Q. I am looking to buy something within the next couple of months and have been out viewing lots of different properties in my desired location over the last couple of weeks. Ideally I am looking for a high end one bedroom in a great location close to transport and facilities. I have found a couple of apartments in a highly prestigious development but one has parking and the other doesn’t. Of course there is a price difference between them of around £25,000 but the apartments are virtually identical. I don’t actually need parking myself so am tempted to save the cash and go for the one without. What’s your advice?
A. Years ago parking was never really an issue, you bought a property and it would usually come with a parking space and if it didn’t you could easily obtain a residents parking permit and park on the street anyway! Now day’s things have changed considerably and parking is considered a premium. Assuming you will be able to obtain a residents parking permit to park on the street is also questionable now, as most new developments are not given any right to be able to park on the street by the local council at all so you can’t even apply for a permit. To buy a parking space in London you are looking at anything from £25,000 up to £50, 000 per space depending on exactly where it is. One bedroom’s with parking are now becoming increasingly rare as developers tend not to even offer parking with a one bedroom only with apartments that have two or more bedrooms. Therefore having the opportunity to purchase a one bedroom apartment in a prestigious development with a parking space could prove to be very lucrative for you in the future. If there are two apartments on for sale in the future and one has parking and the other does not your audience will be far wider than the one without, as no parking can be a deal breaker for many. My advice would be that as you can afford the extra £25,000 for the space then you should definitely purchase it. Do remember that even if you don’t have a car yourself you can rent the space out on a monthly basis to bring in some extra cash as demand for renting spaces is high in these types of developments particularly as some people have more than one car.