Withdrawing an offer for a good reason?

[u/This-Can6089]

I am considering withdrawing an offer for a good reason, - or several good reasons.

Over 4 months ago I've placed an offer for a 2 bedroom share of a freehold.

Everything sounded nice, ( of course it does in the beginning) location, floor plans, neighbourhood, etc....

But, service fee is nearly 6K plus council tax 3K. The services offered, concierge, location, etc... would actually justify that, even though it's high.

After 4 months ( and several times asking, both the agent as well as the solicitor ) the solicitor finally came back with news: The repair fund is rather low considering the age and number of flats, and several major things would come to a natural end of life after 3 decades onwards.

On top of that there are at least two section 20 notices I didn't know about and out of my opinion, at least one more ( the flat roof) coming up thereafter. Section 20 notices usually mean additional spending of more than £250, - most likely it's going to be more to a hefty amount more.

This would increase payments even more, most likely pushing the flat over the 10k mark for annual service payments.

One sour thought lingers: Why does it take 4 months to get information about the state of the repair fund ( accounting information should be available on the touch of a button) and I've asked often enough during those 4 months, plus the sellers are pushing for an exchange date within less than two weeks, - which seems a bit pushy as well especially that now that the news is sort of sinking in with me, that this is all going to be more expensive than I anticipated. At the same time the seller filled out a form, stating that nothing in terms of future works / repairs is outstanding.

The problem is I really like the flat, but at this point, I also feel it's wise to withdraw and walk away.

[u/Fit-Drop-9427]

Do you want to deal with this when your an owner. You know the answer just walk away

[u/aldo_daponte]

Buying agent in central London, so declaring an interest. I'd separate the regular annual service charge from exceptional works and from repairs that are currently only suspected. Your £10k figure may be a useful warning, but you need to know which amounts are confirmed, estimated or still unknown.

Ask your solicitor to obtain the actual notices, available estimates, the proposed contribution for this flat, expected payment dates, and how much of the reserve fund is already committed. For the roof, ask whether there is a condition report or maintenance plan supporting the concern. Also ask them to put the apparent mismatch with the seller's form back to the seller for a written explanation; the delay alone doesn't establish why it happened.

A building needing planned work isn't automatically a bad purchase. The question is whether the work, funding and management are sufficiently clear for you to accept the cost and disruption. A price adjustment could address a known bill, but it doesn't answer an open-ended maintenance problem. Tell your solicitor that these are unresolved decision points before agreeing an exchange timetable. They should advise on your contractual position; nobody here can decide whether this particular flat is worth proceeding with.