Service charge in nice new buildings in zone 1

I feel like I need to ask this question in the Henry community.

A few blogs I read made me very anxious about leasehold being a trap and charges amounting to extortion.

But I still guess all those people got overstretched or are defo not henrys so I want an opinion from someone who ‘gets it’.

I am thinking of buying a flat in elephant and castle that carries a £8000+ service charge.

The flat has private gym, 24h concierge, multiple well kept private gardens with playing grounds for children, private terraces and rooms you can use for parties, plus obvs multiple elevators.

The flat is a 2 bed around 80sq meters.

Based on talks with some of my colleagues who are also buying it seems that in zone 1 you pay £2500 just for elevator, going up with concierge etc.

So I think that if you have high end and all the services above, £8k is comparatively ok.

What do you guys think?

I strongly value living in zone 1, like to walk to my grocery shopping at borough market and have a <15 mins bike ride to the city. I also value the building being ‘new and clean and shiny’ which would either come at a huge premium in freehold or with huge initial renovation costs.

EDIT : - I am not asking you if you like my lifestyle choices. - Not asking if you would choose the same things in life. - Also not asking for financial advice. - I am asking if you have any experience buying/considering buying similar places and in that case if the service charge is in line with what you saw.

If you don’t live in London, or work in London but live outside of London and commute for an hour and don’t mind buying an old house and renovating it, good for you, but comment somewhere else.