Common parts smell like damp - should I still buy?

[clhs]

Hi, all.

After months of looking I have finally found a flat I like. I put in an offer and, after some negotiation, agreed a price with the vendor.

I got my mortgage agreed in principle on Saturday morning and my broker was going to send the paperwork off this morning. On Saturday afternoon I arranged to go and view the property again to measure up.

What struck me when I went in is that the common parts (it's an Edwardian conversion: six flats share one communal hall and stairway) smell really rather damp or musty. Also the stair carpet is extremely threadbare and it all looks a bit unloved.

Apparently the managing agents (whose name I haven't been able to establish from my estate agent) are paid £1,200 a year from each flat (it's share of freehold but we all must pay the agent to maintain the building) but I honestly don't know what they do for this money.

The flat itself is very nice and I could not smell damp whatsoever. So should I be worried about the smell in the common parts? I've never bought a flat before so I am not sure if it's normal to have cold feet or whether I should listen to my reservations about the communal areas.

I need to tell my mortgage broker whether I am 100% sure or not. If yes, she will instruct a surveyor and then I need to pay my lawyer £250 as a retainer. If I don't go through with the sale then I will have lost the £900 it costs for a survey (plus legal fees) and then I can't afford to buy a new place. So I am weary of just casually instructing the surveyor.

Any advice would be gratefully received as this is all new to me.

[Jeannie D]

I think you need to consider what else the managing agents should be taking care of - such as external redecoration of the windows, general maintenance of the external building, as well as the interior redecoration, maintenance and recarpeting of the internal stairwell. If the communal entrance to this property is in such poor condition (bearing in mind that this is the area that makes the "first impression" on visitors as well as prospective buyers), how effective are the managing agents? How much of a voice do the other flat-owners have in making sure that work like this is done? On the basis of your own observations, it doesn't sound too promising. Why not speak to a couple of the other flat-owners and gauge their views about whether they consider the £1200 p.a. service charge is value for money? They could probably tell you how often the managing agents visit the property, when any work of any kind was last done, how effective communication is with the managing agents, and so on. I really would take that precaution, in your place, and only then make the decision. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[clhs]

Hi, Jeannie,

That's very sage, thank you. Appreciate your input.

We did try to speak to the other flat-owners but the only person who has been in whenever we have called has been a very helpful guy in the flat above, but he only rents, so he says that his contact with the agent is nil.

My mortgage broker suggested I get a damp survey done, which is free, but when I put this to my estate agent he prevaricated and once more wriggled out of giving me the name of the managing agent but, instead, suggested that my lawyer get this information from the vendor's lawyer. Thing is I don't have a grand to spend on legal fees and surveys for a flat that I am not going to buy, sadly. So I think I will err on the side of caution and walk away. That way the worst that happens is I lose a flat that might have been very good. But better that then buy one that I can't sell in the future because of damp, an unhelpful managing agent and a hallway that looks like a scene from Resident Evil.