Council Flat - Regeneration Fee's???

K80_2

I am in the process of buying an ex-council flat and my solicitor has just received papers relating to £20,000 regeneration fees that are payable per unit in my block over the next six years.

I have looked at quite a few council properties that have had £5-10 thousand pounds of similar fee's, but this one seems expensive (plus there was no mention of it from the agent - but that's an aside issue!)

What I am confused about is that, I would struggle to just find £20,000, so i don't know how other residents will be able to afford it! does anyone know if they have to be paid in one go, installments, or over a set period?

Do the council tenants have to contribute?

There is already a small service charge with the flat also!

Any help and advice appreciated!!!!

brightonman123

'regeneration' sounds like 'major works' section 20 (leasehold and commhold act, i think?)

- when i was in property management firm, leaseholders had to pay up front, their share of any big repairs, that would cost more than £300 per unit.. (new roof, alarm system etc..)

rules may have changed since i left the business, 5+ years ago..

BitterAndTwisted

DO NOT BUY THIS PROPERTY!

Often, the LA will demand this sort of sum in one go and it's not unknown for owner-occupiers to feel that their contribution is heavily weighted to subsidise the LA tenants. There are no appeals so these charges cannot be avoided. You have found out why you shouldn't buy this property just in time.

K80_2

Thanks for the posts! OK so looks like this one may not be for me!

So my next question is what if some of the owners in the block do not have the money?

Unfortunately this is quite a common circumstance with council properties and living in London they are the only type of property I can afford!

hazyjo

Well, I suppose it depends if they're privately owned or not. Do you know?

Could you maybe consider other areas a bit further out? Or save for a bit longer?

Jx

K80_2

There is 50 / 50 split private ownership and council tenants.

moremore

I agree do not touch it with a bargepole, councils are dreadful landlords they will get the most incompetents expenses contractors to do the work and it will not be monitors either you will have no end of problems with their work carried out.

Council caretakers are dreadful also they are very good at making excuses for them not earning their salaries, but cannot recognised dirt. Had 4 council people out to inspect block with no work done of flat that was filthy, but I had to point the obvious dirt in front of them to the supervisor and 3 other highly paid people from the council that did not know dirt, or choose not to see it, the supervisor did not have practical bone in his body just like the caretaker. In the end I told these high paid people to go and look at a block of flats that are decently maintained as obviously they were under the impression that dirt that had been piling up for years was OK. Caretaker will only wet floors and nothing else. Also, Bear in mind caretakers are not on the minimum wage, he is on a good salary with a good pension also.

If you are prepared to spend most days on the phone complaining to council to do the cleaning and the only result will be that you will be flag up as a trouble maker.

If the block of flat are mostly purchased by tenants then you will have more clout with councils and may not be as bad as above, but if the flats have mostly rented tenants it will be that bad, as some tenants do not know how to complain their English may not be that good also some tenants are afraid to complain as they do not want to cause trouble as their tenancy may not be that secure, I think it is 2 years now before they have secure tenancy. Council flats do not have any insulation and you will get to know other tenants bowl habits, I am not exaggerating it is that bad with no insulation everything echoes. You will know when people are using the loo and it is dreadful if you have children on your floor they use the lifts for entertainment.

Also the council has been charging for Digital aerial at a rate of £3.48 a month for the past 2 years. As seen on the media there is no need for a digital aerial but the council want to put one with the 2 mask Mobil phone that's already on the roof. Council are looking at everything to make money and their tenants are an easy target. Council will always blame their tenants for everything. :eek:

BitterAndTwisted

If some of the owners don't have the money for this substantial repair-bill the council will seek to have a charge put on the properties. And they will succeed. There is absolutely no way of avoiding these sorts of charges and not being able to afford it is not a compelling enough reason to try and avoid paying them.

dodger1

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

If some of the owners don't have the money for this substantial repair-bill the council will seek to have a charge put on the properties. And they will succeed. There is absolutely no way of avoiding these sorts of charges and not being able to afford it is not a compelling enough reason to try and avoid paying them.

So when a charge is put on a property does that mean nothing actually happens until the property is sold ?

lincroft1710

dodger1 wrote: »

So when a charge is put on a property does that mean nothing actually happens until the property is sold ?

I have heard that some councils try to force the owner to take out a loan to pay the money back or even threaten to force owner to sell, so they can recoup their fee.

However whether the above are urban myths or are unlawful, I don't know.

moremore

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I have heard that some councils try to force the owner to take out a loan to pay the money back or even threaten to force owner to sell, so they can recoup their fee.

However whether the above are urban myths or are unlawful, I don't know.

If it council property it is correct they are a law onto them selves, they only want your money and give nothing back in return for it. They go to able to keep their CEO's and other highly paid useless staff to have there salaries and no one is accountable for anything when you contact them. :eek: