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Hello there, My name is Juan, I own a property in SE London (Charlton). The property is an end of terrace (only 2 neighbors) where mine is the ground floor and I own the front garden, side return and half of the back garden. I just need to give access the upstairs neighbor to the bins and his section of the back garden. There's no service charge, the ground rent is only £50 a year and the lease for both flats is around 150 years. I was told that since the ground rent is so low and the lease is still 150 years I should approach the freehold company and offer them to buy the share of freehold. The first floor neighbor thinks it'd be great but he hasn't the funds to buy his share of the freehold. I'm thinking on buying the share of the freehold for the two flats so I can agree with him to pay me back the loan gradually and agreeing on the new lease to grant me permission to extend the property as I wish. Can you see people any benefit on buying it on terms of investment? What'd be the pros / cons for this? I know all the steps, like me having to set up a limited company for managing the new freehold, still needing the green light from the other neighbor for structural works on the property unless stated otherwise on the new lease, etc.. The transaction can be around £10k so I'm not sure whether it's worth or I'd be better asking just for consent to the freehold so I can perform the structural works I need for extending. I'm just trying to weight up if on the event of me asking again for consent (there's costs involved on this as well) I'll be ending spending the same and if the fact of owning the freehold would have any kind of benefit I may be missing investing wise. Many thanks, Juan

Hi, we have had an offer of £288K accepted (100k deposit and 4% less than asking price) on a one bedroom first floor Victorian conversion 10 minutes walk from Lewisham station, SE13. The flat needs painting and retiling of bedroom and bathroom and kitchen and new carpets but no refurbishment. It is local to where we live. We work full time and are not property investors but want a BTL to hold onto for the long term capital growth. we have a MIP for fixed rate 2 years so would like to release equity and remortgage then..... Our concerns are; 1) are we buying at the top of the market (ie manic phase of 18 year property cycle- to be followed by falling house prices/London property crash? Where is London property market in the 18 year property cycle? 2) the lease is 102 years - is this too low for a period leasehold flat, anyone have experiences of cost of renewal and when is the best time to renew? 3) Lewisham and London have had huge growth last few years and hence now investment in new houses/developments and in the town centre, whilst this is good for the town, is this bad for BTL in terms of in a few years an increase in volume of lettings and hence rents decrease? 4) Net rental yield is only 2.3%!!! I know net rental yields in London are low but is this too low, it is £500 per month?.... Any advice welcome..

Hi, I am completely new to this and do not have a property portfolio. Myself and my partner work full time but would like to invest some capital into our local area, south east london for long term growth... We have had an offer accepted on a one bedroom Victorian conversion first floor flat within 10 minutes walk from Lewisham. It is spacious £53 square meters. The property is not a refurbishment project but needs painting, new carpets, and retiling in bathroom and kitchen then it should look good to go. We sadly do not have the time for refurbishment so understand that we cannot really add value to the property, and negotiated a 4% off the asking price. I have spoken to letting agents and sales agents and have been advised it will let for £1000-£1100 per month and should let quickly. Sales agents have confirmed that the town centre is undergoing some regeneration so we are anticipating capital growth and the basic fundamentals are there (shops, transport links etc)... We are investing £100K deposit and the cost is £288K. I have heavily researched the area and our main concern is that our' net rent yield' is only 2.3%, approx. £500 per month I have deducted running costs, interest rates, costs of flat purchase etc..... so this is accurate. Our question is, is this a bad investment? Our concerns are that 1) London growth rate was so high in last few years that maybe this is the top of the market, 2) coupled with uncertainty of general election, also3) the lease is 102 years, and we are unsure when is the best time to renew and the costs involved. Our plan is to invest long term for 10-20 years so feel that we would get good capital growth and release equity at mortgage renewal time to possibly invest in another..... Any expertise or advise very welcome from London property investers and elsewhere......