Can someone advise please? re housing association offer

Lizzie-S

My husband and I have been offered a home from a housing association. We have been waiting a while on the list, and have been in private rent, but we have been lucky enough to be offered a home now.

The lady rang me last week (thursday) and asked if I was still interested in the home I bid on the week before and I said "yes of course," and she said "I would like to offer you the tenancy then."

Well after I almost fell out of my chair with excitement, I asked when we can move in! She said it was a property that someone had been in since 1975, and it is very dated and will probably not be available for viewing for a week or so as it needs the maintenance men to check it out and see what needs doing, and it will need cleaning too. So anyway, on Saturday morning we got the offer letter from the manager, and I dropped the acceptance slip off at their head office this morning,

I rang at 4pm today to confirm the housing manager has got the slip and to ask when we can view, and the colleague who answered the phone went off and asked her. She said the manager has got the slip and that is fine; they are pleased we want it, but the maintenance men have looked at the property and it's a bit of a mess and needs a lot of work; in her words it's a 'major void' Not sure what that means, does anyone know?

She then said it may be 3 weeks before we can even be given a date to view! It could also potentially be a further 3 weeks before it will be ready. We're not in any rush as we are on periodic tenancy and the landlord is in no rush to have the property back, but is this normal? For a property to take this long?

Thanks in advance for any help

Lizzie x

££sc££

congrats!

a void is the term for an empty period, so a major void is an empty property with major amount of works to do. totally normal, if had been tenanted since 1975. sit tight - it'll be much nicer when they're done!

Better_Days

Exactly as ££sc££ has said.

Hold tight and hope you enjoy your new home.

Delree

I hate the term void it's such an industry specific piece of jargon and de humanising as well. In our association we have stopped using the term in our literature for exactly this reason.

Lizzie-S

Thank you folks And Delree. As you work for a housing association, does this potential 6 week or more wait sound normal to you too?

Ms_Chocaholic

If a longer wait means (possibly) a new kitchen/bathroom, well worth the wait, do keep us updated

Lizzie-S

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

If a longer wait means (possibly) a new kitchen/bathroom, well worth the wait, do keep us updated

So the upshot is that a wait for 6 weeks or more is not rare then? Especially if someone has been there for almost 40 years!

Would the place have not been updated over the years though? Or do they wait til someone dies/moves after many years? It was an elderly couple (late 70s) and the old lady died in the winter and the old man died 3 weeks back. The family only just got his personal belongings out.

Thank you again x

Better_Days

Lizzie-S wrote: »

So the upshot is that a wait for 6 weeks or more is not rare then? Especially if someone has been there for almost 40 years!

Would the place have not been updated over the years though? Or do they wait til someone dies/moves after many years? It was an elderly couple (late 70s) and the old lady died in the winter and the old man died 3 weeks back. The family only just got his personal belongings out.

Thank you again x

I would say that 6 weeks is not long at all to undertake works such as new kitchen, bathroom, decorating, heating etc. My late Dad had a council flat at one point and he was offered central heating (all it had was a gas fire in the living room). He refused as he felt it would be too expensive to run. The kitchen was also very dated, but he preferred that to the disruption of works.

Also you need to take into account lead time for works. The contractors may have a backlog and may not be able to get round to your property for a while. Worth asking the HA though - they should know this.

I would say that a 'major void' is likely to be months rather than weeks. I know this is disappointing when you are so excited and have waited so long for a property - but it will be worth it in the long run. The delay will give you plenty of time to plan the move and save up for things for your new house.

Do ask the HA for a rough time-line though - they should have experience of managing expectations in these circumstances.

Werdnal

They will update regularly in line with statutory repairing obligations, but larger works may be left, or tenant may even refuse the intrusion of having things done. Many of the older generation don't want the upheaval of having things updated and prefer to leave things as they are - for some, an internal bathroom is a novelty, so upgading it to a modern bathroom is not worth the stress and inconvenience!

Sounds like it may need new bathroom/kitchen at the very least. Some older HA/Council properties also contain asbestos, so ceilings might have to come down aswell. Electrics may need updating, along with plumbing, and they may upgrade the heating aswell. Have you actually seen it from outside - it may even need double glazing! Then no doubt they will decorate throughout. I would estimate 6-8 weeks atleast, as even though the property will be emptry and they can crack on and get it done, these things have a habit of taking longer than expected.

It will be worth it though, as you will get an up-to-date property and the work will be done without hindering you.

Lizzie-S

Aww, thank you guys. I do feel a bit better now. I was worrying a bit, even thinking 'I hope they don't change their mind' LOL. (No reason why they would though! I mean they wouldn't have offered it us if they didn't want us to have it.)

I have phoned 3 or 4 times this past week enquiring about the offer letter and where to send the acceptance slip to and if they have a viewing date yet, and I am concious that I may become a pest, but I am just excited and anxious.

Although my friend who works for the council said this does happen as people get very excited when they are offered a property, and they just want the keys and they want a date to move etc, but often they cannot give them a date to move in...not for a week or two, and that is with the properties that 'don't' need much doing to them.

Maybe I should just wait for them to contact us now. The lady did say to phone them though if we have heard nothing after 2 weeks from today.

ps. Werndal; it looks fine from the outside funnily enough, but the drive and front garden is about 30 feet long, so it's hard to see close up. We have only driven past it two times and haven't had a thorough look. We have looked at it a few times on streetview though! It does actually look a bit dated however...

Better_Days

Lizzie-S wrote: »

ps. Werndal; it looks fine from the outside funnily enough, but the drive and front garden is about 30 feet long, so it's hard to see close up. We have only driven past it two times and haven't had a thorough look. We have looked at it a few times on streetview though! It does actually look a bit dated however...

Well if it is empty why not go and peer through the windows? I think I would!

GL with the move