Selling an ex-council house

dotty_totty

We have seen the house we want to move to, but, can't sell our until November cos of the 3year clause about paying some of the discount back.
Is there any way around it? If our takes months to sell and the solicitors drag their heels it could be the end of the year before we are ready to move or will the council want some discount back purely because its up for sale?
(How do they know you've moved anyway??)

JennyW_2

dotty_totty wrote:

We have seen the house we want to move to, but, can't sell our until November cos of the 3year clause about paying some of the discount back.
Is there any way around it? If our takes months to sell and the solicitors drag their heels it could be the end of the year before we are ready to move or will the council want some discount back purely because its up for sale?
(How do they know you've moved anyway??)

I doubt they'd ask for the discount if you were just putting the house on the market - however if you were to seel prior to November then you'd have to pay back this discount..

As you say, it could take months and this depends on where you are, competition etc. However, when we put ours on the market we accepted an offer after just 2½ - far sooner than we had expected :eek: So, it could go either way.

If you really like this house you've seen, can you find out from the council how much you would have to pay them back? I'm not sure how these schemes work

lynzpower

Could you sublet it for a year back to the council on HB rates?

Might be worth looking into....

dotty_totty

lynzpower wrote:

Could you sublet it for a year back to the council on HB rates?

Might be worth looking into....

Sorry, i don't understand what you mean?? What are HB rates and would they use it to temporarily house someone??

nmiah786

dotty_totty wrote:

Sorry, i don't understand what you mean?? What are HB rates and would they use it to temporarily house someone??

Housing Benefit...

Also, why do you want to put it on the market if you do not want to sell it before November. Just wait until September and put it on the market then. I should think that the Council will only be interested in the discount payback if you sell it WITHIN 3 years. Sale date is the completion date!

mummytofour

I would be incline to put it on in june, that way you will get the early summer buyers, b4 everything dies down for the summer holidays. If you do get a buyer in june make sure that they know you cant move until November, I cant see that this would be too much of an issue if you are honest from the start.

Ian_W

dotty_totty wrote: (How do they know you've moved anyway??)

It's a statutory scheme so no way around it. I would be pretty certain they'll place a caution on the Land Registry files so that you can't sell w/o repaying the discount.

AndrewSmith

Correct Ian_W, that's exactly how they do it.

Andy

rumpelstiltskin_2

My gran was told the discount to be repaid back reduced by a third each year, so you'll owe 33.33% back if you sell before November.

Tricky one if you've seen the house you want to buy now. The owners of the house you wish to buy have they got anywhere in mind? Could you ask, if they haven't seen anywhere yet that might take up some of the time.

snickersgirl

Its also worth checking that you do not have to offer the house back to the Council when you put the house on the market for sale - new regulations have come in force whereby the discount period has been extended to 5 years with the right for the council to have first refusal on the property

WiseInvestor_2

I thought the idea of Right-To-Buy was to give people the chance to own the property they've lived in for a long time (ie most of their lives), rather than to make a quick buck off the state. If you didn't want to live where you are, would it not have been fairer to ask to be re-housed thereby releasing your house to someone who needs it rather than limit it to those who can afford it?