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Council House Purchase

nikkiandmidgets
Posts: 80 Forumite
have a friend who is planning on purchasing his council property. he should have full discount - approx 70% so reckons he will get the property for £20,000-£30,000. Are there specialist lenders for purchasing your council house or can he go to any mainstream lender? he is also planning on converting the loft into extra bedrooms (He is a single dad and his kids are 14-17 so he wants to give them their own space and extra bathrooms so they dont feel pressured to move out, and obvisouly to improve his current property but is unsre whether to gett he extra money when he purchases, or wait for a couple of years? He thinks his property is worth approx £120,000...
Thanks for any advice on this. I think he will want a fixed or capped rate (or similar) so that he can budget and plan ahead and not worry too much if the rates suddenly shoot up. He is 40 and I believe when he hits 55 he will get his half pension from the Army.
Thanks for any advice on this. I think he will want a fixed or capped rate (or similar) so that he can budget and plan ahead and not worry too much if the rates suddenly shoot up. He is 40 and I believe when he hits 55 he will get his half pension from the Army.
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Comments
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In some area the amount of discount has been 'capped' for instance where we live even if you are entitled to maximum discount ,that amount has been capped to a more modest discount.Plus if you sell within so many years you have to pay back the discount to the council.
We found we could buy a larger house in the same are for not much more that we could get our council house for + we can sell when we like .0 -
I always wondered how this works...
People who get council houses for a third of their value and are then free to sell them? Isnt that slightly unfair on those who have work 9 till 5 and pay the full value of the property?0 -
I always wondered how this works...
People who get council houses for a third of their value and are then free to sell them? Isnt that slightly unfair on those who have work 9 till 5 and pay the full value of the property?
What makes you think those that buy their council house don't work 9 to 5 or longer?
As said above there is a cap so they don't get for a third of the value and they also have to repay a % of the value if they sell within a period of time."You've been reading SOS when it's just your clock reading 5:05 "0 -
The guy in question was in army but was advised he had to come out to stand a chance of custody of his 3 kids. He had wanted to stay in for his 22 years. He used all his savings for his divorce to get custody of his kids and his ex wife paid no maintenance and hardly sees the kids. I think his army time counts for his discount and believe he can get 65-75% discount (depending on whether his place is counted as a flat or a house (Self contained flat, he has upper floor) and has stayed there for 13 years. Cap in our area for dicount - havent heard of a cap in his area, think there is a freeze, but only on newer tenants? And yes he is aware that he cannot sell for 5 or 10 years or will have to repay some of his discount but he likes the area and dont think he would sell while the kids are still at home, he wants to improve the house so it suits his family better and seems to make sense to purchase it to do this.0
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I work 8 till 4 full time and I'm a single mum of a 4yr old I'm going to buy my council house within the next two years, the council say you must stay in your house for 3 years before selling or you have the option of repaying some of the discount awarded at time of purchase. (as mentioned above)0
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Before he even considers looking at mortgages and stuff, he needs to contact the council first and find out for definite how much he will be able to buy the property for to see if he can afford it and if it really is around the £30k he thinks it could be. Then a mortgage advisor once he knows how much he has to find and ensure he has some £k in savings to cover the purchase costs.
Our council is capped too and has been for about 20 years - the maximum discount is now £20k regardless of whether you have lived there 5 years or 30. Still not to be sniffed at for a discount, but not the % people think it is when the same documents from the council talk about 50-70% discounts!!!0 -
That is correct. Time spent in married quarters is classed as time in council accommodation when it comes to buying your council house.This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com0
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sammyjammy wrote: »What makes you think those that buy their council house don't work 9 to 5 or longer?
As said above there is a cap so they don't get for a third of the value and they also have to repay a % of the value if they sell within a period of time.
And they have paid rent in all the time they have lived in the property
albeit subsidiesed but if youve paid rent for 20/30 plus years the discount
is covered by this.
And yes, my husband and i both worked our socks off evn with a young family before and afte we bought our original council house.make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0 -
Max in London is 16k
Given leasehold there may be restrictions to extending in to loft (he may not even own it)I think....0 -
No, Loft is solely his flats and would guess he could get a mortgage for a lot more than £30K as now his kids are older he doesnt have the childcare costs anymore and his family helps him out if he has to work late. I have heard of people purchasing their council houses in the last couple of years and he knows there is a freeze but says it doesnt apply to him as he has technically been a tenant since 1986. Plus he gets some extra money for refereeing football in Amature leagues at weekends and some evening if he gets finished work in time.0
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