Buying Ex-Council Flat - FTBs - Wise Move?

cwcw

Hello there,

My girlfriend and I are in the process of buying an ex-council owned flat from a private developer. We are first time buyers. The flat we found attracted us initially because of its location (being in a suburb which is one of the most pleasant, affluent and exclusive areas in the entire country) and it has just been completely refurbished to a very high standard, fitting our tastes.

Due to the nature of the bidding process (sealed bids by a set deadline), we were rushed into making an offer before we had fully done our homework. Private flats in the area sell for around £190k upwards for 2 bedroomed properties. 'Our' flat, also 2 bedroomed but more spacious, was on the market at £130k. We didn't know it was a council owned block until after making our accepted offer - £6k above the asking price. We believe the estate agent should've made this clear and perhaps took advantage of us being young and naive.

After coming to terms with it being ex-council (the location it is in means it should have no trouble selling, it is a small 3 storey brick-built block of flats predominantly privately owned, the remaining council owned flats have a 5 year waiting list and are reserved for the elderly so no ASBOs, and it's on a quiet cul-de-sac road where the Victorian houses sell for £600k +) we then discovered horror stories on the internet whereby people had found themselves, as private buyers leaseholding in a council block, with huge maintenance/repair bills of £26,000 and upwards. This has set us back in shock again and we're not sure we're doing the right thing by buying it anymore.

Our budget is up to about £150k, which buys surprisingly little if you want to live in a decent area (if only we were born 5 years earlier..). The council are yet to respond to my emails requesting details of any planned works/ previous works, etc, though our solicitor assures us that he will find out in his conveyancing.

Basically, I would just be grateful for any views/ advice/ etc, regarding our position, before the buying process goes any further (it's still early days).

Thanks.

pboae

What council is it? Do their leaseholders have a forum where you can ask what they are like? (If they don't then that maybe a good sign in itself).

I was a leaseholder with Camden council and I would never buy a council leasehold again, but then they may well be the worst in the country.

It was only a converted house, 3 flats, and in the last 5 years we were there we got landed with a bill for £24,000 for unneccessary roof works, £10,000 for repairs to the roof works (which we refused to pay). We found dry rot and had scaffolding up INSIDE our kitchen for a year (during which time we couldn't use the kitchen) before they sorted it out. We should have paid another £10,000-£15,000 for that but they screwed up and didn't bill us in time.

But there are probably councils who have organised and efficient leasehold departments, and then it would be like any other management agency. I would definitely suggest you do some more digging for information before you commit to it though.

chirpy007

If you buy any flat you will have service and maintenance charges to pay and l personally would rather take my chances with council ones than private. If you can contact the council they can tell what the charges were for the previous year and what works have been carried out in the last few years.

you def get more for your money buying ex LA properties and if they are in a nice area you are no more at risk than anywhere else in the country of falling foul to dodgy neighbours.

If its just a snobbery thing then only you know what your feelings are on that.

Let us know if you do buy it

clutton_2

i did this, and have miniscule maintainance charges.

cwcw

Ok, the council (I'm reluctant to name which in case the vendor reads this forum) have got back to us and informed us that the block is due for survey in late 2008. There has been no previous major repair work and there are no known problems with the roof, or any plans to replace it. The expected work will be replacement of all non-uPVC windows with uPVC. The communal windows and the leaseholder's own flat's windows are apportioned to leaseholders. There are 6 communal windows, 4 of which have already been upgraded to uPVC. There are also 5 entrance doors, which will probably need replacing with new ones and an intercom/security system installing. The pointing looks ok and there is no obvious sign of damage to the building, although I'm not going to pay thousands of pounds for a structural survey on a block of 18 flats.

So, provided that nothing else is wrong, it looks like the communal upgrades will be 2 uPVC windows and 5 new doors with a security intercom system. Any ideas about how much this could cost?

Thanks again for your help.

cattie

cwcw wrote:

So, provided that nothing else is wrong, it looks like the communal upgrades will be 2 uPVC windows and 5 new doors with a security intercom system. Any ideas about how much this could cost?

Thanks again for your help.

It's a bit like asking how long is a piece of string where a council is concerned. I once owned an ex local authority maisonette in a very small 18yr old block & when the external wooden windows & front doors of each maisonette were painted we leaseholders were billed £2,500 each. This was a job that was carried out every 3 yrs so the cost to leaseholders was many thousands more than had we arranged our own external decorations & maintenance.