Buying an ex-council property

jockosjungle

My parents live in a £300k detached, and have chav neighbours both sides with horrid noisy children and stupid yappy dogs.

Chances are many people have bought their own houses, lots of people will have lived on the street their whole lives with no problems, the old lady council house we are buying, the lady who died had lived there 57 years. Its clear lots of people have done loads of work on their houses nad have sense of price about the area.

Also people who live in poor areas get money thrown at the areas to bring them up, and you benefit from the money thrown at the parks, bus services, schools, etc.

R

skintchick

andrewmp wrote: »

That can happen anywhere now though. I live in an ex council house and both my neighbours own their houses and are ok.

My friend lives in a house which was always private, he has neighbours from hell DSS tenants.

You and I know that, but buyers often don't seem to! An ex-council house is simply worth less than a private one, and that may be unfair but there it is, it's a reality and one you have to work with.

For me it's in our favour as we are getting a lovely house for far less than the same in the next street would cost - about 100k less! Crazy but true. And our garden will be twice the size at least.

Makes no sense really but it's people's snobbishness getting in the way. People I've told where we are moving say 'oh, the council houses. Oh. Right.' and go quiet. If I said we were moving to the next street along they'd say 'oh it's lovely there'. But the street are almost identical except one is ex-council!

DCFC79

Is it the style of house that gives a house away being ex council, sorry to ask but with not being on the housing ladder its good to know this stuff

skintchick

DCFC79 wrote: »

Is it the style of house that gives a house away being ex council, sorry to ask but with not being on the housing ladder its good to know this stuff

Yes, they tend to have a 'look' but at the moment, England flags in proliferation are also a clue! Also, if you look on one of those sites that shows previous sold prices, there are usually not that many if the houses are council or ex-council as council tenants usually bought from the council before 2000. If there are a lof of sales showing then most of the homes will be privately-owned, obviously.

Oh and being cheaper than other similar-sized houses is a clue too.

You can also ask the EA.

milliebear00001

Mine has a 'look', but is actually a perfectly acceptable, double-fronted semi. It does perhaps look a bit...utilitarian?

Speaking of flags, I currently rent on an extremely expensive, 'executive' estate, and they were hanging from many of the windows here too!

Old_Git

skintchick wrote: »

It's not the houses, but the possibility of hideous chav neighbours! Let's face it, some council tenants can be blooming awful (and some are lovely).

andrewmp wrote: »

That can happen anywhere now though. I live in an ex council house and both my neighbours own their houses and are ok.

My friend lives in a house which was always private, he has neighbours from hell DSS tenants.

There are that many private landlords that you never know who or what you are living beside until its too late .

skintchick

Old_Git wrote: »

There are that many private landlords that you never know who or what you are living beside until its too late .

Very true. I wasn;t saying that what I've said was my opinion BTW, just that it is what a lot of people think about ex-council (especially in my town, which is v posh).

andrewmp

skintchick wrote: »

You and I know that, but buyers often don't seem to! An ex-council house is simply worth less than a private one, and that may be unfair but there it is, it's a reality and one you have to work with.

For me it's in our favour as we are getting a lovely house for far less than the same in the next street would cost - about 100k less! Crazy but true. And our garden will be twice the size at least.

Makes no sense really but it's people's snobbishness getting in the way. People I've told where we are moving say 'oh, the council houses. Oh. Right.' and go quiet. If I said we were moving to the next street along they'd say 'oh it's lovely there'. But the street are almost identical except one is ex-council!

I'm glad it's worth less or there is no way I would have been able to afford it!

It looks like snobbery has benefited both of us!

vic_sf49

My house is ex-council and was a bit cheaper than a 'regular' property elsewhere. I don't know why they're cheaper as they're larger and more solidly built than a modern house.

I'd say the majority of my estate own their own place, it's in a quiet village location, and you'd have to make me an exceedingly good offer to get me to move. I have superb neighbours and wouldn't want to swap any of them. That's the luck of the draw I suppose.

How would you feel about knocking on the doors of your potential new neighbours and introducing yourself? If you happen to spot the world's largest sound system set in the backgound, you could make a hasty retreat and search elsewhere.

chucknorris

skintchick wrote: »

It's not the houses, but the possibility of hideous chav neighbours! Let's face it, some council tenants can be blooming awful (and some are lovely).

I also think it boils down to the local residents. If the OP is not entirely sure of the area he could walk around there at various times of the day and night, especially early, mid and late evening just to see if there are any potential problems.