Buying a council flat

follyfoot

You could buy the flat and rent it out for 3 years and use the rent to help pay for another property on a residential mortgage. After 3 years you can sell, or remortgage the proprerty. unfortunately noise is a modern day nightmare. Friends have moved to new builds which are suppose to be built to a certain standard, but they still suffer from noise. so it seems to be unavoidable unless of cause you buy a house.

dander

Hi Hezzie

I've just moved out of an ex council flat in London, which I owned (very happily) for 10 years. I found my council to be a very good leaseholder, dealing with them was far easier than some of the horror stories I heard from friends in private flats. When the flat above leaked into mine the owners just phoned the council for an urgent fix that was done within hours - simple and quick.

I think you'd be unlikely to be affected by Decent Homes in the flat you describe, it's mainly about bringing things up to scratch in terms of kitchens, bathrooms, insulation etc. The council wouldn't do any of those things to a leasehold place - that's the leaseholders responsibility.

The horror stories about huge maintenance charges on council properties only really applies to big blocks. Councils are very carefully constrained legally on what they can charge you, they can only charge you for your percentage of the actual cost of the repairs. Bills are carefully audited, so this is the case - unlike with private landlords, who can do as they please. For instance if you lived in a block of six flats and they replaced the roof, they would charge you for 1/6 of the cost - no more, no less. And in a 2 storey building a roof will cost a lot less than reroofing a tower block. A lot less scaffolding! Lift replacement is another expensive thing - you don't have lifts, so that's not a worry. Installing security such as keypad access - again they wouldn't do that in a property of your type. Re-cladding can cost a huge amount - if your property is a standard brick construction there's no cladding to redo - that's one of those 60s tower block type issues again. Some of the stories I've seen in the press about huge charges also involve listed properties (yes some council properties are listed!) which again shouldn't affect you.

In the years I lived in my flat - on a smallish estate of 3-4 storey blocks, the 'major works' charges I had were for external painting of the estate, removal of some asbestos from communal areas, fencing, aerial replacement - in total probably 2-3k charges over the 10 years, and the council usually take 1-2 years from the time they first tell you they plan work to the time they bill you, and even then take installments.

I don't deny that some people have had their fingers burnt with council places, but don't assume you'll be one of them. I know plenty of people who've had major difficulties with private properties too, and even in a freehold house, you'll have to pay to keep it well maintained.

It will always be worth less, and probably be a bit harder to sell than an equivalent place - as you can see above some people simply refuse to touch council properties. But if you like the flat and the area, you're getting a great deal. The key thing to consider really is do you want to own that flat? If you buy it will you regret not living in a house? If so, it might be worth waiting to see if you can get moved, but if you just long to own a property of your own and you're happy where you are, then why not go for it!

Hope this helps.
:rudolf:
Dander