buying a Flat in a council estate in barking

humadoon

Hello Friends

I am a first time buyer trying to full fill my dream of my own home however finances seem tight, i live in barking (i know not a wonderful area to live in) i have checked with many estate agents, property websites i don't have the affordability to purchase a house in barking (on average price of house is from 230k and above and i am after 2 bed or more) and if i move to ilford area the prices are higher due to seven kings school etc nowadays what mostly people are doing is converting their houses in to flats and selling them this is very profitable for the owner.

In barking i visited a 2 bed flat and it seems within my range however it is in a council estate of barking and i am worried about the stereotypes?

dancingfairy

Hi. Given that you already live in Barking you may be one of the best people to know what the situation is like. I would ask around people you know, check out the local paper(s) and see if that areas seems to be in the paper often (or not), also check out the court listings in the paper as they often say so and so of x address, also you can probably get access to crime maps on the internet for your area/potential area.
Its also going to depend very much on your immeadite neighbours - you can live in a really nice area and have horrid neghbours or a rubish area and have lovely neighbours.
Have you checked the estate out at various times of day? Might be worth having a drive around/walk around etc.
Hopefully with all that lot you can make an informed decision.
df

dancingfairy

Also be aware that if you spot something which could be a problem (but isn't to you) that it could also put potential buyers off in the future so think about how long you might want to stay and how easy it would be to sell on again.
df

humadoon

dancingfairy wrote: »

Hi. Given that you already live in Barking you may be one of the best people to know what the situation is like. I would ask around people you know, check out the local paper(s) and see if that areas seems to be in the paper often (or not), also check out the court listings in the paper as they often say so and so of x address, also you can probably get access to crime maps on the internet for your area/potential area.
Its also going to depend very much on your immeadite neighbours - you can live in a really nice area and have horrid neghbours or a rubish area and have lovely neighbours.
Have you checked the estate out at various times of day? Might be worth having a drive around/walk around etc.
Hopefully with all that lot you can make an informed decision.
df

thank you for such an informative response

i live in barking for last 3 years personally i never had any problem but i live on the good side of the town however i don't have any experience of living in a council estate, i will defiantly visit the flat and check out, i have visited the property twice and asked the residents how its like? they gave me positive feedback. i will visit the area this evening and see how its like in the evening.

humadoon

dancingfairy wrote: »

Also be aware that if you spot something which could be a problem (but isn't to you) that it could also put potential buyers off in the future so think about how long you might want to stay and how easy it would be to sell on again.
df

i think it won't be easy to resell the property as the current property market is going down day by day however my intention is to live in the property not to sell it.

juliebunny

I live on an ex-council estate - or ex LA as they now like to be called. Many people have bought homes there, not actually many tenants left - I think this may be more because it's houses rather than flats though. My experience is that you get crappy neighbours wherever you live. This estate is not really any worse than the private one nearby, except for one idiot neighbour - who has bought privately. The main problem is that there are just too many people here, much like new housing estates. Most keep themselves to themselves, some are friendly, others are complete nightmares.

The one thing I do find though is that many people here really don't take any pride in the upkeep of their property. many of the gardens look overgrown, or even abandoned! I moved here because it was affordable at the time. It was all I could afford. Now I can afford better and I'm off. Treat it as a stepping stone. This house is better than the flat I came from, which was better than the shared room I came from before that which was better than the flat with roaches before that....see what I'm getting at here....buy they best you can afford at the time.

Also, be careful of service charges. Councils have a habit of making massive makovers - of course the council tenants pay zip but you could get a bill for thousands.

humadoon

juliebunny wrote: »

I live on an ex-council estate - or ex LA as they now like to be called. Many people have bought homes there, not actually many tenants left - I think this may be more because it's houses rather than flats though. My experience is that you get crappy neighbours wherever you live. This estate is not really any worse than the private one nearby, except for one idiot neighbour - who has bought privately. The main problem is that there are just too many people here, much like new housing estates. Most keep themselves to themselves, some are friendly, others are complete nightmares.

The one thing I do find though is that many people here really don't take any pride in the upkeep of their property. many of the gardens look overgrown, or even abandoned! I moved here because it was affordable at the time. It was all I could afford. Now I can afford better and I'm off. Treat it as a stepping stone. This house is better than the flat I came from, which was better than the shared room I came from before that which was better than the flat with roaches before that....see what I'm getting at here....buy they best you can afford at the time.

Also, be careful of service charges. Councils have a habit of making massive makovers - of course the council tenants pay zip but you could get a bill for thousands.

yeah this is something i am worried about too, is there any way i can save myself form this?

SuzieSue

humadoon wrote: »

yeah this is something i am worried about too, is there any way i can save myself form this?

There are several threads about this and often it isn't thousands, it is tens of thousands.

Notmyrealname

humadoon wrote: »

In barking i visited a 2 bed flat and it seems within my range however it is in a council estate of barking and i am worried about the stereotypes?

In my old town, most of two of the council estates were privately owned through RTB.

juliebunny

humadoon wrote: »

yeah this is something i am worried about too, is there any way i can save myself form this?

Sorry but from what I can gather - NO!

My friend bought her ex LA flat around 10 years ago. The previous owner was having to stump up around £10K for the refurb of the block - double glazing, new roof, can't remember exactly. Lucky for her, the solicitor held back this money and passed onto the LA to pay, so she wasn't stuck with it.

However, recently they wrote to ask asking for MORE money as they were going to put a new roof on!! She contested this and finally they have backed down....but it's a cautionary tale.

I live near an Olympic Venue and the council have spent a LOT of money making the local blocks look more 'pretty'. I bet the tenants who had bought have had a massive bill too....