right_freds_dead Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 i love the word 'luxury' apartments, when attached to some faceless 4 high red block. full chavy public access. small. no driveway parking. no garden to sit in. high traffic and neighbour noise. poor inner city location. high priced in a dangerous interest rate. mini balconies that go nowhere. cheap upvc windows and full of shaker styleinterior fittings and contemporary gold electricals. how long will it take for buyers of 'luxury' apartments to realise theve been had, and that real luxury consists of life space and genuine homes you can grow in. what do you do in summer. you want to sit in the hot atmos ? your trapped indoors. try taking shopping up 3-4 flights of stairs. it gets old. car damage from vandals. you cant see your car at night. go outside in your car in the rush hour and your stuck. plus the polution must be rife. = luxury ? you cant expand them. change layouts. all you can do is fit more pale wood flooring. they are a high rise in half. with no lifts. i guess the point of realisation will be at the exact time the current interior fashions become un-fashionable and change from light woods to dark, or tvs become black again. then your funky taps will be out of fashion. the kitchens will look dated and the carpets will be shot. about 3-4 years. then they would do anything to get out of the flat and buy a house, but no one will want to pay them anywhere near what they paid as everyone else will realise the same thing. they are not luxury at all. they will all be financially locked into these flats for 15-20 years. like a prison. which is what they will become to look like for the residents once the initial fashion interior glamour has worn thin. and you realise you just bought the property equivelent of marble washed jeans.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPCheese Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Just like the futuristic towers-in-the-sky that were 60's tower blocks. Just like the Jetsons might live in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_block Tower blocks were first built in the UK after the Second World War. Initially, they were welcomed, and their excellent views made them popular living places. Later, as the buildings themselves deteriorated, they grew a reputation for being undesirable low cost housing, and many tower blocks saw rising crime levels, increasing their unpopularity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainClamp Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Makes me think of a JG Ballard book (High-rise - http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0...614164-6862016) where the residents of a very upscale high rise block basically all go nuts and start waging war on each other. Unfortunately I didn't find the psychological reasons why they did this terribly realistic or compelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bandylegs Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 and you realise you just bought the property equivelent of marble washed jeans.. Cheers Fred. I'm tempted to print your entire post in a nice flyer style and fly post all of the new builds in Milk and Beans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Fred Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 would making it compulsory to advertise property as - "£199,995 leasehold (equates to £450 per sq ft, £4500 per sq metre)" rather than "£199,995 leasehold" make people more likely to avoid new builds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catch22 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 (edited) That's what I like about you Fred, when your taking the medication you write some really good stuff And when you've taken to much you write some really funny stuff.........keep taking the medicine is the message It's the chav consumer society we live in today, chuck enough hype and money at anything, deliver it via a sharp suite and a glossy brochure and I'm sure you could sell the pox to the pope. The herd mentality is propergated by the modern day Snake Oil Salesmen , people are either to dumb to lazy or to scared to think for themselves these days. Edited March 28, 2006 by Catch22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted March 28, 2006 Author Share Posted March 28, 2006 (edited) its just a fashion. instead of saying. these purpose built city worker dwellings, they go all nuts with the higher end B&Q fittings and begin to call them luxury. i still dont get where the association of -block of flats and -luxury started.? who coined it ? its like saying this 'luxury camp bed' or luxury beans on toast. to me luxury is assocated with quality relaxing. granted, you might be able to spend an hour in the kidney shaped bathtub with the clam taps, but what do you do for the other 8 hours ? farm cannabis a window box. watch sky tv. cook some pasta and tomatos on the ikea hob with the polished steel cooker hood vent that has no actual vent in it. stare at the walls. Edited March 28, 2006 by right_freds_dead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainClamp Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 its just a fashion. instead of saying. these purpose built city worker dwellings, they go all nuts with the higher end B&Q fittings and begin to call them luxury. i still dont get where the association of -block of flats and -luxury started.? who coined it ? its like saying this 'luxury camp bed' or luxury beans on toast. We live in the age of marketing doublespeak. Learn to filter out all adjectives and you'll be fine Hmm, come to think of it I wonder if it'd be worth writing a Firefox plugin that'll strip all adjectives out of property websites and add in a price per square foot calculation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teddyboy Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 You forgot to add the HIGH maintenance charges for giving your Garden a 'Brazilian' TB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
right_freds_dead Posted March 28, 2006 Author Share Posted March 28, 2006 so its a 'garden' now ? i think you have contracted whats know as EA fever..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brid Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Another classic from Fred - keep em coming! Every time i feel like throwing in the towel and putting my name at the bottom of a 'sign here for your executive rabbit hutch' mortgage agreement - I promise to read and re-read more of RFD's teachings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeless Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 from what ive seen about balconies these usually end up as places to propegate seedlings, and a means to offload some cane furniture that becomes rotted after a winter. i suspect some people actually sit on these the first year they move in, after which the wife hangs the clothes out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Its time to buy Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 there is only one type of luxury flat in my opinion- *has 2 or more double bedrooms with ensuite in each *large sized lounge, kitchen, bathroom with shower cubicle *own 2 allocated spaces (you dont pay for them as a extra either) + 1 visitors. Either in a lock-up double garage or underground *own balcony which can sit a table and 2-4 chairs which has a non-obtuse view, ideally panoramic view, of the sea or countryside *or own roof terrace (or garden if on ground floor) *in a complex of not more than 5 stories *extras- either communal lounge+bar or gym or heated swimming pool *grounds are private with communal gardens secured by locked gates and fencing. the grounds are big enough, so that any neighbouring buildings are at a fair distance (i.e not overlooking) *building is built with quality materials which do not fade or change colour or rust after a rain. E.g. wooden cladding is not a good material *internal walls, floors and ceilings are thick enough and sound proof to withstand the noise of a packed rock concert. The rest which do not furfil this criteria are glorified flats which have pseudo luxury banner with a inflated price tag. ok that rules out anything built in the last 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njwd Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 I despise the idea of the kitchen and the lounge being the same room. Thankfully it seems all of these executive rabbit-hutches are like that to save on space. The thought of a bin full of kitchen waste sitting there whilst I was relaxed on my DFS sofa watching Trisha does not appeal in the slightest. I blame 'Friends' (the TV program). New York "loft style" living has developed into UK shoe-box letdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainClamp Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 I despise the idea of the kitchen and the lounge being the same room. Thankfully it seems all of these executive rabbit-hutches are like that to save on space. The thought of a bin full of kitchen waste sitting there whilst I was relaxed on my DFS sofa watching Trisha does not appeal in the slightest. I've lived in 2 places with combined kitchen/living areas and it is a pain. Particularly if sharing, you then get to put up with everyone's cooking in the same room as you're trying to watch telly or whatever. The ideal is a nice big kitchen area where you can cook and people can come and be sociable if they want and another living area as well where they can escape to if they want quiet. Like you'd usually get in a house Have only seen this layout once in a flat and this was a special case as it was actually a 2 bed downstairs which had been combined via a spiral staircase with a 1 bed upstairs, so you had a very nice 3 bed with 2 ensuites, a main bathroom, a kitchen and 2 living areas, one linked to the kitchen and one not. Very civilised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njwd Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Have only seen this layout once in a flat and this was a special case as it was actually a 2 bed downstairs which had been combined via a spiral staircase with a 1 bed upstairs, so you had a very nice 3 bed with 2 ensuites, a main bathroom, a kitchen and 2 living areas, one linked to the kitchen and one not. Very civilised. Very expensive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainClamp Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Very expensive? I was looking at renting it for 1700 euro a month, this was about 14 months ago. It was a decent deal for that size of a place in reasonably central Dublin. In the end the landlady wouldn't give it to us, because there were 4 of us and her previous 4 tenants had been a pain in the **** and she decided that 3 was the magic number. Despite our fantastic glowing references (we genuinely are really good tenants). Complete amateur, her loss. To buy I presume you'd be talking easily over a half million at this point, there are 2 beds going in that area now for 400k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miro2021 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Now THIS would be a luxury apartment (if the bathroom wasn't just a tiny bit poky) http://www.savills.co.uk/quickSearchDetail.aspx?ID=N68038 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Would you leave your car (even in broad daylight) in the areas these things are built in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libitina Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 http://www.savills.co.uk/residentialSearch...ge=4&nPageNum=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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