Council House-should I buy ASAP or wait?

Errata

What is overall cost of buying house,getting mortgage etc?

As long as a piece of string.

Ames

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Best to let the taxpayers do up your pad if it needs work before taking up any rtb option

Although you can be expected to pay back at least a proportion of the cost of refurbishment if you buy within a certain timescale. But then, if you buy before refurb then you can be landed with a bill for external works, especially if it's in a tower block.

ViolaLass

Rafal35 wrote: »

so now after 5 years ive paid more rent than the whole block to the council,or maybe two?!!That is why i think i should have Right to Buy with discount.

You think you deserve the discount because you've paid rent?

So what about those of us who pay rent but not to a council?

Rafal35

I compared people who renting from councils not private tenants.And please read my first post,I asked for advice either buy now or later,not if it is fair or not,i did not start this poinless conversation

SnooksNJ

Rafal35 wrote: »

I compared people who renting from councils not private tenants.And please read my first post,I asked for advice either buy now or later,not if it is fair or not,i did not start this poinless conversation

I don't think someone born in a foreign country and being able to buy a heavily taxpayer subsidized house after 5 years is a pointless conversation. As to your question. How do you think people would react asking that question? Forget the 5 British families you know who don't work. A majority of posters on here are British born citizens, whom have paid taxes all their lives, and don't have access to public housing and RTB like you did. Frankly, I find the question disrespectful.

ViolaLass

Rafal35 wrote: »

I compared people who renting from councils not private tenants.And please read my first post,I asked for advice either buy now or later,not if it is fair or not,i did not start this poinless conversation

I don't think it's pointless. And I don't see why you should be entitled to buy a house at a discount just because of who you have been paying your rent to.

BobQ

OP,

As I understand it the RTB also restricts your ability to sell for some years. Are you content with this?

You need to work out what the price will be for the mortgage in relation to the rent you are paying. I assume that the mortgage will save money? If so the earlier you take it the better in principle. In practice you have to consider (a) will house prices rise in the period until you would anticipate selling the house. What would you do if they fell? (b) what will happen to mortgages (will you be able to get a mortgage with a high loan to value percentage? can you get a fixed rate? can you still afford a variable rate if it doubled?) (c) what maintenance is likely to be needed in the house in the next5- 10 years (can you DIY cheaply? Or will you have to pay a contractor?, does this make up for the saving in mortgage?) (d) your income (how stable and secure is it? what would happen if you were out of work for 3 months? Is you income likely to grow over the next 5-10 years?) (e) are you stretching your finances too far to buy?

There is not really enough information for people to advise you but you just need to make up a spreadsheet and work it out with a range of possible assumptions. If you can afford to buy and it saving you money fine, but many people have tried RTB and found that they could not afford it.

I would ignore the UKIP supporters on here. Personally I think the state should keep social housing and not sell but if you have spent 10 years here paying taxes and plan to commit to longer I do not see their problem.

Pixie5740

It might be worth sitting down with a mortgage broker who specialised in RTB mortgages to work out what kind of costs will come with home ownership and if it is something you can afford/want to do.

It might also be worth exploring whether or not you're eligible for a RTB discount.

Good luck in becoming debt free.

Rafal35

Thanks BobQ and Pixie for your very helpful posts.For now i decided to concentrate on my debt first ,than I start saving and in a meantime I will check if I can buy usung RTB ,thanks again