Ex-council houses - would you invest?

lozzer01

I am very interested in buying a 3 bed ex-council house on a very well maintained estate, most of which is now privately owned, but have been told by several people that these houses have now reached thier ceiling value for the forseeable future. Apparantley this is purely because they are ex-council and buyers will only pay a certain amount for these types of property,despite them being much nicer, larger and with bigger gardens than similair priced properties in the area. Surely this can't be the case? Is there still that much stigma with so many people being priced out of the market?

Prudent

They have only reached their ceiling if other property prices in the area have stopped going up. They will always sell for a percentage less private sales.

pianeet

we bought a ex council house when we first got married and remember my best mates girlfriend going on and on about the stigma involved with them,anyway guess who brought it off us when we sold it,
she did not mention the stigma about them then just how much more you get for your money.
most of them are far better built then the paper thin houses you get nowadays

ahll

I agree I wouldn't hesitate to buy an ex council house because they have been well maintained and as was said above are much nicer, larger and with bigger gardens than similair priced properties

I do know that there is still a stigma with some people but I feel it is mis-placed

Lady_Lea

From a long term investor point of view - the rents are NORMALLY the same / very close if you buy ex local authority or private in the same town - and the mortgages / purchas price is normally quite a bit cheaper - so you are better off buying ex LA because you make better monthly cashflow.

I also think they are slower to catch up on the growth side - so make a great long term investment. I have had just under 10 ex LA properties and they all did well on rents / growth

jo_b_2

Ours is an ex-council house. As long as house prices in general are rising, then the value of your house should continue to rise too, especially if the house continues to be well-maintained.

I would say that ex-council houses are a fairly sound investment as you are unlikely to find any unforeseen maintenance costs in the near future.

lozzer01

Wow! What a response - thank you all. First-timer on here but this forum is obviously a valuable tool. Thanks again.

bobsa1

Just as a quick add on you usually get larger rooms and a decent size garden with an ex council house, as most were built for families

lowis

just make sure that there are no horridly massive estate charges and no major works due to be done as you will get hit for a proportion of these.

i have just had three agents round my flat (not house) and they said that in terms of rental they have no problems letting out ex-council properties.

dfarry

I have lived in my council house in SE London all my life (well my parents moved in when I was about 3 years old)In 1980 they bought it under the right to by scheme for £10K I believe and in 1994 I bought it off them for £55K. We have now sold it for a very healthy profit helped by high house prices (clearly we are buying elsewhere at a high price too though).These types of houses are generally very good for young families I think, we have two kids and now they are starting to get older we are running out of space. The rooms are certainly on a par with modern houses and our garden is about 6 times bigger than the place we are moving into! (we were lucky to have a corner plot on the estate).There is a stigma attached to ex-council houses but that's undeserved. The only thing I would say is that some of the houses may still be local authority or housing association owned - this for some people may make them think twice because the LA or HA's have a duty to house all sorts of people (good and bad)..... I'm trying to be diplomatic heheIf the house is on a nice estate, near schools, shops, transport routes and the majority of houses look well maintained then there is nothing to be concerned about.

missk_ensington

I wouldn't buy ex-council (unless it was going REALLLLLYYY cheap) because you're right, there's a peak what you can get back for them. Potential buyers will always have it in the back of their mind that someone once bought it for a pittance and made a fortune on it. Secondly, you can't guarantee that EVERY house on that street is now privately owned, it only takes one council house, one tentant to make everyone's lives hell!

I'll get shot at for saying this, but I think at least 70% of the time the saying 'birds of a feather all flock together' is appropriate when describing council houses/streets/estates. Make of that what you will, but I wouldn't touch one with a barge pole!