Council tennant looking to buy own property?

myato

I'm hoping some of you lovely people might be able to give me your thoughts on a dilema a friend of mine is in. She has recently inherited some money and would like to get on the property ladder. However, she lives in council accomodation and there is no way she could afford to purchase her council house, or even to purchase a property at all in her area, its all above her budget. She is unable to move out of the area because of family commitments and responsibilities, but she could look at buying an investment property in another part of the country and let it out until such time as she is a "free agent" and could then either move to live there herself, or sell the investment property and move on.

The big problem is that whilst she is a council tennant, the council are saying she would have to give up her council house if she owned property, anywhere, in her own right. She is unable to do this for the forseeable future, so it all seems to be a catch 22 situation, i wondered if anyone has any advice or suggestions please.

Before you all shoot me down in flames, we both realise the ethos of council housing, and respect the reasons for the council policy, but without moving forward, she can never move on

TIA

poppysarah

Why does she have to buy a property? She could spend (or save) her investment on anything she wanted.
Now's probably not the best time to be buying anyway.

Can she not buy elsewhere and take the commitments with her?

AllyS

There are people in the UK that do this, but the person involved is taking a huge risk and she is at risk of losing her house (it only takes one person to shop her). She needs to decide whether it worth the risk and needs to think about it very carefully.

I agree with the other poster and she should invest or save the money until she can afford a house in the area she would like to live in.

myato

My friend has no intention of doing anything illegal, so she wont be taking that risk.

As to "why doesnt she invest the money" that EXACTLY what she is wanting TO DO, given that property is probably one of the best, if not the best, long term investment you can have.

AS to why she doesnt save the money until she can afford to buy a house in the area she would like to live, a house in the area she would like to live would cost somewhere between 8 or 10 times more than the area she is looking to buy in.

Any business heads able to help at all please?

poppysarah

She should go seek proper professional advice on investing her money.

Caz3121

myato wrote: »

As to "why doesnt she invest the money" that EXACTLY what she is wanting TO DO, given that property is probably one of the best, if not the best, long term investment you can have.

I think that many people would have agreed with that statement a few years ago, however with house prices reducing (and many believe still going down) a huge number of people are sitting in properties that are worth less than they paid and are no doubt wishing they were renting. Obviously this depends on the time of purchase, those that bought before the peak are probably sitting ok all be it with less equity than a few years ago but property as a good investment is certainly not as it used to be.
My sister in law has just sold for £40k less that bought less than 12 months ago

AllyS

myato wrote: »

My friend has no intention of doing anything illegal, so she wont be taking that risk.

Sorry I thought you were both looking for advice on how she could invest in a home and still stay in her council house, sorry if I have misunderstood.

Would it be a possibility to private rent in her area and then buy a house elsewhere, she could use the money that she earns from rent on her house to pay the difference. There is a risk that she might not be able to always let her property though.

mariauk

I would have thought that renting privately would cost a lot more than paying council rent which doesn`t seem to make any sense I pressume buying a house would be a long term commitment (as in not buying to make a profit in the short term but renting out to cover costs and waiting for the market to recover) I can see the sense in what the OP wants to do At the present time although the property market is in decline it will pick up eventually and having a property and a rental income has still got to be a better option than the low rate of interest that the banks are offering at the moment with the added bonus of being able to get on the property ladder which she wouldn`t be able to do once things improve.

poppy10_2

Where is FraudBuster?

AllyS

mariauk wrote: »

I would have thought that renting privately would cost a lot more than paying council rent which doesn`t seem to make any sense I pressume buying a house would be a long term commitment (as in not buying to make a profit in the short term but renting out to cover costs and waiting for the market to recover) I can see the sense in what the OP wants to do At the present time although the property market is in decline it will pick up eventually and having a property and a rental income has still got to be a better option than the low rate of interest that the banks are offering at the moment with the added bonus of being able to get on the property ladder which she wouldn`t be able to do once things improve.

Yup private renting is more expensive, but people are not allowed to rent from council/housing assoc and own a house - kind of defeats the object of social housing

I_luv_cats

What about buying a slice of her council house (Social HomeBuy) or moving out and getting some money from the council towards it???

There are schemes allover the country.

Also shared ownership