Council Right to Buy - Its your right

xxcazxx

Hi, hope ive posted this in the right place!

My partner and i have been approached by a company called its your right with a view to us buying our housing association property, I just wondered if anyone here has had any dealings with this company, and if so what are they like to deal with?

thanks

manhattan

Can you right to buy with all housing associations?

Running_Horse

Some let you, some don't. Are you not in a position to get a normal mortgage? If not, I would be very cautious.

xxcazxx

no, we are not in a position to get a mortgage properly, and as we will qualify for a 6 year discount (anyone know how much discount that is by the way??) we thought this would be really our only chance to get on the property ladder.

hearts

If this company can do it for money then you can do it yourself for free. Go to FA/MA and find out.
Don't be paying someone large fees for something you can do yourself.

heavenly_heaven

i own a council property and i used to get letters from companies that wanted to buy my council property for me. basically what this companies do is buy the property having taken out the discount they then pay you a reward which might start from anything between 10K or more.they then own the property.
it appeals becos a lot people can't afford to buy themselves but the cash is a sweetener some councils are trying to stop companies like this operating.

roswell

1) You dont need this company you can do it all yourself.

2) can you afford to buy ?? is is in your interest eg is it cheaper to buy then stay there as secure tenants.

3) do you recieve housing benifit if so its unlikely to be a good idea for you to buy.

If yopu can afford to buy and you want to buy speak to your local rent office they will have plenty of info on what you need to do to get the ball rolling.

JasonLVC

As per other posts, these companies charge a hefty 'service' fee of around £1,500 - £2,000 - added to your mortgage of course.

The council do all the work for you, value it, prepare the documents. You just need a solicitor to do the usual searches/planning checks (£250) and a mortgage lender who'll lend you the cash. Provided you're not a poor credit risk, then no problem. Pay deposit to council yourself and mortgage pays the rest. Total cost for you is a few hundred quid.

Where these companies win work is from people with no deposit, no cash, no savings and usually on benefits and they commit them to 25 or 35 year mortgages at above average interest rates. Only buy your house if you actually want to. Right to buy is in law and so cannot be removed without commons deabte so if they ever think about stopping it, you'll have about 2 years warning!.

If your on income support then a very big risk as mortgage will be higher than your benefits and you'll loose housing benefits if you had any and of course, go in arrears with the council and they send you a snotty letter....do it with a bank and they'll take the house off you.

xxcazxx

Well i know we would probably be refused a mortgage from a bank, as my partner has CCJs and I had one a few yrs ago (although i think this is 'spent'). We don't get any benefits apart from child tax credits, as my partner works full time. I am in the process of looking for work myself after being a stay at home mum for 6 yrs. I understand we would be paying a fee for the services its your right offer, but I personally know nothing about mortgages, or house buying at all, and we figured this would be the best way to get on the property ladder. Am i mad for even thinking about it?

asandwhen

No your not mad - I thought the same thing before I purchased my council property 3 years ago - I went to a company called haydenglen (or similar) and they were going to do everything for me and add there fees (£2000) to the mortgage.

I asked about for info about them and found out that I could do it myself for about £500 so did.

All you need to do is speak with a fee free independant mortgage advisor - they will point you in the right direction in regards to mortgage product (you dont need a deposit as the discount acts as this for you) Then you need to appoint a soliciter and call the council.

It really is easy to do and well worth it if you can afford it.

Good luck.

hearts

The post above is correct and the way to go. ;-)