Council want to demolish my flat

Bimmermad

Dear members, I need some help in this process. The council have written to me saying that they want to demolish the block of flats that I own a property in. They have asked to arrange a meeting to discuss buy back of the lease. The documents highlights that for non residential leaseholders the council will pay an additional 7.5% on top of the market valuation. They want to arrange a valuation of the property. I just wanted to know if anyone has been through this process and what would be the best possible outcome for me. Any advice is appreciated.

cattie

It's best that you arrange the meeting & see what they offer you. If they are offering market rate, then you can't lose.

Regarding non residential this could possibly be for retail premises as opposed to residential flats or houses. In a way this would make sense as retail premises stand to lose business if forced to relocate & incur extra charges in having to have new stuff printed up, so perhaps the extra payment is to compensate for that.

Bimmermad

cattie wrote: »

It's best that you arrange the meeting & see what they offer you. If they are offering market rate, then you can't lose.

Regarding non residential this could possibly be for retail premises as opposed to residential flats or houses. In a way this would make sense as retail premises stand to lose business if forced to relocate & incur extra charges in having to have new stuff printed up, so perhaps the extra payment is to compensate for that.

Thanks for the response

The point referring to non residential lease is if you currently own the property but are not living there as your primary accommodation. Therefore renting the property out. I will arrange a meeting but I need to possibly understand the process a bit more better before I contact them. They have offered to pay all the legal fees and valuation but would you recommend that I use an independent valuation expert??? Should I seek independent legal advice??

moneyistooshorttomention

Something caught my eye the other day, ie of a sort of legal firm?/solicitors? that said they would represent people in this sort of situation. Don't know if a firm like that would be worthwhile or no.

Personally, I have always been aware that I would need more money from compulsory purchase of my place than I would need if I myself chose to sell it.

My last house, for instance, was around £170,000 asking price. If I had been forced into selling it against my will, then the Council should cover the asking price PLUS my housemoving costs PLUS costs for work on next place to bring it up to at least equivalent standard PLUS compensation for being put through that hassle. End result being I would have needed c. £250,000 from the Council to be fair.

End result was = I would need substantially more than the asking price before I could let a Council compulsory purchase it off me and not lose out as a result of that. The statutory few % extra would nowhere near cover that amount of money and wouldn't even cover my costs if I were prepared not to be compensated for my hassle in having to move against my will.

moremore

This has been ongoing in other borough, what the council is offering for the compulsory purchases is less what the resident can buy again as the house prices has gone up so much. Think they are knocking down old block and rebuilding more homes on the land.

Have word with your Councillor and or you MP they both should be able to help you. Also google Better Home as they are lots of problems there regarding long leaseholders.

lincroft1710

This should give you the info you need

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compulsory-purchase-and-compensation-booklet-1-procedure

somethingcorporate

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Something caught my eye the other day, ie of a sort of legal firm?/solicitors? that said they would represent people in this sort of situation. Don't know if a firm like that would be worthwhile or no.

Personally, I have always been aware that I would need more money from compulsory purchase of my place than I would need if I myself chose to sell it.

My last house, for instance, was around £170,000 asking price. If I had been forced into selling it against my will, then the Council should cover the asking price PLUS my housemoving costs PLUS costs for work on next place to bring it up to at least equivalent standard PLUS compensation for being put through that hassle. End result being I would have needed c. £250,000 from the Council to be fair.

End result was = I would need substantially more than the asking price before I could let a Council compulsory purchase it off me and not lose out as a result of that. The statutory few % extra would nowhere near cover that amount of money and wouldn't even cover my costs if I were prepared not to be compensated for my hassle in having to move against my will.

This sounds like total pie in the sky. If your place was valued at £170k then you'd only need £170k to get an equivalent place. House moving is hardly prohibitively expensive so looks like you're holding out for £60k+ for the inconvenience - 30+% of the value of the house. The council values this at 7.5%. Personally, I'd suggest the offer of 7.5% is negotiable but think 15-20% as the absolute top amount that is reasonable.

Can they make a purchase compulsory?

princeofpounds

Quite often in this situation the first offer you get is not the offer you should push for. I'd be looking into getting legal advice.

7.5% above market value will do little more than cover the costs of the move. That doesn't mean you are going to be rich mind you!

Somerset

somethingcorporate wrote: »

This sounds like total pie in the sky. If your place was valued at £170k then you'd only need £170k to get an equivalent place.

Not necessarily. This thread caught my eye because my mother may be in this situation soon. She bought/lives in a council block on a council estate. The estate is being redeveloped and 2/3rd's will be demolished/rebuilt, primarily then private. Her existing block is being left, for how long we don't know. She's in central London, and no joke, if she has to purchase an alternate in the immediate area, you can add a zero to the end of the final price.


Like the OP there is no CPO in place, and I can't see that they could achieve one. So I'll follow this thread with interest.

kyana

council places are often notably cheaper than other properties so no, it's not a direct comparison price-wise and there may be no other comparable council properties to buy so the person buying bought-out will need more to move on.

Bimmermad

somethingcorporate wrote: »

This sounds like total pie in the sky. If your place was valued at £170k then you'd only need £170k to get an equivalent place. House moving is hardly prohibitively expensive so looks like you're holding out for £60k+ for the inconvenience - 30+% of the value of the house. The council values this at 7.5%. Personally, I'd suggest the offer of 7.5% is negotiable but think 15-20% as the absolute top amount that is reasonable.

Can they make a purchase compulsory?

I spoke to a few neighbours that attended a meeting held by the council. They were told that the offer of 7.5% is their final decision. I am yet to speak to them but I would be keen to find what criteria they used to come out with that figure.