Q. I own a three bedroom semi detached House that I have just placed on the market for sales. I am however slightly puzzled as to why Two bedroom apartments seem to be worth so much more than houses in general in this area. Is there any particular reason for this? Personally I feel a house offers so much more space and of course it has the added advantage of being freehold, surely this would count towards houses being far more desirable to purchase than apartments with costly service charges and leases to consider?
A. Of course your comments are valid and to be perfectly honest I have had this very question raised on practically every occasion that I have valued a house in the area. As a general rule apartments seem to be worth more than houses simply because there is more demand for apartments over houses within the area. The majority of buyers seem to not only be purchasing a property but buying into a whole lifestyle, and apartments generally fit the bill better than houses. Most riverside developments boast well equipped gyms along with swimming pools and Jacuzzi’s not to mention sauna’s steam rooms and even solarium’s in some cases. This together with the secure environment of A 24 hour concierge who will not only serve as a protection particularly for buyers that travel a lot with their work but are also very useful for parcel collection and act as key holders, which can be extremely useful as most of the buyers around here tend to work ridiculously long hours. As you quite rightly point out they do of course have the downside of costly service charges and ground rent to consider, however in my experience the services provided far out way the cost for the majority of the buyers looking to buy into this particular life style. Having said that there will always be a demand for good quality freehold houses particularly as there are so few of them around compared to the vast amount of apartments.