Anything stopping me buying parents' council house?

Melissa177

Here's a question:

There are people currently renting flats in the Barbican for £80 a week from the council (Corporation of London) versus the £400-500 a week that these flats usually go for on the private market.

Are these people "stealing" because they are not paying market rate?

itsbeef

God I love this website and its banter!

To all those who preach about whats right and wrong .........

Can you hand on heart say that if you had the chance to purchase a house at 60% of its real value you would turn it down?

I doubt it.......

Lets face it Maria is simply looking at security for her family and an investment for her future...... Is that so wrong?

BrandNewDay

I don't understand... the OP isn't talking about buying the house so that SHE can live in it. It's for her parents that she wants to buy it. She's just wondering about the issue of what happens when elderly home-owners go into care.

Curv

Melissa177 wrote: »

Here's a question:

There are people currently renting flats in the Barbican for £80 a week from the council (Corporation of London) versus the £400-500 a week that these flats usually go for on the private market.

Are these people "stealing" because they are not paying market rate?

What's the qualifying criterion to be eligible for the £80 discounted rate?

My opinion of RTB is that it would be fine and dandy if LAs were building replacement stock but there isn't enough to go around as it stands, without selling what remains to people who want a free leg up onto the property ladder.

If people can afford mortgages or to pay market rates then they should. That way some of the women and children fleeing domestic abuse and other vulnerable people currently languishing in hostels, B&Bs and the like might stand a chance of getting somewhere half-decent to live.

And I don't buy the 'It's for their own security' line that offspring use when persuading and enabling their parents to exercise their RTB... there is NO security of tenure once the house is bought. At least not until the bank has had every last penny back. And even then, responsibility for maintenance etc. will fall to the owner when previously such costs would have been met by the LA.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - just because you can, it doesn't mean you should.

Curv

itsbeef wrote: »

Can you hand on heart say that if you had the chance to purchase a house at 60% of its real value you would turn it down?

Absolutely! Hand on heart. I couldn't sleep at nights if my actions for profit knowingly deprived someone in dire need of housing.

itsbeef wrote: »

I doubt it.......

Don't judge everyone by your standards.

Running_Horse

Melissa177 wrote: »

Here's a question:

There are people currently renting flats in the Barbican for £80 a week from the council (Corporation of London) versus the £400-500 a week that these flats usually go for on the private market.

Are these people "stealing" because they are not paying market rate?

From memory, the Barbican was built as council housing, and later converted to private and sold off, presumably for profit. So if there are any remaining council tenants, then yes, their tenancies should be honoured for life, but without the right for their children to buy and trouser a huge windfall they have not earned. That is what good social housing should be about; security for the poor, not property speculation.

dolce_vita

itsbeef wrote: »

God I love this website and its banter!

To all those who preach about whats right and wrong .........

Can you hand on heart say that if you had the chance to purchase a house at 60% of its real value you would turn it down?

...........yes I would turn it down.

And I have recently done so.

Jockthearab

Ok, here's my 'confession':

I did this for my parent's way back in 1991, when I was only 19 & lived at home paying board. They were receiving DSS benefits at that time & thus received housing benefit. Because I worked it was almost full rent that had to be paid. I had watched them struggle to pay this & honestly seen this as a way for them to live 'rent free'. I was aware that when the time came that if I outlived them both, then yes, I would benefit. However if anything happened to me I also knew that the mortgage would be paid off & they would then have an asset. At that time even with the higher interest rates (I'm sure then we were on 8.5% fixed!) I could just afford it, so we went for it. Also at the time I didn't forsee house price growth that we have had, I just thought if I had to sell I'd probably get my money back & a wee bit more. I had also NOT been advised what would happen IF either or both had needed to go into a care home. I extended the mortgage to modernise the house (central heating, double glazing & decor) and stayed at home until 1996 when I moved in with my gf, now wife!

In 1999 my Mum died, in 2004 my Dad needed to go into a care home. It was at this point I found out that WE would have to pay full costs due to us having the house. I sold the house privately to the son of a neighbour who wanted to get out of the rented house that they lived in, for just over double what the house was valued at in 1991 when we bought it! Sadly my Dad died in 2005. Now that house has almost doubled in value in just over 2 years due to the market going crazy here!

So, to sum up...DSS didn't have to subsidise rent for my parents from 1991 onwards, they contributed £8, yes just £8 per month towards the interest payments. We saved the taxpayer more money with maintaining the property (the council started installing kitchens/double glazing to other houses in the street in 1993!). We've 'helped' the family that bought it from us get out of where they hated living & onto the property ladder. By paying the full care costs for my Dad, again I believe it's saved taxpayers like me and you a bob or two. And yes, I DID achieve my aim of having my Mum & Dad live rent free in a more comfortable house. Morally I do feel I did the right thing with the opportunity that RTB gave us.

Here endeth my confession...Sorry for the long post!

JtA

vivatifosi

Hi Maria,

I'm not going to go into the rights and wrongs of RTB. But what I would ask you to do is to think very seriously before you go ahead with this. You are in effect making your parents dependent on you for a roof over their head for the next 20+ years, and as others have said, if you fall on hard times it is your fault.

My parents exercised RTB years ago when it was much more common but have never got round to paying off due to endowment problems. They are now retired and have a small mortgage outstanding. I have been trying to help them for years, but then I fell ill and felt I had to try to keep a roof over their heads as well as pay my own mortgage. I hope you never have to know how stressful this can be.

Please, don't underestimate the level of commitment you are getting into.

itsbeef

Curv wrote: »

Absolutely! Hand on heart. I couldn't sleep at nights if my actions for profit knowingly deprived someone in dire need of housing.

Don't judge everyone by your standards.

Exactly!!

So dont tell other people that they should do exactly what you think they should do. Condemning others opinions isnt the way to go on this matter. Its down to the OP as to make an educated decision on if this issue is possible and practical. Not to have to put up with personal insults and question mark over their motives.