Stratford Central by Telford Homes, E15, Part 2

As expected, the project is selling very well, with lots of interest from overseas investors.  This was my first blog post on Stratford Central a couple of days ago. I read in another report that Telford Homes is already building at full capacity.

Anyway, we have purchased from Telford Homes before. Their after-sales customer service is very good. So, even if you find any defects with your unit, they will rectify it promptly.  (Yes, there were some defects in our units.)

I have received some questions from several readers and let me go through them here.

1.Location of Stratford
Question: Stratford is in Zone 3.  Why is the location good?

Answer:  This is a very good question.  All investors should stare carefully at the London map and read about the area called Stratford before committing to any such purchase.  Stratford is 10km north east of Charing Cross (Zone 1).   It is 13 minutes by DLR to Canary Wharf DLR station.

Here are the rail links from Stratford (taken from wiki):

2.Location of the Tower
Question: How far is the tower from the Tube station?  Is it really one minute?

Answer: From all that I can see, the tower is at most 3 minute walk from the station.  You can check this out from the Google Maps.  You can also see this from the computer generated image of Stratford Central below. (taken from Telford Home's website)

3.Views From The Tower
Question: Are there good views?  Will there be new towers to block the view?

Answer: The immediate area looks very low build, see the picture below.  While nobody can predict whether more tall buildings will be allowed in the area, we can be reasonably certain that this place will never become like what we see in Singapore, a super congested HDB estate.  Also, the area close to the Underground station is the Olympic Area as well as the Westfield Stratford Shopping Centre. I think all the facilities will be preserved (i.e. not high rise towers)

See the computer rendered picture below.  The top 4 floors are penthouses, yet unreleased.  I think they will have gorgeous views.  I'm sure the pricing for the penthouse units would be very aggressive.

4.Noise from Tracks  
Question: Will there be noise from the tracks?

Answer: The answer has to be yes.  The issue is how much.  I think the lower floors that directly face the track may get a bit noisy.  Perhaps you want to consider buying a higher floor, or a unit facing away from the tracks.

5.Taxes
Question: What is the UK tax on rental?  What other tax expenses?

Answer: 
Income Tax (Self Assessment) is 20% after allowable expenses.  Singaporeans are not eligible for the personal allowances.

Council taxes are borne by the tenant, if tenanted out.  Otherwise borne by landlord.

Service Charges (aka maintenance charges) - Borne by landlord.  Check with developer.  These can be quite high.

Ground Rent - Borne by Landlord. Again, check with the developer.  Usually about 300 to 500 pounds a year.

6.Lease of the Property
Question:  The lease is only 200 years.  Is that ok?

Answer: Perfectly fine. Our properties in London are 125 years to 250 years.  We plan to sell everything in the next 20 years, so even the 125 years lease place is ok.

7. Are You Buying Into Stratford Central? 
No, we are not.  We have invested a substantial sum in London prior to 2014.  As I have shared in other threads, the prices have gone up substantially.  So, we are staying out of this one.


Important Disclaimer - . The views contained in this blog and blog post are entirely mine. We cannot be made responsible for any investment decisions you may, or may not, take. Nothing in this blog can be construed as professional investment advice, as we are NOT professional investors and we are ill qualified to give you any advice.  Read the blog at YOUR own risk