unless you pay to stop that erosion.
Service charge is the main difference I think between a house and a flat - if you own a house you can DIY it if you own a flat it can be extremely expensive plus it includes things like lifts that you wont have in a house. to be honest it often feels like I'm still renting despite paying a mortgage to "own" my flat. Downside of a house in London and elsewhere - more likely to be broken into.
Err fhats not what really happens.Too risky staying in the same property.
@@oldskoolmusicnostalgia. How? That doesn’t even make sense. It’s very rare 😂
Living in a flat makes me feel safer too
This is a unique UK scenario. In Australia all apartments the land is part owned by the owners (scenario 3). There is no such thing as leasehold. This makes buying apartments a solid choice to get into the market. The only major cost is body corporate fees and maintenance levies (~$2k pa)
Its only in England. I think in North Ireland and Scotland it's owned partly owned by person buying the flat. Also there are no council charges and water bills like in London. Downside of owning a house is most are 1930s if not than 1970s built and there are lots of unknown works like changing entire kitchen unit, double glazing windows, flooring, and energy bills. Most houses are old and energy runs £7000 per year. Also it's too cold or too hot. And the prices are expensive that one might end up paying somebody else's retirement. Also the houses are not near to the station or high street and the good ones those are cost twice. As soon as one enters a house one feels they have moved to the 70s because the houses itself are so old..
Yes, and this is why the video is wrong about the comparison. @@Rahul-oy4bp
@@Rahul-oy4bp If it's stood up for 50 years, should last a few more. I agree UK houses look dated. Try to avoid conservation zones.
Not just Australia mate, in all civilized countries the people who buy the flats own part of the land the building sits on. And there's no or little council tax.
I've lived in 3 other countries and the UK is the only one where this level of condescending ripoff happens.
We appreciate this style of content (and this series of real estate videos) Nischa. Very well structured and presented. Thank you for sharing 🙌
Thank you so much!
Totally agree, structured so well. Taking this onboard for my channel as well 😅
Yes please do make more on property. What you already are doing is great and very helpful and you make it easy to understand and therefore easier to make a decision what is right for me. Thank you for the great advice and content! Love it!!
Some other things to consider: there is no such thing as leasehold in Scotland. If you own a flat, you own it. There are still maintenance costs involved, but houses need maintenance too, including the whole building. If the roof leaks on a flat,you pay a portion. If a roof leaks on a house, you're responsible for the whole thing. Flats will have lower capital gain, yes, but higher return in rent. And finally, while you can theoretically add value to a house, it still requires planning permission, architects, engineers and builders, and most extensions do not recoup their cost in added value.
I love the freedom and privacy of a house .. front yard .. backyard with no neighbors .. etc
I also have condos that I rent out and the association fees per month doubled over the last few years.
Another excellent video
Flats are way warmer and cheaper ( Gas , Electricity ) Energy rating usually B-C comparing to houses D-F
Yes way more comfortable, and i love some elevation. Dont have to spend time gardening too. I dont like houses at all myself.
Lease is not always bad, I have a 900+ years lease, my ground rent service costs are less than £20 a year. For £20 a year the landlord is responsible for the outsides. We’ve been here for 13 years. So leasehold is not always bad.
Did you buy a leasehold terrace house?
You'll own nothing and be happy.
@@peterparker7738That’s wrong, self-defeating and misleading, you’ll own nothing and realise what it is like to not own your own accommodation in the uk…..especially as you grow older. Just wait n see
@@Michael.P247 sorry I'm a little confused could you elaborate? My comment was a repetition of our current popular culture. I wasn't saying you'd actually be happy owning nothing, if anything the middle class has been eradicated and we're going to work until we die which is extremely depressing. People are slowly waking up to that reality but precious little is changing. Those that regulate and make laws don't seem to care to change it either. Life isn't as full as it was for prior generations.
When you 'buy' a flat, the service charge and the maintenance costs - so the example of the lift which you mentioned, the charges would also increase in time as well so if the bill was £300 for every leaseholder, then in a few years time, it will be £500
Please make more videos about renting!! I'm highly considering renting instead of buying because of how much housing prices have skyrocketed in the last decade :(
What you're teaching should honestly be taught in schools as a regular lesson from a young age but i've got a sense the government and companies wouldn't like most people knowing what you're teaching (not to sound like conspiracy head Lol) but I'm glad i found your channel and honestly, thanks for the videos, educating us and sharing your knowledge
This video came at just the right time.
Wow! I'm in California and am absolutely fascinated by your country's real estate laws. So interesting to see how it all differs.
Wow! This was absolutely fascinating. I automatically thought a flat would be better because it's cheaper, but I had no idea how much impact being a leasehold has on a property. Not that I can afford a flat or a house at the moment😅, but this is all good info for the future. Thank you!
And yes, please to more content on this topic!
In Spain, if you own a flat, generaly you own a % of the Lot. It's not always the case but generaly that's it. You can't sell the flat without the % of the lot but, if the Building ever goes down you will be the owner of that lot in the determined %. (Many rules apply.)
And also your propiety is not temporary. You own the flat with no time limit and your family can inherit the flat with no time limit. There are mandatory costs of maitenance and reparations but it seems like a good deal to me. (Almost 67% of spaniards live in flats)
That sounds much fairer
It's a pity many people have no idea on investing and their personal finance. The system fails many. Thanks for your work, Nischa!
Also worth mentioning that if you move into a flat as it’s cheaper, then move into a house, you’d have to pay stamp duty twice. Probably more applicable in the south where prices are higher.
I was having this exact same debate on another video earlier today. Personally, as a primary residence I would always choose a house _unless_ it was a _seriously swish_ flat - I'm talking concierged at Canary Wharf with a tremendous balcony and jawdropping views, for example.
I actually knew someone who lived in a flat like that. His rich uncle owned it, and he was allowed to live there so long as he paid the mortgage in lieu of rent. He was paying something like £900pcm (rich uncle got a very favourable mortgage, plus this was in 2011 or so) when the rental value would have been more like £2300pcm.
In a more realistic scenario, say I was in Glasgow, Derby or Cardiff with £180k in my pocket and there was a house and flat for sale at the same price, the gap narrows. I'd probably have the house and just progessively renovate it, if it's looking tired at the £180k price point. That's because I've been renting flats for a while and have frankly become fed up of it for varying reasons and there are too many drawbacks and nuisances for me to drop that kind of money on a property which has service charges, no storage, no serious renovation options, people coming and going all the time etc.
Buy a house and you get some kind of private outdoor space where you can erect a shed to store your junk in, you probably get an attic (or can extend into it), there are _probably_ no service charges if it's on a regular street, you can extend or build a conservatory or whatever. There are also no petty rules governing your laundry, your BBQ, or your smoking (if you do that) etc.
Yes, property videos will be very helpful, also letting your property as an additional income stream will be an insightful topic. What to consider while buying a property to let in the future?
Would love to see more of these videos, especially tips on researching a home, finding a good realtor, getting the best mortgage, etc. etc.
And good developer for trouble free houses. I have heard of wrongly built new houses which have leaks etc
Thank you for sharing with us the factors that i would not have even thought of when deciding between buying a flat or a house. After this, my vote definitely goes to buying a house.
Keep up the great work and videos! 😊
South facing, to enjoy full day sunlight and electricity saving is good point. Thanks for helping to make decision for home purchase.
I simply love the way you present your content and how it is precisely communicated
More property investment videos would be appreciated please. You have a great way of simplifying things other people make complicated. Thank you!
I’m considering shared ownership because the house prices are wayyy too high! Please can you do pros and cons of owning / shared ownership and what costs to look out for etc. where to find a property etc
I managed to find a house just outside of London for the same price as many flats (and maisonettes). You get your own allocated parking and visitor parking (which is rare in new build flats nowadays), dual aspect (again often rare with new build flats), a garden, and as Nischa said freehold, with no additional charges like ground rent and service charges. Of course, the compromise is location.
Hey, where did you find your house just outside of London please? Would be great to share the location as I want to downsize my house and move just outside of London as it's too expensive to remain within London. Thank you.
@@DaisySK43 Hello, Hertfordshire. You will have to research what town/village suits you best, but it's more family-friendly, greener, easy and quick train links into London, access to motorways etc.
@j.smith.8915 hello 👋🏻 thanks exactly what I'm looking for I'm done in the city of Croydon from birth! I need a change with greenery and good links to London. Which area in Hertfordshire is it if you don't mind me asking please? Thank you 😊
From experience, try and avoid buying a flat to live in. Service charges go up yearly, any general repairs to the flat by the freeholder, you will have to contribute.
Buy a house if you can even if it's in a cheap area. It is a better investment
Free hold house with a drive and garden is the best. Flat is a nightmare: lease, service charge, ground rent. Value of the flat doesn’t go up like the house. My house went up 40k in value in 2 years. My flat went down 20k and then went up 15k so down 5k in the last 5 years.
I remember when you had like 20-30k subs. So amazing to see i knew you were gonna blow up love the content keep it up.
Who cannot like content from someone like youu
Thanks for the video, different from here in Paris where you own a share of the land if you buy a flat. Public service taxes equals roughly 1k euros/year for a 1 bedroom apartment and it will cost you around 1,5k euros per year for the "frais de co-propriété" ( for co-ownership expenses like fixing the elevator, "concierge" etc ...) ... and you always own you property (not 125 years or ...)
I would never buy a leasehold after what happened to a friend.
The freeholder decided to build another floor on top of the block of flats and this couldn't be objected to, work started, the roof was removed and due to a number of issues the flats below became flooded and unliveable due to lack of diligence during the build work.
The freehold is in a limited company, the director of that company refuses to pay reasonable compensation (only £20k of £100k of damage) and has suggested they will liquidate the company if necessary.
Environmental health, the council, the planning departments, tenancy bodies all cannot help so it is now going through the courts leaving 4 leaseholders homeless for over a year now.
If you rent a flat, you have legal protections against the landlord. If you own the flat via leasehold you are at the mercy of the freeholder.. not somewhere you want to be!
100% agree. No one should ever ever buy a leasehold property, in my opinion. Awful system. Freeholders and managing agents get away with murder and the law is always on their side. The normal person has no chance. They can effectively do what they like and charge what they like and if you try to stand up for yourself and fight them, it will be long, convoluted, cost you money, almost certainly cost your mental health to some extent.
Thank you for sharing
Service charge in London is getting insane. It’s not uncommon to find new builds in canary wharf charging 400-500 pounds per month. That sounds like a second mortgage.
Please make a video on freehold houses and their disadvantage for the old people. It's not safe for an old couple to live alone. I know so many senior couples are selling their houses and moving to flats where they don't need to care for the maintenance, etc. Some people are finding a solution to this problem by renting the top floor to young people providing them with some emergency help and daily interaction opportunity. My parents sold their house as my father's health deteriorated and they moved in a flat of my younger brother. Of course, they are not happy but there is no other choice. In contrast, my in-laws are renting out the parts of their house, and the tenants provide immediate help in case of some urgent need. So beyond money, there are other issues as well. I have to take this decision 10 years from now. So I keenly watched your video. I don't like living in flats for the reasons you listed and I fully agree with it. It's a great video that you have made. I don't see many people discussing it.
So many moving parts handled so well.
Thanks for organizing the info so well taking this onboard for my channel as well 😅
Super helpful! I just dodged a major bullet on a leasehold, the freeholder dropped a 100k maintenance bill on all the owners and has really upset everyone. I'll not waste my money on a leasehold now, just bite the bullet and go for a house.
could you do a video about WHEN to buy? What signs to look for when entering a deal (location, market crash, price...), where you could go for good deals, what to avoid etc.?
Freehold is better in my opinion. Having a house myself with a mortgage you are right I am free to renovate and repair if and when I see fit. More control over costs with not too many price hikes apart from mortgage interest rates from time to time. Thanks for another great informative video Nischa.
This was very informative and I'd love to hear more form you on the topic of property ownership
Your channel grew so fast 0.0 I was here a few months ago and I think it was 10-60k at most? Damn well done! Haha
Also if you buy a house with a south facing roof you can install solar panels and reduce your energy bills ❤
Great video, clear points, well made. This is something that I am starting to consider again now i'm looking at getting back into property ownership, so it's good to remind myself of the pros and cons!
Your ground rent changes to zero when you extend your lease, via a statutory lease extension. New builds also do not have service charge.
Service charge on a leasehold exists to ensure maintenance and repairs. If you own a freehold you have to still bear these costs but they're just managed by you. It's not necessarily cheaper. If a roof on your freehold house needs replacing that's your cost. If you need to fix your driveway that's still your cost and you need to pay 100% of the cost, and organise it by yourself at your own time.
You need to have lived in a flat 2 years to extend the lease. You can have this deferred to you on purchase by the vendor if they have lived there for two years.
Thanks @nishcha for sharing the interesting topic. I think this analysis have dependencies whether it is landed house or flat. It is much appropriate to England & Wales. For other countries, in terms of investment to property ladder, the complexity of governmental approval, consumer behaviour, the security, the ROI bet LH and Flat..etc., need to be factored in. plus the T&C of mortgage on flat & landed house is crucial.
So what happens if you own a flat leasehold, and then one day in the future the government/council decide that they want to tear it down to make room for something else? Do they have to buy it off you first, or do you just loose your property with no compensation since you were not the freeholder?
Also, I would love to see more property related videos on this channel. Especially since the property game seems to be constantly changing so rapidly nowadays. It would be nice to get your opponion on this to keep up to date with it all.
If you can, please upload more videos about property. I may still have something to learn, god knows…😀another few things to consider:
1-Yes, flats are the cheapest way to move on the property ladder, however the value of a flat doesn’t increase as much as a house. A house pretty much doubles up in value every 10 years, but for a flat, the increase is nowhere near.
2- some people think that moving to a house from a flat will be better because you will save on maintenance charges bill from a flat. However, take in consideration that depending on the the tax band of the new house you moving into you will already ruin those savings either partly or entirely.
3- finding the cheapest contractor, I disagree. You buy cheap, you buy twice. Don’t ask how I know.
I find leaseholds with a half decent property manager are a paradise compared to a lot of freeholds.
Local authorities / councils don’t give a toss about neighbour disputes, noise, dogs barking at 2am, etc. and there is very little you can do to compel them to do anything about such things.
Whereas for a leasehold, your building manager has a responsibility under your contract to deal with these issues, and would be in breach of contract if they don’t… which you can in theory sue them for, which I suppose they might try to recover via the service charge, but if they start to take the piss then you can sell your flat before that happens and leave your neighbours with the bill for being a nuisance to begin with.
This could potentially become the most viewed video you have - great topic 🙏
Hi from UAE 🇦🇪 ,I can tell one general advice for real-estate investors globally, before you buy (whether apartment, house, retail, shelter or even Hut) try to consider the running costs and see the opportunity of High demand. this is an ABC rule in real-estate investing.
People say south facing but I think west facing is better personally, evening sun on weekdays!
You can never have too much property information. Pls keep them coming
I’m glad Scotland doesn’t have this freehold/leasehold thing.
As usual, you have collected all the pros and cons, in today's case of buying an apartment or house. Thank you.
Love the property videoa Nischa! Im selling up my house and deciding whether to buy a house or flat so this has been really useful.
Yep, same here!! Perfect video in a perfect time! Please make more of these 🙏💕
flats in uk can suck if you live in a family. Often times the flat walls are just cardboard everyone can hear your conversations, they can hear your steps. If unlucky, you're gonna have to deal with complaining neighbours all the time.
Do you mean to tell me that, in the UK, you never end up owning your apartment? That's awful! Definitely not the situation in some other European countries.
If you pay it off, you can own the flat, but if the flat is a leasehold, then you don't own the ground beneath you. So people usually extend their lease when it runs low (approaches 80 years remaining).
You have a long term lease, like a hundred years so effectively you own it.
This was super great Nischa, would love to see more content like this as I'm planning on making a down payment on a house in the next 3 years!
I bought a flat for investment 16 years ago at the top of a property bubble here in Ireland. It still hasn't recovered it's value, I'm paying 2200 per annum service charge and in I pay 50% tax on all rental income. Wish I'd bought a house instead it'd be worth way now more than I paid then.
Good Video! here in Australia houses tend to hold there value better being more desirable. Whilst most of the time its cheaper upfront to buy an apartment the upkeep is actually a lot more then a house. also resale a house will be easier to resell if you really need to move it on. The other negative with apartments is you cant control the costs as you mentioned, we also have strata fees in Australia on top of rates for apartments and that can really stack up on top of sinking funds and repairs as stated. You generally don't have a choice either when it comes to the external structure on if it gets repaired or not and costs are divided up between the owners and organised by the strata companies. Not to mention the strata company will tack on the administration fees on top of the repair fees.
There is a little caveat to a freehold as you are actually never a full owner in the UK. Under UK legal system, the Monarch, as head of state, owns the superior interest in all land in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In most cases, this is usually irrelevant but it can become relevant if a freehold property becomes ownerless. If this happens, freehold land may, in some circumstances, fall to the monarch as the owner of the superior interest. This process is called 'escheat'. Some other countries even in EU have laws where they also can confiscate owners land in certain circumstances.
Unless you register your allodial rights title to it alledegly equal to the monarch.
This is helpful. I’m saving every spare penny this year, and my original intention was to then put that money into a fixed savings account. But I’m now considering investing that as a deposit on a property.
Thank you for this explanation of how leaseholds work.
One more amazing video from your side.
Yes, would love more videos of this.
Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!
Valuable info dear Nischa. I don't normally comment but I hope this may also add on some info.I have to say that Location is the key whether house or flat for long term growth. House do cost alot to fix too at a lump sum cost although U can choose when to fix the problem but as house gets older, the value depreciates too unless you renovate which cost heaps too whereas with Flats/Apartments/Condo... You pay a body corporate or Strata fees every month or quarter to keep the place in good order but it is not in a big lump sum of money. In hindsight, the maintenance fees for both House or Flats comes to the same over time. If you own a freehold flat, the body corporate fix the building problem unlike owning a house, you would have to do the hard work, running around looking & waiting for tradies to come to fix your House so most retirees sell of their home to downsize moving into Flats for that reason, lock up and peace of mind not having to fix anything but just paying the quarterly maintenance fee. I hope this helps people to decide more of which to buy depends on their circumstances and lifestyle.😊
thank you for sharing
As a lift technician I certainly agree that lift maintenance is very expensive!
Another great video with very important points pointed out ☺️
It would be very interesting to learn more about real estate through your videos, so please keep sharing your knowledge about this topic.
I'd be interested if you ever thought about the opportunity to buy property abroad?
In general: Thank you so much for your very valuable work Nischa - absolutely love your content ❤
Loving the property videos, I have just started investing myself and appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge. Thanks 👍
Would be great to have a video on tax implications and regulations on buy to let's as I know regs have changed recently
Thank you for your insight. One thing I'd add regarding AirBnB and freeheld houses: as an architect in the USA, I've found that many jurisdictions are rather restrictive about allowing house owners to use their houses for short term rentals. When I built my house, there was an added fee for, and no guarantee of obtaining, permission to use part or all of my house for short term rentals. So that's a potential damper. This likely does not apply everywhere, but it is good to check with the local community development department what their rules are.
More home ownership videos please - any advice for divorcing women buying their new home
Yes please do make property ladder videos and teach us how to buy first house and where to buy and how to choose?
My eyes are open. Thank you! ❤
Hello Nischa Ji....I must say I am your biggest fan ever....i just love your videos but more so your narrations and the way you speak......it's so interesting.....I feel I can go on listening to you forever.....thanks for sharing such insightful information.....m sure these are prevalent and relevant in all kinds of economy and in every country....👍👍👍👍👍
Great content! Keep it coming
Thanks) this is the kind of video I really am glad to see in my feed) please keep it up, the topic is super useful)
Great video Nischa! My friends keep asking me to make a video about the UK property market too so this is a really good one to show them for the meantime!
I found this very useful, thank you so much! I would definitely be interested in more property content. Love your work!
05:46 what means adding floor space? it is limited with basement and walls...
I think it just depends… I have a house and the rent is okayish because of the location, in Manchester City centre the apartments are brand new and around the same price but rental income would be way higher because of location and condition
Clear direct and to the point. Refreshing 😎
I’m actually wondering whether to buy a property at all. The UK market is a crazy place atm. Given the increasing costs of utilities, taxes etc. they seem like a money pit to me. That, combined with effects of climate change ( ground source heating, insulation, de-commissioning of power stations ) would not encourage anyone to get on the so called property ladder. Perhaps if The Government insisted home loan providers changed the payment period from monthly to fortnightly buying a place might just become a little more affordable for some. If I were to buy anything it would be a terrace in a nice area that needed some tlc. Near the sea would be even better but not too close!
Thanks for this! Would love some more videos on property - particularly any advice you have on the step-by-step process of buying a house in the UK :)
Your doing gods work here almost all of your videos should be a curriculum and taught in schools!!! I wish I had this content leaving school
It would be really helpful if you could address the changes in the Buy to Let market and how best to approach the decision on whether to proceed with a B2L property.
Hi. Your insight is appreciated. Thank you for making these videos.
Also, your videos are very well put together and very well explained.
Great video, Nischa. Thank you!
More property videos please. This one was brilliant too!! Thanks @Nischa
Ground Rent is a peppercorn amount, i.e. £0 for any new leaseholds in the UK.
I understand what your saying and your most likely right but isn’t it good to have something in the market rather then nothing.
Yes speciific to your place.
I have never heard about "free holders". Here houses/buildings/flats are tied to land ownership.
Except your last house at the cemetery, you rent the land. It's in case you change you mind, I guess.
Love this nischa so much information qnd gems 👏🏿👏🏿
Good timing with this video as I’ve been wondering the pros/cons with House vs Flat as I’m hoping to buy a 2nd property soon!
I think location has a key factor in flat vs house too from an investment point!
You need to consider service charges
It is becoming more difficult to make housing as an investment work.
Despite them being very rare, I would never recommend ANYONE buy a leasehold house. Leasehold flat is fine if you can handle it, but you absolutely want to own the ground of the house you buy, 100%.