Is it better to buy flat (RTB)?

tazwhoever

Council tenants pay the rent and repairs are done via contractors for council.

What are the responsibilities for leaseholders, in terms of costs for repairs, (is there one company that handles heating, boiler, plumbing, repairs etc) for flat? Also,other costs ground rent, insurance, etc?

Basically,is it better to be council tenant or to buy the flat through RTB (getting a mortgage from the bank) and other financial costs related to buying?

Thanks

Notmyrealname

Better to be a council tenant.

Once you buy it through RTB you are responsible for all repairs and you will have to find your own tradesmen to do them. You will also have to pay ground rent, buildings insurance, life insurance. When the council update the flats they still own such as when they renew the double glazing, you won't get yours done unless you pay them to.

Buying your own place isn't the panacea people think it is, especially if you rent from the council.

cattie

Much better to be a council tenant. You will alway qualify for help with rent if on low income or lose your job. With a mortgage, the only help there is is help towards the interest due on the mortgage, not the repayment part of the loan & the amount you receive may not even cover the whole of the interest. Also, there is a qualifying period, so you would not become eligible for help straight away.

With maintenance and repairs on ex council properties, the bills you can receive from the council as your contribution for external works and common parts can be huge.

As notmyrealname mentions, owning a property isn't the be all and end all that many people think it is. It can be a very expensive business and sometimes ends up a millstone around some people's necks.

geoffky

Council all day long..So many who have bought did not realize the costs involved in owning...

poppysarah

Never buy a council flat.

Never.

j2011

ever ..........

BitterAndTwisted

Depending on the size of the development the service-charges and bills for improvements/refurbishment can be heart-stoppingly massive to the leaseholders. Some people who have bought their council flats via the RTB have good reason to believe that the charges levied against them are disproportionate. In my opinion the very modest discounts available now don't make it worth all of the possible risks.

There are many long-term reasons to favour remaining a tenant rather than becoming a leaseholder and entitlement to benefits is one of them. I wouldn't fancy trying to find all the money for potentially huge service-charges when I'm a pensioner, for instance

tazwhoever

Thankyou to all those who replied. I know we as parents would be fine, paying rent and living. I was also thinking about my two young children , when they grow up and not having roof over their heads.

Thank you again.

Ivana_Tinkle

Absolutely agree with the other posters. We bought an ex-council house (not flat!) a few years ago. A month after we moved in, the leasholders in the flats which were part of the same estate were told their windows were being replaced, and the cost was £18,000 per flat! This was utterly non-negotiable. One family had been given permission to replace their windows, at their own expense, a couple of years earlier, but still had to pay the same charge!

Our house turned out to be a good investment and we made a lot of money on it (it was a renovation) - had we bought one of the flats instead, it would have been a disaster.