Buying an ex Council flat for investment in Wood Green

socrates

This particular London Borough as in Haringey have an excellent Private Sector Leasing Team

They are the only borough who pay the LL directly for tenants that are claiming benefits, they also fast track the claim.

The tenants they provide are all pre-vetted and are guaranteed in as much as they do not have any adverse history i.e. no alchol/drug abuse or asbos

Basically they are people who are in temporary accom and are a priority as the cost is so high to the LA

They also provide a deposit and damage insurance - look on their website for more info
http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/housing_and_planning/housing/landlords/letting.htm

Another option for renting out to benefits claimants is to advertise on gumtree or the like - and only accept people who are entitled to claim 3 bedroom rate - even though your property is 2 bedroom - there are plenty around who are desperate and can be found

One thing you MUST NOT do is pay an agent to find you a tenant - and they introduce someone on housing benefit without you knowing

Make sure if you go via an agent that the tenants are insured via Homelet for rent guarantee

Lilly_L

thank you everyone for replying. From your posts would it be fair to conclude below:-

1)Ex council flat mostly only attract people who claim housing benefits?
2)that area of Wood Green isn't particularly the good part
3)the cons of buying an ex council flat outweighs the pros??

Lilly_L

Thanks so from your post my understanding is that private tenant would not normally consider renting an ex council flat?

the 6% of rental yield you calculated is based on £195k or £205k? and what is a generally good yield?

Lilly_L

thank you, looks like it wouldnt be too bad to invest in this flat from your post. its so hard some say its OK some say no. Confused as hell now.

Loopgames

We sold our ex council flat over a yr ago and we will NEVER buy one again. The service charge is just so ridiculous! I would never advise this to you.

Someone suggested a converted terraced house into flats...big thumbs up to that.:money:

Loopgames

Incidently, we now live in leytonstone and i love it! Never knew the area in upper leytonstone was so nice. Flats here are much cheaper than your price range and area is much nicer. Rental is currently high due to the olympics and who knows how that will fare afterwards. I am definitely loving leytonestone:D

padington

I live in wood green and love it. Two cinema's, tons of shops and brilliant transport links. The trick is to buy between alley palley station and wood green tube. That's the sweet spot. Also they've just built a state of the art secondary school there ( hearlands high ) so in a few years people will fight to get in the catchment area.

Mickygg

Sounds like you are too unconvinced. I wouldn't buy it.£1,300 a year sc plus no doubt extra for windows, roof etc is high running costs especially if you struggle to rent it out.Just seen this is an old post!! So OP did you buy it?

abankerbutnotafatcat

The assertion that ex-council places only attract HB tenants is simply not true. It depends on the type of property and the area. I rented an ex-LA place (as a young banker) prior to buying and then I bought an ex-LA place that I now rent out to banker/accountant/lawyer house-sharers.

hawk30

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

The assertion that ex-council places only attract HB tenants is simply not true. It depends on the type of property and the area. I rented an ex-LA place (as a young banker) prior to buying and then I bought an ex-LA place that I now rent out to banker/accountant/lawyer house-sharers.

Agreed. When I rented in London we were in an ex-council and it didn't bother us. Rents in London are so high you take what you can find. We also briefly considered moving to Wood Green knowing it's reputation and to be honest it didn't seem that bad.