Buying your council house, Advice needed.

[{{909}}]

Im currently living with my mother in her rented house and some guy has just come to the door telling me that some tennants rights advisor will be in the area over the next few days to advise people like me (or my mother as she pays the rent) on their options if they wish to buy your house.
Im quite interested in buying our house as a financial investment and this may be a good opportunity, Im just cautious as i have no idea about this sort of thing and wonder if this guy canvassing the area is the best way to go about it.

My mother has lived in this house about 7 (maybe more) years, as i understand it, if you buy a house from the council you pay the price it was worth at the time you moved in, plus additional fees for anything that has been done on the building. Does anyone have any experience in buying a council house so i have some sort of an idea what to expect if we do arrange to have this advisor come and asess the house?

We are in quite a good area really, directly accross the road from a primary school, 3 bed semi detatched with decent sized garden front and back and quite a nice view of the surrounding fields etc so it seems like it could be quite a good investment. I believe a house 5 doors up the road went for 110k, but i would expect that to have had alot of cash spent on it as it was private for quite a while before the sale.

[dfer]

hi, this link should hopefully answer all your questions
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndC...mes/DG_4001398

[wonkyfox]

speak to your council direct,they will advise you correctly...i bought mine and it was the best move i ever made..
I not sure how the rules are now, but if you quailify for a full discount, you may find that you will only get a maximum of 38 grand off the price..they have a sliding scale for this kinda thing..good luck with it.

[ruggie_uk]

This guy at your door is right, if it's viable for you, do it.
Even if you get minimum discount, that's money in your pocket and if needed you will be able to get 100% and upwards mortgage (for improvements) as you have guaranteed equity in the property already.

However, I have yet to know of a council promoting right to buy as they don't want to sell.
You might find that they are canvassing for a loan company and will no doubt not be any where near the best rates and maybe dodgy tie-in's or commissions.

When I used to advise on this sort of thing there was no cap but that's long gone now, and in Sheffield for example the new cap is somewhere in the region of £22,000. I think you will be very lucky to live somewhere that gives £38k.

[{{909}}]

cheers guys, the guy who came to the door kinda gave the impression that he was giving me some once in a lifeime offer (maybe not quite so silly) which initially set alarm bells ringing in my head. He has started the idea off in tho, so ill go to the council direct and see what they say.

[lombie]

Go for it!

I bought my house under the right to buy scheme in 1998. The Council Surveyor valued it at £88,000 and seen as we'd been renting for around 5 years we got a discount of £29,920 and bought for £58080.

We had no trouble getting a mortgage and the only concession was that we couldn't sell within 3 years or had to pay part of the discount back.

House was valued in April at £210,000 so we are sitting on a nice profit.

[{{909}}]

ive looked into it and i dont think its a viable option at the mo sadly, it seems what i had read about getting the house at the value it was when you moved in wasnt correct. They will do upto 35% off, since she has been here over 5 years, but that would still make the mortgage arround 50 - 65k for a guess, a little out of my range really.
I may still have a word with the council about it tho, just incase.
Its a shame becasue we lived in a house just down the road for 15 years and had to move because of damp, had we still been there we would have qualified for 50% off.

[ruggie_uk]

it seems what i had read about getting the house at the value it was when you moved in wasnt correct.

Sorry, meant to mention that in last post but it slipped my mind, it's on current market value.

Mate, I would really try a little harder if it's the slightest bit possible.
Maybe a 35 year mortgage.
You will get nothing, and I really mean nothing for less than 70k these days.
I was holding back and holding back when prices were around 40k average and couldn't afford it.
Then I ended up paying just under 100k which I also can't afford.
Had to finally make a move and bite the bullet.
Still hurts at the minute but as wages are improving, mortgage will seem smaller and smaller.


If actual affordability isn't an issue, but proving it is, let me know, might be able to help

[{{909}}]

yeah i know ruggie, it is an oportunity im missing but my current work isnt stable enough to get me a mortgage like that, i was hoping i could get a really good price for it and pay most of it using savings, but its way more than i thought it would be. I definetly dont want to commit myself to 35 years, i hope to leave this country within 10! would have been sooner with a lucky house purchase and sale

Ah well, ill review the options in a while, wehn i have a more secure job.

[Little John]

If you can get the cash together it is well worth it. I keep trying to get my gran and grandad to buy theirs I cant buy it but they could they sell for about £140k 3 bed semis in worsley. Teir problem is that they beleive they will die and the council will take it back before the 3 year period is up. we started discussing this 4 years ago.