# Why is it hard to get a mortgage on a flat in a concrete tower block?



## StupidAsshole (Aug 4, 2005)

In my fantasies, I want to buy this place: 

http://www.findaproperty.com/agent.aspx?agentid=2503&opt=prop&pid=255489


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## StupidAsshole (Aug 4, 2005)

Are they prone to falling down, like Ronan Point?


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## marty21 (Aug 4, 2005)

they are difficult to sell on, particularly if they are above the 5th floor, generally traditional lenders are reluctant to lend on them, there can be some huge service charges when they carry out works to the block, if they need to put a new lift in, or new roof, or carry out redecoration works in the common parts


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## ernestolynch (Aug 4, 2005)

I would imagine it's because these monstrosities are outdated and are being gradually pulled down by councils.


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## marty21 (Aug 4, 2005)

actually, they are coming back into fashion...


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## ernestolynch (Aug 4, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> actually, they are coming back into fashion...



O! Allah! Seriously? Ah well, each to their own...


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## boohoo (Aug 4, 2005)

ernestolynch said:
			
		

> I would imagine it's because these monstrosities are outdated and are being gradually pulled down by councils.



Not monstrosities. Usually have really well designed interiors, much more suitable to modern living than Victorian houses. It is usually the residents who turn the blocks into horrible places to live by smoking crack on the stairs and peeing in the lift.

Still if you really hate them, you can blow them up online: 

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index/hackney/history-online/housing-blowdown.htm


I use to live in the one on the left.


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## exosculate (Aug 4, 2005)

If motgage companies are not happy that a dwelling has at least a 60 year life span they do not like them.


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## boohoo (Aug 4, 2005)

StupidAsshole said:
			
		

> In my fantasies, I want to buy this place:
> 
> http://www.findaproperty.com/agent.aspx?agentid=2503&opt=prop&pid=255489



My landlord in the block I was in couldn't get a mortgage on it but then he was on the 18th floor. For a building to collapse like Ronan Point, it would depend on it's structure. In the link in my previous post, the Clapton Park blocks have a similar structure to Ronan Point.


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## WWWeed (Aug 4, 2005)

If you move there I can see you bumping into london pirates setting up on your roof.....


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## Chester Copperpot (Aug 4, 2005)

marty21 said:
			
		

> they are difficult to sell on, particularly if they are above the 5th floor, generally traditional lenders are reluctant to lend on them, there can be some huge service charges when they carry out works to the block, if they need to put a new lift in, or new roof, or carry out redecoration works in the common parts



Yep - this is all true - together with the fact they're generally not constructed very well and are prone to faults.


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## tobyjug (Aug 4, 2005)

It may have been built with High Alumina Cement. (This is problematic over a certain span)


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## liberty (Aug 4, 2005)

I had a mortgage with Barclays on my 7th floor flat. Barclays have now stopped doing them but I think Bank of Scotland do


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## lang rabbie (Aug 4, 2005)

ernestolynch said:
			
		

> I would imagine it's because these monstrosities are outdated and are being gradually pulled down by councils.



Actually I tried to get English Heritage to list the Brandon Estate blocks including Bateman House when they were doing their "thematic survey" in the 1990s.    They are an incredibly good bit of design by Ted Hollamby when he was at the LCC, and they are robustly constructed - not using a prefabricated system.

Unfortunately, being an architectural purist, I'd demolish the rooftop bungalows (including your dream home) and reinstate the roof sunbathing terraces.

They have inspired painter David Hepher  - his exhibition _The Windows of the Brandon Estate: An Elegy to Tall Buildings_ held at Flowers East at London Fields in 1999 was fascinating.   I just wish I could afford one of his pictures!


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## pogofish (Aug 4, 2005)

exosculate said:
			
		

> If motgage companies are not happy that a dwelling has at least a 60 year life span they do not like them.



Many tower blocks were built with a lower life expactancy than that.  For some, as little as 25 years.


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## liberty (Aug 4, 2005)

pogofish said:
			
		

> Many tower blocks were built with a lower life expactancy than that.  For some, as little as 25 years.




True the one I bought was put up in 1975 with 25 year life.. Now the flats in teher are selling for £160,000


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## marty21 (Aug 4, 2005)

it is pretty cool when they are blown up, saw a few in hackney, used to do a load over the summer, one double tower block near hackney downs was really good...


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## gaijingirl (Aug 4, 2005)

When we bought our place we looked at a number of concrete blocks and were basically told that we would have to buy for cash as no one would lend on them.  We then lost a flat on Brixton Water Lane which has "open deck access" as we could not find a bank who would lend on that either (amongst other problems such as lying scumbag Estate Agents!)!!   It was REALLY frustrating.


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## ernestolynch (Aug 4, 2005)

lang rabbie said:
			
		

> Actually I tried to get English Heritage to list the Brandon Estate blocks including Bateman House when they were doing their "thematic survey" in the 1990s.    They are an incredibly good bit of design by Ted Hollamby when he was at the LCC, and they are robustly constructed - not using a prefabricated system.
> 
> Unfortunately, being an architectural purist, I'd demolish the rooftop bungalows (including your dream home) and reinstate the roof sunbathing terraces.
> 
> They have inspired painter David Hepher  - his exhibition _The Windows of the Brandon Estate: An Elegy to Tall Buildings_ held at Flowers East at London Fields in 1999 was fascinating.   I just wish I could afford one of his pictures!



Fine and dandy, but I bet that David Hepher doesn't have to walk up 20 flights of piss-stinking stairs past graffiti, smack needles and muggers to get to his cosy little gaff...


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## boohoo (Aug 4, 2005)

ernestolynch said:
			
		

> Fine and dandy, but I bet that David Hepher doesn't have to walk up 20 flights of piss-stinking stairs past graffiti, smack needles and muggers to get to his cosy little gaff...



He uses the lift!


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## knopf (Aug 4, 2005)

We got a mortgage on our 12th floor flat from HSBC, who are about the only big mortgage lender that _don't_ have a "No mortgages about floor x" policy. 

Obviously, folk will have their HSBC horror stories, but when we walked in there, I didn't even have a bank account or a job (although I did have a job starting a month later), & my Mrs was a full-time student (still is). And we walked out of there 2 hours later with a joint bank account & a mortgage.


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## Bob (Aug 4, 2005)

Barclays are ok too - though they may have a height restriction. They were the only people willing to lend to me on my former flat (1st floor ex council red brick but in a block 90% still council).... 

BTW service charges can be a nightmare on some ex council places. Lifts cost a fortune to replace (I shelled out over £2,000 on one at my old place) and other major rennovations can also be enormously expensive. Imagine having to cover a tower block in scaffolding - not cheap...


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## William of Walworth (Aug 4, 2005)

This place is not far from my block. No time to answer now. Beer calls. Back onto it tomorrow.

If noone can get a mortgage, perhaps Southwark Council (my landlords) will repossess it and let it back to tenants!!


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## marty21 (Aug 4, 2005)

Bob said:
			
		

> Barclays are ok too - though they may have a height restriction. They were the only people willing to lend to me on my former flat (1st floor ex council red brick but in a block 90% still council)....
> 
> BTW service charges can be a nightmare on some ex council places. Lifts cost a fortune to replace (I shelled out over £2,000 on one at my old place) and other major rennovations can also be enormously expensive. Imagine having to cover a tower block in scaffolding - not cheap...



i think lenders prefer ex council blocks to be very ex council, 75%+ sold off...


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## Tank Girl (Aug 4, 2005)

StupidAsshole said:
			
		

> In my fantasies, I want to buy this place:
> 
> http://www.findaproperty.com/agent.aspx?agentid=2503&opt=prop&pid=255489


 and you'd be living on the set of a very funny show


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## StupidAsshole (Aug 5, 2005)

Love those paintings. They're really beautiful. Thanks.





			
				lang rabbie said:
			
		

> Actually I tried to get English Heritage to list the Brandon Estate blocks including Bateman House when they were doing their "thematic survey" in the 1990s.    They are an incredibly good bit of design by Ted Hollamby when he was at the LCC, and they are robustly constructed - not using a prefabricated system.
> 
> Unfortunately, being an architectural purist, I'd demolish the rooftop bungalows (including your dream home) and reinstate the roof sunbathing terraces.
> 
> They have inspired painter David Hepher  - his exhibition _The Windows of the Brandon Estate: An Elegy to Tall Buildings_ held at Flowers East at London Fields in 1999 was fascinating.   I just wish I could afford one of his pictures!


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## Reno (Sep 18, 2005)

I always wanted to live in a 60's tower block and I've recently looked at a flat in the Brandon Estate pictured above. In comparison to a new, purpose built shared home ownership flat in the same price range I viewed, this was much larger and better designed, so I'm seriously considering going for it.

I would be much obliged if anybody who lives there could tell me how it's like, especially in terms of crime, community and service charges or if they know of any renovations that are planned. I'd also like to hear of other leaseholders who have bought flats in ex-council high rise buildings.


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