buying an ex council house. what should I be aware of?

drdpj

I've just looked at that "find the best" website - (moved out of an ex council property which I'd lived in happily for 6 years in March) - and there are definitely properties listed there that I know for a fact are privately owned, so I wouldn't pay it much mind.

Personally I'd go for it, it was a good route onto the housing ladder, I got a lot more for my money than I would have if I'd gone for something not ex-LA. The area was fine, probably 50/50 council and privately owned when I left, and I sold the house within a week of it being on the market for near enough asking price.

If the area is OK and houses are selling (check sold prices in surrounding streets), there's no reason to think you'll have trouble selling it on in the future.

d.

first_time_buyer.....

Many thanks for all of your advices. They are very useful&helpful :j

stator

You can get a rough idea when a house was build by looking for it on old-maps the Ordanance Survey website.

Perelandra

I bought my current ex-Council House a few years ago, and am quite happy with it- large rooms, garden and solid construction. The local EAs are freuqently fishing for houses to sell in my street, so the demand must be there!

On the road there's a mixture of owner-occupiers, council and private tenants. The only one that causes any problem at all is an OO.

So quite happy with the purchase.

AlexMac

first_time_buyer..... wrote: »

This was her reply

Further to your email I can only provide the estimated figure which the vendor honestly believes is the case regarding what is still council etc and cannot comment on the accuracy of anything you have found on the internet – I would advise you to look around the estate. Not all sales do show up on the internet – the exact date and transaction will be on the title information document which will be included in the contract pack which will be sent to your solicitors. I should be grateful if you could confirm your solicitors details together with proof of funds in order for me to send appropriate paperwork to all parties.

As others say, there's nothing necessarily wrong with a mixed public/private street, although purchase and eventual resale values are, as you know, lower for ex-Council houses.

I spent the 1st 19 years of my life in a flat on an inner London Council estate and didn't turn into a feral yob! Our kids and family bought a 3-bed ex-council house as they wanted a garden and that was all they could afford locally, but did amazingly well on the resale after 5-6 years (even burst the 250k stamp duty threshold). And although over 50% in the street were council owned, that worked in their favour too, as the Council did a makeover- new roofs, windows, external insulation & cladding so the area looked on the up and the OOs looked almost shabby by comparison.

So go for it if you like the house and area- maybe visit at night and weekends to see what the neighbourhood's like at 11pm on a Saturday?

But assuming that you are serious, I'd get my finger out and choose a solicitor; until you advise the EA of your lawyer they won't issue the 'memorandum of sale' and if you delay the buyer might not think you're serious.

Good luck

Cautious_Optimist

stator wrote: »

You can get a rough idea when a house was build by looking for it on old-maps the Ordanance Survey website.

You may find a neighbour who actually helped build the street...

TheSpaniard

Our first house was in the middle of a council estate, or the money we got far more than we would have done elsewhere, 3 good sized rooms massive garden and cheap council tax.

Area was ok, we got home drew the curtains and did our own thing, good schools in the area, all the amenities we needed...however after 5 years couldnt wait to get out...primarily because of our neighbours kids and subsequent groups of friends...at the end of the day we were still on a council estate.

It did however provide quite a good platform for our newer purchase - so can have its benefits.

first_time_buyer.....

TheSpaniard wrote: »

Our first house was in the middle of a council estate, or the money we got far more than we would have done elsewhere, 3 good sized rooms massive garden and cheap council tax.

Area was ok, we got home drew the curtains and did our own thing, good schools in the area, all the amenities we needed...however after 5 years couldnt wait to get out...primarily because of our neighbours kids and subsequent groups of friends...at the end of the day we were still on a council estate.

It did however provide quite a good platform for our newer purchase - so can have its benefits.

did you have any trouble selling it?

missprice

first_time_buyer..... wrote: »

did you have any trouble selling it?

You won't have much trouble selling an ex council house ( assuming its a standard built one I.e. bricks.)
My whole estate is ex council. They sell very well every time. Because they are standard brick built, with large rooms, gardens and driveways.
The whole of the area is otherwise terraced with small but tall rooms, no drives, tiny concrete yards, no way to extend.
Next door bought his for 86k before the financial crash, the previous owner paid the council 45k.
The other neighbour paid 35k years ago and had it valued recently at over 100k.

Only houses left council owned are the bungalows, usually let to older people, who are mostly quiet.


They sell, don't worry

TheSpaniard

first_time_buyer..... wrote: »

did you have any trouble selling it?

8 month on the market and sold for what we paid, without doing anything other than decorating (badly!!).
Got a bit lucky if im honest, neighbours either side were looking worse than when we bought and the house directly over the road sold fo 16k less than ours!