Right To Buy problem?

j1n20

Hey guys, hopefully I've posted this in the right place.
I've recently applied for right to buy on my council flat. I received a letter this morning regarding my property value and discount. I've been a secure public sector tenant for the last 14 years and it says that it would entitle me to 68% discount. However they can only offer me £16,000 discount under current legislation.

Is there a loophole within the legislation or something which could get me the 68% discount?
Is it worth seeing a solicitor regarding this issue?

Any help would be appreciated.:j
Regards
Jay

j1n20

Any one with any advice?

Running_Horse

I advise you be grateful for £16,000 free money.

poppysarah

Do you know how much the service charges are and how much any planned work will cost (In the lifetime of you owning the flat)

Flats I know have a service charge of 2k a year.

hermum

The amount of allowable discount in £ was capped several years ago.

BitterAndTwisted

Swapping a secure tenancy for life for only £16k is a very poor bargain imo. The days when a property could be picked up for a song and sold five years later for megabucks are long gone, I'm afraid. Buying a flat from the council rather than a house is very, very risky. People in flats have been known to be hit with a share of refurbishments costs running into tens of thousands!

theartfullodger

j1n20 wrote: »

Is there a loophole within the legislation or something which could get me the 68% discount?
Is it worth seeing a solicitor regarding this issue?

No..


No...


You are very welcome to the £16k paid for by the rest of us tax-payers (discuss....)

eamon

As with other posters. Thread carefully. Leasehold flats in less than desirable areas can be almost impossible to sell on. Has your flat/block been improved under the decent homes programme? i.e. new windows, doors, kitchen, bathroom, roof etc.

The discount in money terms has been capped see the link below

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/BuyingAndSellingYourHome/HomeBuyingSchemes/DG_186973

BitterAndTwisted

Also, as soon as you put in for that RBT1 form all modernisation and refurbishment works to your home will be stopped so if you're now waiting for your LA to put in that new kitchen, bathroom or central heating you'll most probably die of old-age before it's done.

theartfullodger

Aye: Rent from council & if you lose your job/get sick you should (under current rules) get some help (HB/LHA).

With your own home there is some mortgage help but very very little...

Tread carefully..

worbikeman

Running_Horse wrote: »

I advise you be grateful for £16,000 free money.

theartfullodger wrote: »

You are very welcome to the £16k paid for by the rest of us tax-payers (discuss....)

A few facts to get straight. Once you become a leaseholder you are effectively abandoned by the council. All communal repairs and maintenance (buildings insurance, ground rent, concierge, etc.), as well as your own, fall on you, are not capped and therefore could be any sum whatsoever. £100 a month on top of mortgage anyone? (that's this year - what will it be next year?). These bills never go down, and will not be paid for by the DWP if you fall ill or out of work. They also affect the so-called value of your property to the extent that you can't sell it! No-one wants to buy it on those terms. So where does all this free money come in? And if you do manage to sell it, you need somewhere to live, so you are worse off than if you were a tenant being nurse-maided by the taxpayer for everything. I know these things because I was a tenant and now I'm a Leaseholder. But at least when I die my next of kin will be able to pay for my funeral (rather than the council taxpayer).