While some flat owners have no trouble selling their flats quickly for a price they are content with, others are not so fortunate.

In some cases, spiralling service charges, cladding issues and disputes are making it challenging for flat owners to sell up – and expensive.

The i Paper spoke to three people struggling to sell their flats to find out what have been their biggest hurdles.

‘I’ve tried to sell my flat three times’

Mother-of-three Lucy Sekers, 57, works as a university lecturer and accountant. She purchased a leasehold two-bedroom flat in Manchester in January 2017 for £315,000. She hoped it would be her forever home.

She told The i Paper: “I had been in the flat for six months when the tragedy at Grenfell happened.

“The following year the management company made us aware that there were issues with the build quality on the modern extension. The original developers stepped up and have started remediation works at no cost to the leaseholders, but the process is complicated and slow.”

As well as ongoing cladding remediation works, Lucy has an £8,800 annual service charge to deal with.

Ms Sekers, who lives in the flat alone, said the service charge has risen by 250 per cent in eight years. This includes insurance costs, a 24-hour concierge service, parking, and listed building upkeep. Her annual ground rent is £200.

Lucy Sekers has tried and failed to sell her flat multiple times, due to cladding issues (Photo: Lucy Sekers)

Since August 2020, Lucy has tried to sell her flat three times for £340,000, but without success.

She said: “Each time, the flat was marketed for six months, and I had absolutely no viewings and zero offers. I didn’t reduce the asking price, but I would have accepted offers.

“I think the market has lost confidence in flats and in politicians’ handling of Grenfell. Manchester is now also saturated with flats and I can’t see a return to a buoyant market for years.”

Ms Sekers said her annual service charge and the ongoing cladding remediation works to the building put buyers off.

She added: “I have been incredibly frustrated by it all, and it has made me ill, but I’m now resigned to the situation. If I could, I would buy a terraced house in a Manchester suburb.”

Ms Sekers fears she will never be able to sell her flat. She said: “There isn’t really an end in sight, but I just want to sell up and move as soon as possible.”

Leasehold vs freehold

Freehold: Freehold means to own a property, including the land it’s built on, with no fixed time limit.

If you buy a freehold, you’re responsible for maintaining your property and land. You should budget for these costs.

Most houses are freehold.

Leasehold: Leasehold means to own a property for a fixed amount of time, leasing it from a landlord who owns the whole building or land it’s built on.

Usually, your lease will be between 90 and 999 years. The length of your lease will be in your lease agreement with the freeholder.

Most flats and maisonettes are leaseholds. This means that while you own your property within the building, you don’t own any part of the building it’s in. And you might need to pay monthly or yearly maintenance charges.

‘I’ve seen 10 prospective buyers fall through’

Linzi Bowen, 51, rents in Bristol and works as a freelance period hairstylist – designing wigs, for example, for period dramas and films.

After Ms Bowen’s mother died in 2023, she inherited a two-bedroom garden flat in Wiltshire her parents had purchased in 2015 with a share of the freehold for £136,000.

A month after moving in, her parents noticed dampness in the property and problems elsewhere on the Grade II-listed site.

Ms Bowen’s parents soon tried to sell the flat but struggled to find a buyer. Since the death of her parents, she has also failed to sell the flat.

The annual service charge on the flat has risen to £5,000 per year. Ms Bowen told The i Paper that because the flat is the largest on-site, her share of the service charge and repair costs are higher than others. She has to pay 19 per cent of any repair costs for the main building.

Linzi Bowen even tried to sell her property at auction but had no success (Photo: Linzi Bowen)

Ms Bowen claimed the building needs extensive repairs and restoration but said it had been challenging to get all the owners with a share of the freehold to agree on action. Among other issues, she said the roof needs attention, and the render at the front needs redoing.

She told The i Paper: “I’m in and out of work, so I really don’t have the funds for all this.

“As soon as any buyers look at the service charges and details of the repair costs for the main building, they’ve pulled out. At one point, I tried to sell it at auction for £80,000. It still didn’t sell.

“Since my parents started trying to sell the flat, I’d say there were 10 potential buyers who pulled out.

“If the flat ended up selling, it would definitely be sold at a loss. The only way I’d be able to sell it is if the service charge comes down. One estate agent told me he would be able to list it for £100,000, but I think that was generous. I’m going to have to try and rent it out, but I just want to get rid of it.”

‘I feel like a prisoner in my flat’

Louise Whitnall, 65, lives in West Sussex and works as a psychotherapist. In 2013, she purchased her leasehold three-bedroom maisonette with a garden in West Sussex for £270,000.

Louise, who lives alone, pays £150 per year for her ground rent. When she first moved in, her service charge was £350 every six months.

However, she is also required to pay a 50 per share of any major repair and renovation works to the property.

Soon after moving in, Ms Whitnall was presented with a bill for £30,000 to pay for works the then management company had deemed necessary. Ms Whitnall had to borrow money from her sister to pay the bill and claims that despite being paid for, not all the work was carried out.

Since 2013, she has been to a tribunal 10 times due to disputes relating to the property. The management company was removed.

Louise told The i Paper: “I first tried to put the flat on the market a couple of years ago for £500,000.

“Two buyers absolutely loved the property and were happy to pay the full asking price. However, once they and their conveyancing solicitors had scrutinised the paperwork and former disputes, they pulled out.”

Louise Whitnall said trying to sell a property has been a living hell (Magdalena Smolarska)

Ms Whitnall said being unable to sell her flat has made her feel “like a prisoner” and that her life has been put on hold.

She said: “It’s been a living hell. My mother is terminally ill and living in Spain, and I would love to be over there with her.

“Working with the freeholder without a management company is better financially, but I still do not have the same agency of a freeholder.

“I feel I have no control over where my money goes and would never buy a leasehold flat again.”

On legislative reforms, Ms Whitnall said she believes commonhold is the way forward for all leaseholders.

This allows you to own the freehold of individual flats, houses and non-residential units in a building or on an estate. Unlike leasehold, there is no limit on how long you can own the property for.

The rest of the building or estate which forms the commonhold is owned and managed jointly by the flat owners through a commonhold association.

The expert’s view

Summing up the problems faced by some flat owners looking to sell, Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “When it comes to flats, concerns about the existing and future direction of travel for service charges, especially in blocks with cladding, is increasing nervousness about taking on such properties.

“As well as this, there is also the potential for disputes with neighbours and worries about when leaseholders can extend leases and at what cost.

“There may also be concerns around the running of the building, particularly if there is a difficult management company in situ.”

However, Mr Leaf stressed that the picture across the market for flats is nuanced.

He said: “It is not all gloom and doom. There are many well-run, efficient, cost-effective set-ups. Some flats retain their value and saleability better than others.”