Advice on buying council flat

whatsthenews

Mmm- not sure what the other works are that are included in the £30k over the next 5 years, but , having been a council leaseholder (not through RTB) for a short period and being involved in the tenants and residents association, I would bet that less than half of the work is done in the next 5 years. It takes them literally years from when they inform leaseholders that they're thinking about getting work done to actually doing it. On the other hand, if you buy then the council won't have to pay anything towards the work on your 2 flats, so the delay might not apply.



Bear in mind that you're getting a good discount and that in 5 years you could sell the flat for the full value, although obviously (like anyone else buying a property) you have to take into account changes in property prices.


I don't know where this house is, ie big city v small town , location in relation to Universities etc, but council properties often produce a good rental yield,especially if you got it at a discount. We paid £80k for our flat in a block and rented it out while we were abroad for 6 months for £650. That was in a University city. Well proportioned rooms and fairly central location.

Norman_Castle

whatsthenews wrote: »

I would bet that less than half of the work is done in the next 5 years. It takes them literally years from when they inform leaseholders that they're thinking about getting work done to actually doing it. On the other hand, if you buy then the council won't have to pay anything towards the work on your 2 flats,

Isn't 15k the maximum they can charge, assuming London, in the first five years. Have the council simply found something to spend the money on?
With the council as the freeholder and only leaseholders having to pay they don't have to find funding for anything. How easy is it to query if the work is needed? Florries law was introduced partly because of roof replacement on a roof which hadn't been properly assessed and would have lasted a further 40 years.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/flos-law-new-cap-for-council-house-repairs-comes-into-force

SnooksNJ

BlackBird75 wrote: »

I don't know why you're getting so upset about it.

Your grammar led me to believe you were from the USA, which has a different type of housing stock (ie more wood, less stone, newer etc).

And you said "get a loan, like normal people".
As opposed to, asking the council if you can pay gradually.

I would think the clue would have been the use of the word flat instead of condo or apartment.

jonnygee2

csgohan4 wrote: »

Op has 30k of works over the next 5 years, they usually give a bill for the works at the time, not in instalments. Do your contractors give you instalments for the work other than for the deposit?

You do not pay the contractors you pay the freeholder, who is the council. And as I have written several times, you normally pay the council back in instalments over a long period, not upfront.

Even if you were the property owner and these were private contractors, most people would take out a bank loan for a bill this big.

The vast majority of people who buy their first home will find it depletes pretty much all of their savings.That doesn't mean they can't afford to be homeowners though.