Southampton

[deano]

Deano,

My lodger has decided to buy a flat in central southampton. See my post on PMT:

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=10275624

I believe it is the Orchard Place development. Know anything about it?

I don't know about the price, but go and look in sureline propertie's for a more realistic idea on the rent. You can get a nice pad in Ocean Village for £750 but not where he is. If its one of the I2O developements its stuffed up a dark back allay. Taking some bird up there, she's gona think he's lying about having a flat and will be shaking with fear before she knows he ain't joking. Its also opposite ochard place. One of the worst council sink estates in the country where some real nutta's live.

Rethinking the price - it also sounds OTT. I know its town center but I would do more research for him if he won't do it himself.

[StrangeTimes]

Deano,

This is the place:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-731...=1&tr_t=buy

[deano]

Deano,

This is the place:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-731...=1&tr_t=buy

Not bad actually. Not Ocean Village but next best. This is Briton Street. The corner developement is Barrats the next up is Kingsoak although they are actually they same firm and would certainly colude on pricing. I really would hold off until at least telephone house hits the market, Castle street will follow, the elements are in place for a bloody pricing desaster in this area. BTL'ers have lost a fortune on some of them and I do mean around 40% in 2 years. Read back on this thread.

Keep us posted.

I haven't time to do this properly today but the up my street graphs are out. The link to one of them is below.

http://www.upmystreet.com/property/prices/flats/l/so14.html

Edited November 21, 2006 by deano

[StrangeTimes]

Cheers, Deano.

As I said, the flat is for my lodger and I need the spare room back!

At the end of the day, he may lose money on it or at least take a long time to get his money back. But he has a secure job so he will live to fight another day!

[backtoparents]

Back to my favourite - Roxan Mews.

Some time ago - all sold out, according to the developer.

So - time to flip - since the developer has none left, especially with those troublesome furniture packages!

Stick the advert in the local estate agents, and wait for it to appear on rightmove. Money shoud be rolling in in no time.

Hang on - why is there a new one up for sale at a lower price? @rse!

btp

[backtoparents]

More flat resales at The Dell ...

There are more - guess where prices have headed since 2004

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=the+d...+so15&n=100

btp

There are more - guess where prices have headed since 2004

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=the+d...+so15&n=100

btp

and more haircuts at charter house

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=chart...mpton&n=100

btp

[Southampton Bull]

Hi Folks!

I am trying to do as much research as possible before I make any further investment in the Oceana Boulevard development next to Queens Park on Briton Street. I have my eye on one of the Penthouse apartments in Phase II (next to Queens Park, over looking the Solent). The apartment is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath with roof terrace; and jaw-dropping views of the the City Centre and all of the Solent. On a clear day, the coast of IOW is easily seen.

What concerns me is the premium price per square foot Barratt is asking. Where as all other developments in the area are averaging £390 - £460 per square foot, with no views to speak of, this particular apartment is currently priced at £700 per square foot. Granted, the upgraded ammenities that are included in the price are quite nice; under-floor heating, A/C, Jacuzzi tub in the family bath, plumbed American-sized fridge freezer, professional grade appliances, electric blinds, marble flooring through out, Paula Rosa designer kitchen, private lift entrance, (geez, I'm beginning to sound like the marketing glossy here...). Oh, and to mention yet again... tha jaw dropping views.

I plan to own this property for at least 5 years; perhaps even longer.

As I have been told, there is planned an incredible amount of water front revitalisation; including restaurants, the Millenium Hotel at Ocean Village, the Pier next to Red Funnel, etc.

Thoughts? Comments???

Thanks in advance....

Cheers!

[Its time to buy]

I plan to own this property for at least 5 years; perhaps even longer.

I would ignore all the extras thrown in, and see what you are paying for - a top floor flat with nice views. That suddenly seems very expensive. How much is it? £500-600K?

You intend to keep it for what is a relatively short term, in terms of the life of a mortgage. Too many people at this time, think they will buy something, and then sell it on to the next person for a profit. It s a speculative punt, in my opinion.

There are some penthouse apartments available in ocean village, last time i visited - why are these not sold?

I ve just done a search on rightmove, and there a handful penthouses for sale.

It would be difficult to resell this in a hurry i would believe, although if a profit was to be made, it would be much larger.

[Solvent Celt]

Hi Folks!

I am trying to do as much research as possible before I make any further investment in the Oceana Boulevard development next to Queens Park on Briton Street. I have my eye on one of the Penthouse apartments in Phase II (next to Queens Park, over looking the Solent). The apartment is a 2-bedroom, 2-bath with roof terrace; and jaw-dropping views of the the City Centre and all of the Solent. On a clear day, the coast of IOW is easily seen.

What concerns me is the premium price per square foot Barratt is asking. Where as all other developments in the area are averaging £390 - £460 per square foot, with no views to speak of, this particular apartment is currently priced at £700 per square foot. Granted, the upgraded ammenities that are included in the price are quite nice; under-floor heating, A/C, Jacuzzi tub in the family bath, plumbed American-sized fridge freezer, professional grade appliances, electric blinds, marble flooring through out, Paula Rosa designer kitchen, private lift entrance, (geez, I'm beginning to sound like the marketing glossy here...). Oh, and to mention yet again... tha jaw dropping views.

I plan to own this property for at least 5 years; perhaps even longer.

As I have been told, there is planned an incredible amount of water front revitalisation; including restaurants, the Millenium Hotel at Ocean Village, the Pier next to Red Funnel, etc.

Thoughts? Comments???

Thanks in advance....

Cheers!

I fail to see how any kind of view of Southampton and the Solent (inc Fawley refinery, military port and the docks) could be remotely "jaw dropping".

To cut through the spin you are looking buying a top floor flat in a semi industrial location not on the waterfront at a point in time when Southampton appears to be experiencing a glut of flats. They still haven't sold all the flats at the first phase of ocean village.

Even the virtual tour of the Penthouse makes both the kitchen and bedrooms look very small.

Why anybody would spend money on such a leasehold flat as opposed to a cheaper 4 bed detached freehold house is beyond me, but I guess it's horses for courses.

I wonder what the monthly service charges would be?

In regards to the waterfront "revitalisation" - they planned Ocean Village more flats & restaurants but the developing company went bust! Remember what happened to the previous development? It became a ghost town in short order. I see a pattern here. Still Kutis are planning another curry house at the old Pavillion (classy!) right next to where the Red Funnel loads the HGV's bound for the Isle of Wight.

IMHO they can dress this area up all they want but it is always going to be an industrial zone.

I walked past the other day and the area still has a worn out industrial feel to it. Even some of the recent developments are already showing peeling varnish on the wood cladding and significant water staining/damage to the brick work.

On the up side it IS conveniently located if you work in the city centre whilst Oxford street is close for pubs/overpriced restaurant chains. Larger World isn't far either if your idea of fun is being sprayed with sewage at "Jumping Spacks".

If you did want to spend a million wouldn't you be better off looking in the New Forest for something?

Edited December 13, 2006 by Solvent Celt

[deano]

Last month the Poles had a meeting with the TGWU in Southampton. They are interested in opening a Polish branch apparently. They met someone high up and I don't know the outcome. They are getting organised against the p*** taking low paying employers of some of the city's wealthiest company's like ASDA and Tesco etc. If the trade unions get a foot hold again, employers only have themselves to blame. I hope, when the power rebalances, that the employees won't take the p*** as in the past. Good luck to them I hope it works.

BAT rolled its last cigerette in millbrook this week. A whole job lot of well payed unskilled and semi-skilled jobs up in smoke. Hope they cleared thier mortgages.

I know Portsmouth isn't our plot, but if that naval yard go's and the decision will be made soon, it will be like an economic bomb down there. 40,000 well paid semi-skilled and skilled jobs will go directly and indirectly. The workers will compete for such work in Southampton, driving wages down here. Property prices there will take a hit, many FTB workers in Southampton will buy in Portsmouth and commute, thus creating congestion hell on the M27. Those not working will stay in Southampton, exactly where the productive people need to live, isn't it mad.

Poole Pottery have laid off all thier staff for christmas, no notice given. I watched this performance on the local news last night, some chap saying no wages etc. The company needs to evaluate its viabillity etc. Thats not how these company's operate, they don't just lay off staff, have an MD's meet and decide what to do. They already have a plan and its in progress now, every move is choreagraphed to the plan etc, mark my words. They will go bust on a Friday and re-open Monday morning as Bournemouth Pottery or something. They will re-employ thier skilled staff on two thirds wages and the rest will be Poles on the minimum rate. Lets see if I'm right after christmas.

I haven't done a survey recently, all I can say is that the reality of the property price situation in Southampton is nothing like the media portrays nationally. Prices are at national average now, they got there in the middle of this year. They are not going up, I think they will tank. Major loses have hit people that bought 2 beds central, they just don't have the resale value once used.

The December Fox and Son auction had at least five Southampton houses available, they were not derelicts, I think repo's. The quantity going through them has not increased but I think thats more to do with a change in the law regarding the resale of repo's.

http://www.propwld.co.uk/auction/foxssouth.htm

Edited December 21, 2006 by deano

[deano]

Bournemouth. Basco engineering at bournemouth airport is to close. Another 145 quality jobs are lost to the southeast

[StrangeTimes]

Hi Deano,

First a big thanks for all your informative posts over the last year - I think we both agree that Soton will tank at some point - the question is when.

As usual I did my anual xmas shopping at the last minute (saturday) with a quick trip on the train to Southampton. I made a couple of observations:

1) Walking down the hight street was like taking a stroll in downtown Krakow the amount of Polish I heard. These were not single guys, but relatively young couples. There were all looking pretty grumpy, stressed and skint - but then ar'nt we all at xmas!

2) The shops were busy but no way as busy as last year. Last year you had to push and shove at the entrance to West Quay - this year I did not have to queue at any shops at all

3) Lots of places already started thier sales - I expect that this will enable retailers to publish decent sales figures but margins will be shot. Turnover is vanity etc....

4) The lodger moves into his new flat in a few days - I think the penny has finally dropped that he will be skint!

[deano]

Have done a survey down in the town today.

Block 5 of 8 in Ocean Village has not been started. Nothing has happened on the 1500 unit woolston site either. Oceana Court is finished on Briton Street. The Oceana Boulavard build next to it by Barratt is going up painfully slowly. They have nearly finished the main complex and are now excavating behind it. Telephone house looks 3 months away from finish. Telephone house is a Linden job. I note that the Castle Way developement is also Linden and is going great guns. Nothing happening at the train station site yet.

I don't see any dramatic fall in prices of any property. Rents are rock solid across the board.

Local Economy

IKEA are to build down on the West Quay creating 500 jobs. As it happens, they having the Super Casino plans in front of the council today, the council don't want it and neither do I. That doesn't mean we won't get it. They got more legal dosh than us and will put up one hell of a fight. I have seen parts of the world where gambling is established and it has a devastating effect on everything.

I would rather the council waited and let P&O have the land in 2008. Even if they can't get P&O to build us an Ice Rink in the deal. I fear the casino will offer it and win public support for its application.

Down in Pompey.

Still waiting to hear about the Naval Yards future, if it has one. TB was upbeat about it. Good news fo VT though, they got the £400 million Oman job to keep them going for 5 years. I have heard today that quiniteq have got the training contract. any benefit the Oman job will bring will be knocked out by the loss of work in the area to Wales.

Poole Pottery

They got interested party's as buyers but I fear for it. A company like that can't sit around going stale on the market, it will loose its customer, skill and everything else base if it idles too long. The land its on makes it valuable as flats as well. The buyer may not really want the pottery at all.

Edited January 18, 2007 by deano

[deano]

All the Southeast planning people are having a meeting in Chichester today to discuss the 2 bed apartment situation in the South East. They think the bubble may burst. They have said that there is a need for family homes.

Well, well. They are too late to stop a collapse in the sector IMHO. Lets see what comes out of it.

Link to main board discussion below.

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=41159

Edited January 25, 2007 by deano

[deano]

Watching BBC South.

There was this small but interesting article about traffic in Southampton. For 2 years they have had a policy of not building parking spaces adequate for new residential, shopping and commercial premises. Result - traffic volumn has been static while other city's have had an increase of 2%.

It seems enough people get fed up driving round and round car parks they simply get a bus next time.

Annecdotal: Actually, the buses in the city are doing really quite well. Partly the reason is as above but with a large migrant populace the demand has risen.

The bus service was brocken up as a state monopoly many years ago to allow free competition. That competition no longer exists because both blue line and 1st Bus are owned by the same organisation. I don't know the umbrella name. A driver told me they act as competitors but that they are co-operating. This is of concern to me because it could lead to price fixing. No longer a state monopoly it is a private one.

[deano]

Well thats a relief - Manchester gets the supercasino. Southampton couldn't match the population, we were always a non starter. A big BUT though. Another 90 licences have already been issued in the last 2 years and 3 are for Southamton. So thats a total of 6. Where these other three are going to go is as yet unknown. We have Curzons nr Ocean Village, Grosvenor on West Quay and Trents on Town Quay, do we really need any more. I say NO!.

[deano]

Southampton is to be granted a licence for a 'large' casino. That is a step from 'super' casino but I still don't want it here. The Lib Dem councillor speaking on TV last night said that it would make four casino's, the 'large' one being on the Peer. He forgot to mention that three other licences have already been granted, perhaps he did not know. My guess is that smaller casino's will be opened attached to current nightclubs such as Retro and what was Chicago's now called something else.

Anecdotal

Did you know that 20% of Australia tax is from gambling. Not only are its people hooked on it, but the state feels it can't do without it either. I disagree; shut down the gambling facilities tomorrow and that money will be spent elsewhere in Australia's economy and the tax will come from elsewhere. Ring fence the money inside Australia by taxing air transport and it won't get spent on holidays abroad. Another benefit would come from dismantleing Australia's tax funded support system for those with gambling related problems.

I state.

Casino's remove an amount of money from the economy that is disproportionate to the amount of work they create. i.e they damage the larger economy.

Casino's do bring initial inward investment but they are designed to make a profit, that profit is repatriated outside the local economy and probably abroad.

Again the initial gain is soon lost and then impoverishes at infinitum.

[deano]

Brackendale Homes have just gone bust, does anyone know any of their sites. There could be a sell off. Was based out of Solent Business Park.

Link.

http://www.ukdata.com/company-credit-repor...ES-LIMITED.html

Edited February 1, 2007 by deano

[deano]

The Echo. Febuary 3rd 2007. Front Page.

Three homes repossed every day. The story refers to the Hampshire repossession figures for 2006. 1050 were repossessed in hampshire 356 being in Southampton. Three a day in Hamshire and one a day in Southampton. Michael Coogan gets to spill his carefully constructed speal so as not to cause alarm. Nationaly repossessions were up 65% on 2005 (17000) but he predicts that 2007 will see 19,000 and 2008, 20,000. So I calculate the consecutive increase year on year will be 11% at end of 2007 and a 5% increase on 2007 at end of 2008.

And on what does Mr Coogan base this prediction. Is it the rising cost of everything. The static rise in real take home pay. The prediction that interests rates will go up. He's talking absolute rubbish. Repossessions are on the exponential curve up and away.

Land reg have released some data on Southampton. Release date is 29th January 2007 and I am assuming it is the compiled data for all of Q4.

Link.

http://www.landreg.gov.uk/assets/library/d...ts/hpir0107.pdf

Go to page 8.

Annual increase across the board of 5.4% and month on month 0.8%.

Edited February 8, 2007 by deano

[rickpoker]

Some good news

There are two new entries for charter house

http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/ind...22185&st=30

See post 35

The last 5 most recent resells - 4 have lost money

I think the new builds that have sprung up like telephone house are dragging prices down?

E.g. 2 bed new apartment at telephone house is £180K

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-779...=1&tr_t=buy

Anyone paying like £245K at charter house is now looking a bit expensive

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member to this site, but i have been reading your posts for many months now and have found them very useful. So anyway i've have been looking to buy a flat in Southampton (to live in, i hate gardening!!). My search has been focused around the city centre so here's my views on the following developments:

Telephone house: yes £179,950 is great starting price, however you should try buying one, all sold off-plan to investors. So what can you buy? 4th floor £219,950 two bed. Nice flats a bit small and poor lay outs.

The dell: what happened!! it looked to be very nice to start with looking bad now give it a few more years.

Ocean village WB development. These are the most over priced flats in Southampton, very nice, a good size but not a great size. Are they a good buy? i found a 3rd floor 2bed flat up for £199,950. However with a closer look, and i have found about 45 for sale in these 3 blocks alone, most have ever been lived in!! service charges over £1,800 a year. A nice flat if you plan to keep it for life!! run a mile!!.

Oceana Boulevard: Have yet to start building a 3rd of this development, the rest of the development looks to be mostly finished. However the best the developer could or for me was £215,950 for a ground floor two bed flat (£205,950 after discounts). Again small flats and over priced!! Also i hear that these flats are having major water leak problems and first buyers are now jumping ship!!

Charter house: Good size flats and excellent prices. I know these flats have been talked about before on this forum. I looked at very large 2bed over 850 sq ft in good condition bought for £250 down to under £200. So a good buy at the bottom of a crashing market? sorry guys read this letter sent to lease holders:

As you will be aware the service charge accounts for the above development have now been sent out for the forthcoming year. Whilst CPM endeavour to maintain service charge budget costs to a reasonable level, the previous two years maintenance costs for “Charterhouse New Build” have proved to be unsustainable.

This, in part can be attributed to damage incurred through water ingress via the roof and poor plumbing installation during building construction affecting the fabric of the building and the lifts.

It is understood that Persimmon Homes have now instructed a consultant to carryout an independent survey of the roof. However, during last year, other major forms of service charge expenditure have been incurred notably to the communal entrance doors, water charges, external/ internal lighting and the electric entrance gates.

The sheer volume of Insurance claims for Charterhouse New Build, over the same period has meant that CPM will experience difficulty in obtaining insurance cover for this building.

Further to our conversation this morning regarding the above development I can confirm that over the last two years the insurers have incurred approx £250k worth of claims costs. This is going to make it extremely difficult/almost impossible to obtain any sort of insurance cover from June onwards taking this in to account.

Although the roof being repaired/replaced will help the situation unfortunately a large amount of the claims seem to be due to the sub standard plumbing that has been carried out on site and nothing that is done is going to change the horrendous claims experience that all insurers will take in to account when offering terms & deciding on a premium for a particular policy.

Potentially if no insurer is willing to offer any sort of cover on the development the management company may find themselves in a situation where the damage from these claims is not paid for and thus for cannot be repaired making the situation progressively worse as time goes on.

The substantial increase in insurance premium costs for the forthcoming year is mostly responsible for the severe “hike” in the budget. CPM were advised by the brokers to almost treble the anticipated premium costs in the hope that at least one insurance company would take on the “risk”. However, this by no means confirms that we will be able to obtain a Buildings Insurance policy.

Both Persimmon Homes and your Freeholder have been made aware of our concerns, together with the detrimental effect these costs are placing on the service charge budget. It has been suggested to your Freeholder that perhaps in the light of the above information they would prefer to seek their own Block Buildings Insurance Policy, however, we have still to receive an acknowledgement of our letter.

In the light of the above situation, CPM have now requested that our brokers seek to obtain a separate Block Buildings Insurance policy cover for Maritime Chambers, Provincial House, Neptune House and White House, when the insurance policy is due to be renewed on the 1st of June 2007. The reason being is that these residents are being severely compromised in relation to the increase in the overall budget for the Management Company, due to the number of claims being submitted by residents of Charterhouse New Build.

Whilst it is understood that the N.H.B.C are still very much involved with your development in their attempts to address inherent defects, these matters are very much outside of CPM’s remit and because of this, we are solely reliant upon the information being reported back to us by third parties.

Currently the service charge arrears for your Management Company have reached an all time high, and, as a consequence it has become virtually impossible for CPM to undertake any form of maintenance work of late due to the severe shortage of funds.

If the Management Company cannot operate due to lack of funding, it will become unlawful for CPM to continue to provide contract services in the knowledge that there are no funds available to meet the invoice payments required.

At this point in time we wish to make it clear that CPM will not be compromised in any way, nor undertake any Act in the knowledge that it is breaking the law and therefore, should the Management Company become devoid of funds, all services including Maintenance Contractors for the above development, will undoubtedly be withdrawn and will not be resumed until such time as the service charge account can support the Contractors' payments.

Failure to meet your service charge obligations will place you in breach of your Covenant and therefore there will be a possibility of a legal prosecution being made against you, which I am sure you would choose to avoid.

Charter house looks to be that they call a lemon in the car world!! By the way from what i hear this letter has been turned down many levels from what it should be.

So now i'm looking at the Parkview development i'll let you know how it goes!!

Rich

[Quasimodo's Hump]

Charter house looks to be that they call a lemon in the car world!! By the way from what i hear this letter has been turned down many levels from what it should be.

Charter House has been in trouble for some time, take a look at flat 68. http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=85+ch...lat+68&n=10

Southampton is set for a major fall in flat/apartment values, far too many have been built.

There are still some mugs about though. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-125...=1&tr_t=buy

Edited February 11, 2007 by Quasimodo's Hump

[deano]

Hi everyone,

I'm a new member to this site, but i have been reading your posts for many months now and have found them very useful. So anyway i've have been looking to buy a flat in Southampton (to live in, i hate gardening!!). My search has been focused around the city centre so here's my views on the following developments:

Telephone house: yes £179,950 is great starting price, however you should try buying one, all sold off-plan to investors. So what can you buy? 4th floor £219,950 two bed. Nice flats a bit small and poor lay outs.

The dell: what happened!! it looked to be very nice to start with looking bad now give it a few more years.

Ocean village WB development. These are the most over priced flats in Southampton, very nice, a good size but not a great size. Are they a good buy? i found a 3rd floor 2bed flat up for £199,950. However with a closer look, and i have found about 45 for sale in these 3 blocks alone, most have ever been lived in!! service charges over £1,800 a year. A nice flat if you plan to keep it for life!! run a mile!!.

Oceana Boulevard: Have yet to start building a 3rd of this development, the rest of the development looks to be mostly finished. However the best the developer could or for me was £215,950 for a ground floor two bed flat (£205,950 after discounts). Again small flats and over priced!! Also i hear that these flats are having major water leak problems and first buyers are now jumping ship!!

Charter house: Good size flats and excellent prices. I know these flats have been talked about before on this forum. I looked at very large 2bed over 850 sq ft in good condition bought for £250 down to under £200. So a good buy at the bottom of a crashing market? sorry guys read this letter sent to lease holders:

As you will be aware the service charge accounts for the above development have now been sent out for the forthcoming year. Whilst CPM endeavour to maintain service charge budget costs to a reasonable level, the previous two years maintenance costs for “Charterhouse New Build” have proved to be unsustainable.

This, in part can be attributed to damage incurred through water ingress via the roof and poor plumbing installation during building construction affecting the fabric of the building and the lifts.

It is understood that Persimmon Homes have now instructed a consultant to carryout an independent survey of the roof. However, during last year, other major forms of service charge expenditure have been incurred notably to the communal entrance doors, water charges, external/ internal lighting and the electric entrance gates.

The sheer volume of Insurance claims for Charterhouse New Build, over the same period has meant that CPM will experience difficulty in obtaining insurance cover for this building.

Further to our conversation this morning regarding the above development I can confirm that over the last two years the insurers have incurred approx £250k worth of claims costs. This is going to make it extremely difficult/almost impossible to obtain any sort of insurance cover from June onwards taking this in to account.

Although the roof being repaired/replaced will help the situation unfortunately a large amount of the claims seem to be due to the sub standard plumbing that has been carried out on site and nothing that is done is going to change the horrendous claims experience that all insurers will take in to account when offering terms & deciding on a premium for a particular policy.

Potentially if no insurer is willing to offer any sort of cover on the development the management company may find themselves in a situation where the damage from these claims is not paid for and thus for cannot be repaired making the situation progressively worse as time goes on.

The substantial increase in insurance premium costs for the forthcoming year is mostly responsible for the severe “hike” in the budget. CPM were advised by the brokers to almost treble the anticipated premium costs in the hope that at least one insurance company would take on the “risk”. However, this by no means confirms that we will be able to obtain a Buildings Insurance policy.

Both Persimmon Homes and your Freeholder have been made aware of our concerns, together with the detrimental effect these costs are placing on the service charge budget. It has been suggested to your Freeholder that perhaps in the light of the above information they would prefer to seek their own Block Buildings Insurance Policy, however, we have still to receive an acknowledgement of our letter.

In the light of the above situation, CPM have now requested that our brokers seek to obtain a separate Block Buildings Insurance policy cover for Maritime Chambers, Provincial House, Neptune House and White House, when the insurance policy is due to be renewed on the 1st of June 2007. The reason being is that these residents are being severely compromised in relation to the increase in the overall budget for the Management Company, due to the number of claims being submitted by residents of Charterhouse New Build.

Whilst it is understood that the N.H.B.C are still very much involved with your development in their attempts to address inherent defects, these matters are very much outside of CPM’s remit and because of this, we are solely reliant upon the information being reported back to us by third parties.

Currently the service charge arrears for your Management Company have reached an all time high, and, as a consequence it has become virtually impossible for CPM to undertake any form of maintenance work of late due to the severe shortage of funds.

If the Management Company cannot operate due to lack of funding, it will become unlawful for CPM to continue to provide contract services in the knowledge that there are no funds available to meet the invoice payments required.

At this point in time we wish to make it clear that CPM will not be compromised in any way, nor undertake any Act in the knowledge that it is breaking the law and therefore, should the Management Company become devoid of funds, all services including Maintenance Contractors for the above development, will undoubtedly be withdrawn and will not be resumed until such time as the service charge account can support the Contractors' payments.

Failure to meet your service charge obligations will place you in breach of your Covenant and therefore there will be a possibility of a legal prosecution being made against you, which I am sure you would choose to avoid.

Charter house looks to be that they call a lemon in the car world!! By the way from what i hear this letter has been turned down many levels from what it should be.

So now i'm looking at the Parkview development i'll let you know how it goes!!

Rich

Good God. This is absolutely horrendous. If the local press were to get hold of this it would finish the market here completely. These flats are virtually unsaleable, if you can't get a mortgage on one you can't buy one, period.

Actually, if the local press were to get hold of it they probably wouldn't run with it, they take too much EA advertising money.

[Quasimodo's Hump]

Good God. This is absolutely horrendous. If the local press were to get hold of this it would finish the market here completely. These flats are virtually unsaleable, if you can't get a mortgage on one you can't buy one, period.

Actually, if the local press were to get hold of it they probably wouldn't run with it, they take too much EA advertising money.

If rickpoker can scan a copy of the letter and post it here, one of us could pass it on and see what happens. It would need to be a scan of the actual headed letter though.

[spline]

I thought I’d add these graphs from the quarterly DCLG median series based on LR sold prices data. Lots of others as well, Eastleigh, Romsey, Winchester, etc., see here.

http://www.houseprices.uk.net/regional/southampton.html

Edited February 12, 2007 by spline

[Quasimodo's Hump]

I thought I’d add these graphs from the quarterly DCLG median series based on LR sold prices data. Lots of others as well, Eastleigh, Romsey, Winchester, etc., see here.

Those graphs only show the recent boom and give the impression that house prices only go up. Do you have any that go back a few more years to include the last crash so that we can see a complete cycle?

Edited February 12, 2007 by Quasimodo's Hump