Right To Buy- Experiences

Princess_star_girl

Hi all,

I have just put my application form in for the RTB,
Im just a bit unsure of certain things. It would be
Really usefull if anybody could give me some advice
On the process, how to get best morgatage deal etc
If u have brought under this scheme could u
Give me ur story pros cons and things to make sure of tips
Please.

Thanks

Mokka

There is at the moment no safer housing option than secure tenancy- maybe with the exception of a particularly protective mum and dad, who own their home. You need to do something pretty seriously antisocial or criminal to be evicted from a council flat, or fall behind with rent because of your own fault.

If you buy your home it really belongs to the bank, not to you, for the whole duration of your mortgage. You can loose your home if you fall behind with payments and become homeless. The council does not have to rehouse you in another council flat. If you have children they do have to find you somewhere to live but it can be an expensive dump in the middle of nowhere.

The good thing about owning your home is that you do not have to worry about paying rent when you retire.
You will however have all the expenses associated with maintaining and repairing your home.
Now the council does all the repairs, replaces boilers etc. You will have to pay for everything yourself.

As to the process itself it is very well explained on line:
http://righttobuy.communities.gov.uk/
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-right-to-buy-your-home-summary--2

There is much less choice of mortgage providers. If you google Right to Buy mortgages it will tell you who does them. The good news is that the discount counts as deposit, so you will be offered good rates by the banks who do RTB (of course this depends on your income and credit worthiness too).
GOod luck with your application- and remember you can withdraw it at any time!

steveo3002

bought ours , valued at 155k paid 80k plus fee's

was pretty smooth and easy...one thing id mention if theres anything in need of repair in the house ask for it to be fixed before asking about rtb

Mokka

Nothing smooth and easy about mine. A year after applying still not sure if we can finalise and when. It depends on where you live.

steve4mandy

Go for it......


Completed on ours last Monday, took 5 months start to finish. To be kind i will say our council were methodical. Every visit was in '2 weeks, and then that decision took '2 weeks'.


On the council side it went, RTB1 application, RTB2 conformation, boundary survey (2mins), valuation, valuation price, Energy performance survey.
Their solicitor then sat on the case for 4 weeks before he looked at it.


Market value £135000, minus £10000 for improvements we had done, purchase price £125000, minus 52% discount, we got it for £60000.


No deposit reqd by Nationwide as they use the discount.


As stated above get as many repairs done as you can, once RTB2 is returned by you, you will be on 'water and air tight repairs' only, including gas/heating and electrical repair.


Our mortgage (we fixed in for 5 years) is £2 a month cheaper than our rent. The rent goes up again April.


Good luck.

leveller2911

steve4mandy wrote: »

Go for it......




Market value £135000, minus £10000 for improvements we had done, purchase price £125000, minus 52% discount, we got it for £60000.


No deposit reqd by Nationwide as they use the discount.

I don't blame people for taking up the RTB but I don't see any benefit to the taxpayer and Society as a whole .

The "discount" part is a joke. 52% discount off the market value when that £65k would have gone a long way in building another Socialy Housing house.What does a tenant have to do to "qualify" for the discount apart from living in the house?.

Successive Governments had the power to stop this and they all chose not to. I also think anyone who does take up the RTB and in later years gets repossessed should give up all rights be considered for Social Housing in the future.

musheypeas

I'm currently going for mine valued at 155k, discount of 100k so buying it for 55k. My mortgage will work out £90 cheaper than the rent. I would urge anyone who has the RTB to go for it. Looking to complete within 4 weeks. London & Quadrant have really been on the ball. Its the bank that's dragging.


Good luck and hope it all goes well for you

1931modela

I think you will find that any repairs/improvements carried out by the council will be added to the value of the house

musheypeas

1931modela wrote: »

I think you will find that any repairs/improvements carried out by the council will be added to the value of the house

Luckily for me none of this was added on

strawberries1

I agree.

Bizarrely, a good number of rtbs are paid for without mortgage ie cash down. It's laudable that people who need help with housing are provided housing but they needn't be given a discount to purchase it.

leveller2911 wrote: »

I don't blame people for taking up the RTB but I don't see any benefit to the taxpayer and Society as a whole .

The "discount" part is a joke. 52% discount off the market value when that £65k would have gone a long way in building another Socialy Housing house.What does a tenant have to do to "qualify" for the discount apart from living in the house?.

Successive Governments had the power to stop this and they all chose not to. I also think anyone who does take up the RTB and in later years gets repossessed should give up all rights be considered for Social Housing in the future.

BlueberryB

This annoys me something silly! We live in a council house, I love it, it's our home! We have lived her or 5 years and I've been a council tenant for 10.
There is a stop on RTB here now under a pressured area ban. So if you moved into your house or was a tenant before 2003 you are fine but we were 2004 so just missed out we were waiting to buy our house after the initial 5 year pressured area was released in November, we paid 4.5k to rip out the old stinking bathroom and put a nice modern one in at the start of last year! We were gutted when the council extended the PA for another 10 years!! We had big plans and was lying to gut the house after we bought it and put on a small extension to the kitchen and the house is plenty big enough for us and if we got it the way we wanted, it would be our forever home. But no we can't buy it and we are to young to be paying rent or the rest of our lives, we wanted an investment in property and a stable future without paying through the nose every month for a big mortgage.

We are now trying to save and get on the ladder ourselves, with 3 kids and living costs just now it isn't so easy, but I'm sure we will get there. All I'm saying is how very lucky these people who buy their houses on RTB for a "quick buck" as I'm seeing them pop up every day on here, and here is us that wants to buy our home and are stopped dead in our tracks! ;(