If you already rent a house from the council, can you get a mortgage on another

eggyf7

Hi

I rent a flat from the council but i was wondering if it was legal to buy another property using savings for a deposit and paying council rent and a mortgage simultaneously?

Pixie5740

Some people do rent council properties and have BTL properties that they let out themselves. It's much the same as a tenant renting from a private landlord having their own little BTL empire.

kai666

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Some people do rent council properties and have BTL properties that they let out themselves. It's much the same as a tenant renting from a private landlord having their own little BTL empire.

If that's the case, it's totally wrong in my opinion. Council accommodation should be for those who need it. If you can afford a house, you clearly don't.

Why should people who can afford a house get subsidized housing

solentsusie

Whether legal or not I am sure a few people will come along and question your morals on continuing to keep a tenancy on a council property when you can afford to purchase your own. Particularly giving the waiting lists for council properties in a lot of areas.


I know of someone who did do this quite a few years back, not sure whether it was legal or not. Perhaps ask the council...

Pixie5740

I don't make the rules.

Council tenants running a BTL business aren't really any different from council tenants who own a cafe or a car garage or run a cleaning firm.

ModernSlave

Let us know when people can live in a cafe, car garage or cleaning firm. Those are businesses, not houses. There is a difference.

This is more like how MPs used to get interest payments on second homes paid for by the govt while still having their own houses. It was legal but people didn't like it.

[Deleted User]

Certainly when you apply for a council house, your application won't be processed if you already own a property. The OP will have to search the council's housing website to see what happens if a second home is purchased while renting.

I suspect that the ownership of another property would only come up as an issue if the OP started a claim for benefits. But this might differ from council to council.

If claiming benefits of any kind already, (not saying the OP is), be aware that data searches are carried out and people are prosecuted for fraud, and there always seems to be someone willing to make a report.

Personally, as one of the thousands upon thousands of people looking for social housing with not many available.., I'd be thinking about all those homeless families desperately needing a home I didn't need anymore because I can afford to buy rather than my pension pot. but then I always was a bit odd.

Mocha61

kai666 wrote: »

If that's the case, it's totally wrong in my opinion. Council accommodation should be for those who need it. If you can afford a house, you clearly don't.

Why should people who can afford a house get subsidized housing

Totally agree with kai666 if you can afford to buy you should not be renting from council. Let someone who cant afford to buy rent it.

silvercar

Whereas you can legally buy a BTL property whilst renting off the council, you won't be able to buy a property to live in and rent your council property out to a tenant.

suspect the difficulty will come in trying to obtain a mortgage on a BTL property while not owning a property yourself. You wouldn't be able to apply for a residential mortgage, live in the property a short while and then apply for consent to let, without legally declaring that you have moved out of your council property to the council.

davidmcn

Given the OP's other threads I'm not convinced this is a real proposition...

SnooksNJ

kai666 wrote: »

If that's the case, it's totally wrong in my opinion. Council accommodation should be for those who need it. If you can afford a house, you clearly don't.

Why should people who can afford a house get subsidized housing

Because politicians want votes.