House buying Help

jamesy

Hi, i am considering buying my council house, filled in the application form

everything fine until today, got a letter from the council to say i owe £500 from 1997,
What? i contacted the council as i do not feel i owe this, i mean this was ten years ago, strange thing is they have all records of my payments except 1997, so if i had not enquired to buy my house they would never had brought this up, Trouble is i have not kept any record that far back, council said they sent me letters which i did not receive, i mean this was for a full year, they surely would not have left it this long, but they say i must pay otherwise i can not go ahead with the purchase, don`t know what to do any suggestions

silvercar

I thought there was a 6 year rule for debts? Ask for details of what this money represents, if you get no joy complain to the council complaints dept.

You could pay the £500, complete your house purchase and then try to clain this back. If you delay in completing the purchase you will ending up paying weeks of rent for no gain.

nick22abdn

Lets face it, if you are saving yourself tens of thousands of pounds on a property purchase, subsidised by the British taxpayer you shouldn't really be complaining about £500!

alant1000

ask the council to send you a copy of the letter, by law all organisaitons are meant to keep 10 yrs worth of correspondence for legal disputes, its the council so you can go heavy on them and tell them you are launcing legal action (or thinking of it), and you need to see the letters they sent you from 1997. If they cannot prove they didnt send you a letter, then you are ok. Its if they pull the letter out of the hat that you are stuffed, and will have to pay (probably).

myusername_2

I understand that it is nigh on impossible to get on the housing ladder on low incomes and this may seem to be your only hope on getting on the housing ladder but please consider the implications of buying a council house.

Across the country social housing is dwindling due to the right to buy and the waiting lists for people who really need it are huge. Very Vulnerable people are finding it very hard to get a council house. People with children, people with mental health problems and people with disadvantaged backgrounds are finding themselves holed up in hostels and bedsits (or left homeless) around the country due to the lack of social housing availiable.

Once you have bought that house or flat from the council you are effectively taking your house away from those people. You are ensuring that when you sell up, move, retire to a home, die or downsize no one else can benefit from the security and the subsidised rent that you have been lucky enough to have benefit from.

Sorry to be preachy but the "right" to buy is ethically and morally wrong.

silvercar

All the OP is doing is securing his own home and taking his first step on the property ladder, no need for criticism.

myusername_2

silvercar wrote: »

All the OP is doing is securing his own home and taking his first step on the property ladder, no need for criticism.

Sorry Silvercar but I am not criticising Jamesy I'm merely raising a very important issue that he needs to consider before buying a council home.

Taking a council property away from an ever decreasing stock has repurcussions on vulnerable people and I think an awareness of these issues is important.

As for "securing his own home" I consider Jamesy as someone who is already in secure accommodation. He is fortunate to be in council accomodation paying reasonable rent and his tenancy his secure and safe. He is not stuck languishing in the private sector being exploited by buy to letters, he is not stuck in a B&B or a hostel and he is not homeless. Jamesy has security.

I think this security is more important than property ownership. By buying the council house he is denying other people (many extremely vulnerable) the chance of that security. He needs to know this before buying and I make no apologies for bringing it to his attention.

pcwilkins

myusername wrote: »

I think this security is more important than property ownership. By buying the council house he is denying other people (many extremely vulnerable) the chance of that security. He needs to know this before buying and I make no apologies for bringing it to his attention.

Perhaps Jamesy is simply putting evolution into action :-) survival of the fittest and all that...why should he take any responsibility for "people with children, people with mental health problems and people with disadvantaged backgrounds"?

Peter

jamesy

Correct pcwilkins, me and my wife are on a low wage (but we work) and have done since we were 16 now hitting 60, rents getting dearer so i thought about buying my house to make things easier for when we retire, and for somewhere for our kids live when we pass away security for mine,
i dont think us buying our house will affect anybody the reason there is a housing shortage is the country is overcrowded to many foreigners for one,

so us buying our house is security for our kids and there kids

pcwilkins

Not too many foreigners, too many people :-)

Peter

jay7_2

jamesy wrote: »

...the country is overcrowded to many foreigners for one,...

I am a foreigner, I live in England. I am employed and run a small business as well. The UK Government takes 40% of a portion of my income from me. The only benefit me and my family get is the child benefits for our daughter (who was born in the UK), some £18 per week.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I don't expect anything from the Government. I'm just a bit upset now when people who get MY MONEY complain about ME being in the UK and blame ME for all the troubles. I'm no burden to the social system, I am a contributor, I help subsidising your home!

This "right to buy" thing is totally wrong IMO. If everyone had a right to buy a home for a discounted price then maybe, yes. But not when only a small group of lucky people get the chance. If council houses and flats were sold to tenants for their market value, that would be a different story though.