Ex-council houses - would you invest?

lowis

ah yes - the moral dilemma issues - no-one mentioned this in this thread until people started mentioning amounts of money made ;-) never gets mentioned when people say they have lost money, been repossessed etc

to be honest, i can't bear the Tories but RTB was one of the best things Thatcher the Milk Snatcher did in my opinion - many people have benefitted from it and 'improved' their situation. HOWEVER she should have implemented a scheme to run in tandem which guaranteed reinvestment in the building new social housing.

many people are unable to afford property without using the RTB scheme - so in my opinion it is STILL social housing. and the government have tightened up the discounts available to purchasers which has put an end to people making massive profits anyway (the discount orignally used to be 50% uncapped, it is now capped to £16k in my area)

black-saturn

It hasnt improved the situation of the people in need of social housing.

lowis

no it hasn't - but whats done is done. it is now the job of successive governments to sort it out and build new homes for those in need. to be honest there would still be shortage whether we had RTB or not.

so going back to the original question - would you not buy ex-council solely on a moral stance? or just because of pre-conceived notions as to what constitutes a council tenant???

Lady_Lea

Figures based on my own property portfolio comparisons in 2002

Ex LA - 1 bed flat Dagenham - purchase price 70k, rent achieved 450pcm
Private - 1 bed flat Dagenham - purchase price 125k rent achieved 475pcm

you do the maths.

As an investor, surely you should buy the one with the better return, and not because it had a lable on it saying that it used to belong to a council or a private owner.

I would never pick a property because of anything other than money and rental demand.

That would be like owning a shoe shop and choosing to sell flat shoes because you thought there was a stigma attached to heels - even tho heels made you a better return.

Prudent

black-saturn wrote:

I cant help worrying about the moral dilemma in it though. The reason why we have so many homeless people, people in sub standard accommodation and people waiting years for council houses is because the council has sold off it's stock.

I suspect the sale of ex council houses to tennents and then on to the private sector would not change that situation. Councils would have simply failed to maintain them adequately due to lack of funding and some good housing stock would have fallen into disrepair.

tru

Our house is ex-council, we bought it in 1997 for £48,000. Similar size houses were going for about £60,000, there's no way we could afford that at the time. This area was a grot-spot for years, 2 blocks of flats filled with layabouts and troublemakers. The flats were knocked down in the early 90s, just after the council tax bands were set so we are in the lowest band because of the flats (kept the house prices down) which no longer exist :T

The house was bought from the council in the early eighties.

worriedfirsttimebuyer

We bought an ex-council house in the north west of England in March this year. It's a corner plot with a HUGE garden and generous rooms, and everyone we've had around to visit has commented on how 'solid' it feels!
It's not on an estate - more an area, with about 80% private, 20% council (you can tell by the regulation uPVC windows!) and prices still seem to be rising from what we can tell in the last few months.
Go for it I say.

Plasticman

missk_ensington wrote:

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!

Our house is ex council - one of six semi detached houses. They are selling for more than the 'private' ones in the same area. As for neighbours, the house next to us is the only one left that is still owned by the council and the people who live there are great. My brother in law just bought a house on a private estate and his neighbours are wa*kers. It may come as a surprise, but not all council tenants are scum and not all people who privately own are nice.

missk_ensington

I'm not suggesting all council houses/area's are scum, mybest friend lives in a council house on a street where there are only a few left because most have been bought. On the whole there is no trouble and the neighbours are lovely, but there is one family at number 40 who are the bain of everyones life- fighting, windows going through, having domestics on the street.... It only takes one person to ruin it for everyone.

I cant speak for London, although having seen the ridiculous house prices, I too would be inclined to say ex-council isn't such a bad thing, but I live in Lancashire where prices haven't reached that level yet. Perhaps its just Lancashire in general, but when I drive down council streets I think the houses lok like dumps, grass overgrown, curtains ripped an dhanging off, all the pain chipped, garden gate hanging off, 15 year olds outside F-ing and Blinding and smoking pot in one hand and a bottle of Lambrini in the other. Thats what see every time I go past the council houses, but maybe there are some that aren't like that.

I know a girl who's what I call 'bird of a feather' she sleeps with any man she can (she's now pregnant and doesn't have a clue who father is) she's smoking and drinking through her pregnancy, still shagging different men, she works and other than that she isn't such a bad person I dont suppose. She said to me 'S***cotes (the estate)isn't rough, it's mostly just people like me who can't afford to rent privately' Errr hello? YOU are rough!

The point I'm making is the rough people OBVIOUSLY don't think they're rough, and what you might think is a nice neighbourhood isn't neccessarily what I think is a nice neighbourhood. My mate Kelly mentioned above, she thinks her street is wonderful (bar number 40) and wants to buy her house. Yes the neoughbour and mainly aged 50+ and there's not too much trouble but it still LOOKS like the Clampits with caravans outside and no curtains at the windows!

lowis

I know a girl who's what I call 'bird of a feather' she sleeps with any man she can (she's now pregnant and doesn't have a clue who father is) she's smoking and drinking through her pregnancy, still shagging different men, she works and other than that she isn't such a bad person I dont suppose. She said to me 'S***cotes (the estate)isn't rough, it's mostly just people like me who can't afford to rent privately' Errr hello? YOU are rough!

i didn't know Paris Hilton was from the North!

seriously though - i know girls who have supposedly been brought up in upper and middle class families who behave in the same manner. i lived in hampstead for a while too and the behaviour i witnessed from the local rich kids was no different to that of council estate kids - in fact it was possibly worse as it was driven by snobbery and an attitude of superiority.