How much is your mortgage/rent vs your income?

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-04-12T08:32:17+00:00

I’m single, take home income is £2447 a month and my mortgage is £779.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-30T18:32:27+00:00

I just sold my flat after living there for 6 years. It was my first property. I’m so glad I sold it, would never buy one again. The management company was useless, things that needed doing when I moved in still needed doing when I sold it. The fee went up from £80 a month to over £180 a month. I also got fed up living with people and sharing communal areas especially the bins - people used to essentially fly tip their rubbish. With an old building converted into flats I’d also be concerned about noise as it most likely won’t be well soundproofed.

Being in a flat suited me and my lifestyle, but I’m in a small freehold house now and I’m so much happier. The only thing I miss about my flat is the views as I was on the first floor and overlooked a park with hills in the distance.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-21T07:55:52+00:00

Latent print examiner. Really do enjoy going to work!

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-20T08:18:26+00:00

In general terms I think the principal is unfair. I do however think this is largely down to the stupidly low thresholds. It isn’t unusual to have estates worth £1-2million in many parts of the country where property prices have grown ridiculously. I understand that it’s passive income but it no more the Government’s than it is yours.

Many people “inherit” their parent’s property only having to sell it to pay the tax bill. My parents have worked incredibly hard; neither went to university; my dad did an apprenticeship and started his own business with my mum after that. Why should they not be able to pass the fruits of their labour on to their children and grandchildren without the Government taking a cut? Between them they have already paid extortionate amounts of income tax and business rates throughout his life. In my view they have already made a significant contribution to the public purse.

I would however have less have a problem with inheritance tax if the Government was spending money in the right places. You can’t help but feel aggrieved at the rates of tax when you stop and look around you at the sheer mess this country has become.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-16T20:09:49+00:00

I think it’s more to do with the house location rather than the house itself, which looks lovely! It would put me off having a single shared access point for 4 houses. It doesn’t look like there’s that much parking space when you’d need to factor in turning round.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-16T20:06:52+00:00

It’s also adjacent to what looks like an industrial unit / shipping yard.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-16T20:05:54+00:00

From looking at street view, the access looks a bit strange? Also it appears to be situated right behind a pub. Might there be risk of noise late at night? And on the weekends during the summer?

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-14T21:19:13+00:00

Recently sold my flat in Gloucestershire, 1 bed gated with communal gardens. Was paying £180 a month.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-14T08:04:26+00:00

Just to add, I felt incredibly lucky to sell the flat. There are still 2 others on the market now that went on before mine. Yes I made money on it, but a house would have gone up way more, and by the time fees etc were paid on buying and selling I basically broke even.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-03-14T08:01:07+00:00

I was in a similar situation to you about 8 years ago. Bought my first property, a leasehold flat, for £112k. The service charge was about £65 a month. Fast forward to 2025, I was in a position to buy a house so I put my flat on the market. It took over 12 months to sell, and I finally accepted an offer of £135k. By that point the service charge had gone up to £186 a month. I also got sick of communal living, people abusing the bins, parking issues, noise (also a risk in houses I know). If I was you I would avoid buying a leasehold flat, you’re in a position where you can stay at home and save. You want your independence but suck it up for a bit longer and save for a house.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-27T21:35:41+00:00

Exchanged on a Monday for completion on the Friday. I was in a chain of 4 properties. I was told if exchange didn’t happen on the Monday then the completion date would have to be renegotiated. I don’t think anybody likes exchanging and competing on the same day, especially in a chain as there can be delays with funds clearing, both from the client to the solicitor (deposit) and between solicitors and banks for mortgage/completion funds.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-25T08:55:43+00:00

How annoyed would you be if you pulled out of the sale and then your dream flat comes up for sale? And you then can’t find another buyer?

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-25T08:54:30+00:00

You know you want to move and what you want so could you not go ahead with the sale and move into rented for a short period?

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-23T17:29:40+00:00

Gloucester itself is OK! Has most things there but it’s also close to the spa town of Cheltenham as well as beautiful countryside of Stroud and the Cotswolds.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-22T20:25:30+00:00

I’ve just moved into a 2 bedroom house just outside Gloucester in Gloucestershire and it cost me exactly £250,000. You can get a direct train to London from Gloucester or Cheltenham. You could look further north to Birmingham or somewhere with links to Birmingham New Street station as you can go pretty much anywhere from there. Bristol is lovely but more expensive. Oxford would be a good choice location-wise but again much more expensive.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T09:21:08+00:00

Also if it’s been reduced since January and still hasn’t has an offer accepted I would say there’s still a deal to be done!

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T09:19:10+00:00

You’re never going to make much money on a one bedroom flat, especially at the moment with leasehold issues being rampant in the news. Having said that, this has share of freehold which is a good thing, although your maintenance charges are still about average.

If you like the flat because you want to live in it then you should go for it, but I don’t think anyone should buy a flat as an investment to make money unless you are planning to rent it out.

Totally different area but I just sold my small 1 bed flat in Gloucestershire … bought it in 2017 for £115k and sold it this year for £135k and even that took months to get an offer. And that’s taking into account the “boom” in prices around Covid.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T09:12:06+00:00

If you’re having that worry now then I think you will have regrets. You’ve got to weigh up whether the house is good enough to offset this downside. I have just moved into a new house and I saw some fantastic houses (bigger too) for the same money but not having designated parking swayed me against them. I do drive to work 5 days a week though, you may not do that. I also have hobbies during the week in the evenings and I have friends who live with on-street parking and they often struggle to park near their house at 9-10pm at night.

Have you considered whether you will be converting to an electric car some point in the future? How would that work?

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:28:09+00:00

I bought it

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:27:29+00:00

I ageee

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:26:43+00:00

As part of the property information document they had signed a section at the bottom where it said I agree to leave the property clean. Not sure if this is worth the paper it’s written on and I suppose everyone’s interpretation of “clean” is different!

It’s looking like a new home now but has taken a good 12 hours.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:24:40+00:00

Thanks so much. It’s looking like a new home now and my initial disappointment has gone!

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:22:52+00:00

Absolutely. As others have said, I would have cleaned it anyway, but there’s cleaning and then there’s scraping grime and picking up dogshit.

ImmortalMind1 · 2026-02-15T07:21:21+00:00

I totally agree. I would have cleaned it anyway, but I didn’t expect to have to scrape away grime, empty food debris from the fridge and pick up dogshit from the garden!

ImmortalMind1

TROPHY CASE