do you get your sinking fund back

stu12345_2

if you buy ex council flat you pay service charge, but no sinking fund as councils are forbidden, hence you put away money in bank to cover major works.
so if you sell later and no major works has done, the money is still in your bank.

But if you buy a private flat you pay a charge which covers service charge and sinking fund for major repairs, what happens to that fund if no major repairs has taken place, does that mean you get the funds that have been sitting in the freeholders bank back to you.

booksurr

no you will not

BitterAndTwisted

No, you won't. Even though the money hasn't been spent yet the property will still be delapidating while you've been living in it.

stu12345_2

so basically if you buy and sell an ex council flat, that has not had any major repairs done during the time you owned it, you will have all your potential savings for repairs still in your bank account,
hence if you own during your life an ex council leasehold flat, but always sell before any major works, you will be quids in.
eg sell up before council decide to upgrade or repir or update.
as in the same way folks that sell their cars just before the mot is due.

BitterAndTwisted

That is correct. One caveat is what proposed repairs or improvements are in the pipeline. The council will have to disclose any proposed major works for the next five years to a buyer's solicitor, and if there are any this could put off any buyers except the criminally insane. It's not been unknown for leaseholders of ex-council high-rise flats to be hit with charges of tens of thousands of pounds.

stu12345_2

i would only buy a low rise brick build council flat that has had the decent homes upgrade 2010. i thought potential buyers only get 2 yrs future forecasts from council, and it was the right to buy folk that got the 5 yr forecast from council.
is this the same with private leasehold, can you get a 5 yr forecast from the freeholder.


so basically, buy a low rise council flat, non concrete with a 5 yr forecast for little or few major works and repeat every 5 years!!

stu12345_2

one question i dont have def answer to is, ifyou buy ur council flat and the council or even district valuer decides the price based on age, size and location and condition, you get the rtb125 which shows potential costs for next 5 yrs, say it states £10000 will be spend, can you then ask for £10000
reduction on valuation, as in the same way you would do in a private leasehold sale.
as i believe even the district valuer doesnt get privy to this info if you use the appeal section for using a district valuer, can you still ask for this reduction from council or district valuers price.
other question is if you exercise ur rtb and get 5 yr forecast, can you ask for another 5 yr forecast every 5 yrs , so to help you budget, as councils only have to issue a notice if repairs are over £250, or do you have to be a potential buyer to get a 5 yr forecast, i think that was 3 questions i asked lol.

Mercurial

My friend was looking at an ex council flat which was in a good area though the EA did point out on the selling information that the garages would be knocked down and rebuilt in the near future and would have cost thousands. He walked away.

stu12345_2

why would garages affect the asking price of an individual flat.
and can you get a 5 yr plan every 5 yrs from council if you buy. and do you get a 5 yr plan if you buy a private flat or as the sinking fund is continual as hence no plan is relevant.

zarf2007

stu12345 wrote: »

i would only buy a low rise brick build council flat that has had the decent homes upgrade 2010. i thought potential buyers only get 2 yrs future forecasts from council, and it was the right to buy folk that got the 5 yr forecast from council.
is this the same with private leasehold, can you get a 5 yr forecast from the freeholder.


so basically, buy a low rise council flat, non concrete with a 5 yr forecast for little or few major works and repeat every 5 years!!

tbh unless the council flat was somewhere like Hampstead North London I doubt you would ever make any decent money buying and selling every 5 years to avoid major repairs....given that ex-council are usually the last places people want to buy and non-council developments even with a sinking fund you dont get back generally get far more equity and are far more desirable places to live (especially in London)...

Why anyone would chose to buy and live among people who have a higher risk of not giving a toss about their development as they live there for free is beyond me....also most ex-council flats look like something out of the soviet era...

phill99

zarf2007 wrote: »

tbh unless the council flat was somewhere like Hampstead North London I doubt you would ever make any decent money buying and selling every 5 years to avoid major repairs....given that ex-council are usually the last places people want to buy and non-council developments even with a sinking fund you dont get back generally get far more equity and are far more desirable places to live (especially in London)...

Why anyone would chose to buy and live among people who have a higher risk of not giving a toss about their development as they live there for free is beyond me....also most ex-council flats look like something out of the soviet era...

You evidently have no experience of the vastly inflated prices that ex local authority flats go for in central London.