Right to buy small flat in a bad area?

hardnutman

carefullycautious wrote: »

Is there any way you could exchange to a better area to a flat in a smaller block?

Been on the swapping sites and trying to get into London for the last 3 years. Had a few viewings but it is a big ask for somebody to give up a potentially lucrative London flat to move to my area. Also a lot of the time the people need private gardens for pet dogs etc which I can't offer.

Currently I am thinking that I will keep looking for the jackpot london flat and if I fail after a couple of years just go the private route.

carefullycautious

You can do a multiple swap eg. three way or more. I would pursue this. Look at who wants to move out of London to an area who may want yours.

Mokka

How much rent could you get? How quickly could you find a tenant?
In my (drug-infested) area (in London) I would have a queue if I rented out my flat for the equivalent of the Local Housing Allowance.
Check with local estate agents/flat letting advents to check what are the going rents.
You need to consider all the hassle, the fact that you might have to take your tenants to court to evict them and will not be able to recover few months worth of rent owed, money for damage to the flat etc. This on top of the possible Major Works costs (these are now capped at max. £15k). As a home owner you would not be eligible for any Housing Benefit top up of an expensive London rent.
If you look into all the drawbacks the discount might not look as appealing. Good luck.