Advice on buying council flat – High rise

WishyWashy

I am looking for some advice on whether to buy our council flat.
My husband and I both work and have lived in our 2 bedroom flat for 12 years.
It is a high rise flat with 23 floors, I live on the fifth floor.
Our rent is £300 per month. I have spoken to someone who has bought her high rise flat and she pays £100 per month mortgage and £300 per Quarter service fees.
We have savings and if we saved hard for 2 years I think we would be able to buy without a mortgage.

delain

Excuse me if this seems rude, but if you just want to stay there mortgage free, that's great, if you want to sell, you'll find it very difficult.

Errata

If the lifts have to be replaced, or all the windows, or it has to be re-roofed you'll be hit with a bill for tens of thousands as your share, as some council flat owners in London have sadly discovered.

Radiantsoul

I'd say the benefits of having a granted low rent for life is quite a big plus and so I would be wary about leaving that all behind.

C_Mababejive

Post no 3 is very important..!!

pimento

delain wrote: »

Excuse me if this seems rude, but if you just want to stay there mortgage free, that's great, if you want to sell, you'll find it very difficult.

Not always. We bought our 10th (and top) floor council flat in 1984 for £15000 and sold it in 2000 for £80000.

It depends on the location and the estate.

Running_Horse

There are investors who will buy these kinds of flats. If you're going to cash in I would suggest selling on as soon as allowed and buy something less problematical for some of the reasons stated above.
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25503377.html?sortByPriceDescending=false&minBedrooms=3&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&pageNumber=1&fromSummary=true&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2FAbbey-Wood.html%3FsortByPriceDescending%3Dfalse%26minBedrooms%3D3%26displayPropertyType%3Dhouses%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dhouses
While against the principle of RTB, I don't blame those who use it to escape places like this.
Quite possibly the cheapest house in London?

pimento

Rightmove search shows two flats the same as ours on the same estate, both sold.

Depending on the location you'll have no problem selling.


http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-11864817.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE^755&insId=2&maxPrice=200000&displayPropertyType=flats&oldDisplayPropertyType=flats&includeSSTC=true&_includeSSTC=on&pageNumber=1&fromSummary=true&backToListURL=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Ffind.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DOUTCODE%255E755%26insId%3D2%26maxPrice%3D200000%26displayPropertyType%3Dflats%26oldDisplayPropertyType%3Dflats%26includeSSTC%3Dtrue%26_includeSSTC%3DonA

WishyWashy

We don't want to sell, we will be quite happy to spend our old age here. We have had new windows, kitchens, bathrooms been re-wired. I thought that it would eventually reduce our outgoings and maybe hubby or I could retire early. Major repairs are a worry as you can't forsee them. Will see if I can find anyone else who has done this. We won't be doing anything for a few years as flats are getting new cladding put on next year.

Errata

TBH - if I were you I'd stay put renting and get a transfer to an older people's bungalow when the time comes. The common facilities and your neighbours may be suitable and ok now, but that can quickly change.

poppy_f1

consider what happens if you buy and then its decided that the tower block has to come down, since its happening to a lot of the tower blocks in glasgow at the moment