Council charge on property bought through Right to Buy?

reddz

Hi and a happy new year to all,

Not long ago I phoned my mortgage provider Halifax to enquire about a repayment holiday. I was told that they could not entertain my query as my local council has some kind of 'charge' in place on the property and that this would have to be removed first. They offered no suggestions on how to do this.

I don't quite understand what this 'charge' is as I bought my home nearly 6 years ago from said council under the right to buy scheme. Does anybody know what this charge might be and how I would go about removing it? Maybe not necessarily for the purposes of obtaining a repayment holiday but I am really curious as to what this is and how it is affecting me. Thank you in advance.

Yorkie1

Two initial suggestions:

1. Go online to the land registry website and download details of the register for your house, which should show charges placed on the property - I think it costs about £4?

2. Ask the council on Tuesday?

Comyface

The charge will be your 'Discount Charge'. You know, the one that means you have to pay a proportion of the discount back if you sell in the first five years. As you bought over five years ago, that will have expired by now. Halifax head office can check the Land Registry and remove it from your mortgage if necessary (it's not done automatically, as your first charge holders (ie. Halifax) need to be notfied when a second charge is added, but they don't need to be notified when it is removed).

I think you spoke to someone at Halifax who didn't know what he/she was talking about, I would try again.

GMS

When you purchase a Right to Buy there is a period called 'pre-emption' during which time the discount is repayable.

Check the terms and conditions of your Right to Buy offer to see how long it is in place for.

Speak to your solicitor who did the conveyancing, they should know what is going on.

specsappeal

I had this on my property and it was on my mortgage until i passed the discount period (3 yrs in my case). I did hear that the discount period has been increased to either 8 or 10 years now.

reddz

Thanks for the advice, makes sense now...!