Buying our council home which has had subsidence

momdad

Good morning every one, I am new to this site so bare with me.


Me and my son have rented our home for 25 years, over this period we have had 4 cases of subsidence to which the council have sorted (well they say they have) Also within this time my son and I have wanted to buy but have never been in the position too.
We are in a position to buy the property and have applied to the council and they have said that the property is worth £135.000 to which we will get the property for £69.000 with our 30 years discount.


The houses within the area some have had the same problem. and others have found it hard to get insurance because of neighbours subsidence.


We have lived here for 25 years and don't want to move, is there any questions you think I should ask at the meeting with the council tomorrow.


Do you think we should ask for more discount due to subsidence and disruption of our lives over the years?


Should we have acknowledgement that if any further subsidence occurs who will be liable.


And also we think that the evaluation is too high the houses in the area are not going for that price (Chelmsley Wood Birmingham)


Neighbours who have brought their homes are finding faults that have cost them money Floorboards not strong enough.


Thank you so much for your time

Old_Git

if it wasnt a council house and thus getting a discount I would run a mile from this .

Pixie5740

The valuation of the property should reflect the condition of the property. Once you own the property the council will cease to be liable for the cost of any repairs, it's one of the responsibilities that comes with home ownership.

If you disagree with the valuation then you have the right to an independent district valuer. These details should be on the landlord's valuation form.

Mojisola

momdad wrote: »

We are in a position to buy the property and have applied to the council and they have said that the property is worth £135.000 to which we will get the property for £69.000 with our 30 years discount.

The houses within the area some have had the same problem. and others have found it hard to get insurance because of neighbours subsidence.

Neighbours who have brought their homes are finding faults that have cost them money Floorboards not strong enough.

As well as pay for the property, do you have enough money to pay for all the repairs and maintenance, including underpinning and the cost of living elsewhere while the work is done?

bris

You have no negotiation power here, the council don't want to sell you the house so will dictate the terms.

If you do buy it then it's yours, no more getting everything done for you, it's call ownership, you own it you deal with it.

McKneff

You have the security of a tenancy with subsidised rent. Repairs etc all paid for. I would stay as you are.


I wouldn't buy this for a fiver even, to be honest.

dacouch

If this was a normal private sale you would arrange Insurance with the same Insurer who paid the claims. You would then renew the policy for eternity and any future buyer would take over cover and do the same.

A council house is a bit different in that they either have insurance (Normally with Zurich) or the council self Insure (They pay their own claims). If it's the former you might be able to persuade Zurich to offer a cover although it may well be over their normal going rate, which you can then keep renewing although I suspect there's a good chance Zurich won't want to offer cover*. If it's the latter then there is no Insurer to take over the policy and you would have to go the specialist markets who will normally want to perform a survey (At your cost) and then would provide a quotation which is typically about double the market rate.

* If the council have had to revisit repairing the subsidence four times I suspect a) that they did the work in house as an Insurer would normally ensure they fix it the first time b) It indicates the work has not been done well and there's a good chance it will return. Either way this would not inspire confidence with Insurers as subsidence claims cost many £10k to settle. It could also mean Zurich were not involved and thus will not be interested in offering cover.

As other posters have mentioned if this was a normal house sale you would be best avoiding it.

At your meeting you should ask the council re whether it was an Insurer who paid the claim if not who paid eg the council and for any paper work

booksurr

momdad wrote: »

Me and my son have rented our home for 25 years, over this period we have had 4 cases of subsidence to which the council have sorted (well they say they have)

The houses within the area some have had the same problem. and others have found it hard to get insurance because of neighbours subsidence.
clearly the repairs have not fixed the problem, is the subsidence caused by mining collapse and so outside the control of the council to fix since you say the whole area is affected ?

Do you think we should ask for more discount due to subsidence and disruption of our lives over the years?
you can ask for the moon, but the max size of discount is dictated by law and is the lower of 70% or £75,000.

you have been given £66,000 discount (49%) based on at least 25 years history of council tenancy - use the Govt calculator http://righttobuy.communities.gov.uk/right-to-buy-calculator/ to check if there is scope for more discount - note however the calculator uses average values not exact values so will not be £ perfect

the valuation you have been given should have allowed for a history of subsidence. You need to check that it has before trying to use that as a basis for more discount

Should we have acknowledgement that if any further subsidence occurs who will be liable.
no need for acknowledgement, you will be the owner it is your liability and is why you have insurance !

And also we think that the evaluation is too high the houses in the area are not going for that price (Chelmsley Wood Birmingham)
as previous posters have said there is a formal process for appealing against valuations, read your fofer letter, it should say something like this: "You can appeal against the Council’s valuation. You will need to write to the Right to Buy section within the time period specified in your Section 125 offer notice asking for a District Valuer’s Appeal."

Neighbours who have brought their homes are finding faults that have cost them money Floorboards not strong enough.
all houses have faults, it is why they need ongoing repairs
make sure your survey tells you what is wrong before you buy so you can make an informed decision whether to buy at all - you have a history of subsidence and, as far as you know at the moment also a problem with floorboards - walk away and do not buy it

presumably the reason for wanting to buy is so you can sell and make some money - the issues you have identified now will mean no sane buyer would want it from you for the value you probably expect to sell at

you say that you do not want to move so why buy the house at all. It is a money pit which you cannot even begin to afford to own in terms of the running costs which to date have been paid by the council but in future will be yours to pay . One off big repairs and annual insurance will soon make your council rent look like the good old days

jaylee3

I think I would give it a wide berth.

Better_Days

OP, although you can afford to buy the property can you also afford to maintain it? As well as buildings insurance (which is likely to be expensive due to the subsidence) there will be other ongoing repairs and maintenance that you will need to factor in. For example guttering, fencing, exterior painting, plumbing, boiler and so on.... How old is the property? What are the electrics and roof like?

Also just to check are you buying freehold or leasehold? My uncle purchased his leasehold council house and it has caused problems with resale as the lease now has less than 70 years to run. Leasehold can also open a can of worms with regard to repairs and capital expenditure.

You could ring an insurance broker and ask them to advise you regarding the difficulties and possible cost relating to a property which has had the problems with subsidence that you describe. Probably best to go with a local broker who is familiar with the area.

You mention that you have rented the property for 25 years. Depending on your age and going towards retirement age (....although currently a moving target......) there is a lot to be said for security of tenure and not having to worry about repair costs.

I certainly wouldn't go ahead without exploring the buildings insurance issue thoroughly and from what you have said so far I wouldn't purchase the property. Thinking ahead problems with subsidence will make the property difficult to sell on. Sorry.

PasturesNew

If you need a mortgage, the subsidence etc might prevent you getting one.