tower blocks

[strangey]

I have been offered a flat in a tower block in London, that is about 70% privately owned and 30% council/housing assoc, it is 9floors and this flat is on the fith, the communal areas are carpeted, and overall the block has a very clean and looked after feel to it.
I know mortgages can be hard to get on hi rise bldngs, and I must thoroughly research the maintenance charges as I have been told that in the next life it would be wise to come back as a lift engineer,
If you have any experience of tower blocks, could you please let me know if there is anything obvious I should be looking out for. I already have a couple of flats I rent out close by so I know this area is very good, and it will rent quickly.
Thanks for any help

[MrWoof]

No experience with tower blocks but I used to let an ex local authority maisonette in Haringey. I was responsible for the service charges but had no control over them. As the area was a mixture of privately owned and local authority places, Haringey didn't seem to care about maintenance charges, scaffolding up for six months with no work being done for example. On one estate, not mine thank heaven, they decided to build a community centre, one leaseholder got a bill for £1000, another for £10,000. Naturally, the only residents who voted for it were the council tenants who weren't liable. From experience, stay clear of any property where you have no control over your liabilities.

[dazalock]

All my flats are in Blocks, not high rise, but I do pay into a maintenance company. When I looked at a flated at a flat recently I decided against it soley because there was no maintenace company involved. I could see problems of getting all occupants to payup for a new roof or something. The moral here is ensure the maintenance company are good and charge a fair price, including money going into a sinking fund. Cheap is not allways a good thing.

[strangey]

Thanks for all your advice, I would like to know now has anybody actually been invoiced for a big bill regarding community centres or lift replacements or other items that they had no control over and did they or could they do anything about it.
I know somone who contested there extras over and above there maintenance charge and won, but is this common or a one off incident, that particular case was argued that the maintence company had a slush fund that they had been charging for in the maintenance charge, and he argued that this fund should be used first before taking extra and just creaming off the interest on the slush fund.
Did he try his luck and win or was he right??

[dazalock]

The slush fund you talk about is actually a sinking fund that all residents will contribute towards in the event of a unforeseen large expense, like the replacement of a roof. Absolutely if you are paying onto this the it should to some extent soften the burden of the thing that you talk about. However, I dont know the legalities of it. You have signed a lease I guess, or at least will do, get your solicitor to look at it, I had to pay a extra one off insurance payment for something that was missing in the lease, the seller actually paid it for me to make the sell, that the maint company could look to the residents for, so its best to check first.

[strangey]

Thanks Dazalock
I suppose like all the properties I own there was always some problem to start with, you just have to proceed with care and carry out all your checks thoroughly. then use your own experience.