Right to buy and home improvements

Jazziboo

I plan to use right to buy (RTB) in the near future as i’m a council tenant (secure tenancy and no plans to move).

I moved here via a mutual exchange, so the property was in the condition the previous occupant (who I swapped with) left it in - which wasn’t terrible but definitely not the best - I’ve unfortunately found a number of their failed DIY attempts

As soon as I moved in, I replaced the bathroom (replaster & new suite) as it was in bit of a state.

The other things that will need doing are – all the internal doors (1 of which is completely warped at the bottom & has a hole in it, think they must have flooded the bathroom), the kitchen - all the units, flooring and wall/tiles and the front/rear gardens will need some tlc too - but to be honest I don’t mind doing it.

So my query comes about something I read somewhere that say the council do any recent improvements such as a new roof or new heating install that this would be taken into consideration re: the amount of RTB discount you would the receive e.g you’d, understandably, get less discount as you’d then benefit from the improvement, so would this be the case the other way around? e.g if I put in a new kitchen (or would this be more of an issue in terms of home much the house would then be valued at – would it increase the value of the house?)

Ideally I’d want to do the kitchen as soon as, because it’s really dated, the wall units are small and there’s a bodge job where a worktop isn’t actually fixed to a wall (another DIY fail from the previous occupant), plus I could pay it off before the whole mortgage process.!

(p.s I know the council have no plans to replace the kitchen anytime soon either).

TIA

macman

Did you get permission from the LA to do the works that you refer to? If the kitchen and bathroom were as bad as you say, then why we these not fixed at their expense before you took up the tenancy?

macman

Did you get permission from the LA to do the works that you refer to? If the kitchen and bathroom were as bad as you say, then why we these not fixed at their expense before you took up the tenancy?
Since the property remains that of the LA, after your improvements, I'd guess that it's valuation will be based upon it's current condition, and not take into account any expenditure made by you.

lincroft1710

Tenant's improvements which would significantly enhance the value were definitely excluded from RTB valuations a few years ago, but do not know if this is still the case. The ones I remember seeing tended to make little difference to the RTB figure.

Unless the bathroom is something special, it would be unlikely to enhance the property's value. The sensible option is to wait until you have bought the property before carrying out further improvements

Jazziboo

Thanks for your replies.

Basically from what the councils repairs hub told me they do have a kitchen and bathroom replacement program, but its being done by specific area then they contact the residents living in those areas to carryout an inspecton then would be priortised by the properties who had the oldest/worse condition units.

I dont think they would have done mine (kitchen) with the previous occupant in, as the condition i'm sure is down to "tenant misuse" - so they would have expected that person to be responsible for replacing it.

The bathroom i put in wasnt anything special, just the basic essential items tbh (what was in previously was beyond cleaning with bleach to bring it back to life, lol). Yes i got permission to do that.

da_rule

Tenant improvements are excluded from the valuation (provided you have consent). They are also excluded in relation to repaying discount (i.e. you purchase the house and then make improvements and sell it within 5 years, the repayment would be based on the unimproved value).

Norman_Castle

Jazziboo wrote: »

So my query comes about something I read somewhere that say the council do any recent improvements such as a new roof or new heating install that this would be taken into consideration re: the amount of RTB discount you would the receive e.g you’d, understandably, get less discount as you’d then benefit from the improvement, so would this be the case the other way around? e.g if I put in a new kitchen (or would this be more of an issue in terms of home much the house would then be valued at – would it increase the value of the house?)

Improvements by either you or the council will not affect the discount you get. They may increase the value of the property meaning the amount you pay will be higher. Self financed improvements should be disregarded for the valuation but It would be better if you could wait. For the bathroom you have done providing evidence of its condition as provided to you could be useful.

Norman_Castle

macman wrote: »

If the kitchen and bathroom were as bad as you say, then why we these not fixed at their expense before you took up the tenancy?

With a mutual exchange the property is taken as it is.

da_rule

Norman_Castle wrote: »

Improvements by either you or the council will not affect the discount you get.

Not strictly true.

There is what is known as the 'cost floor'. This means where that where the Council has carried out works the amount of discount can be reduced by reference to the costs of the works.

Norman_Castle

da_rule wrote: »

Not strictly true.

There is what is known as the 'cost floor'. This means where that where the Council has carried out works the amount of discount can be reduced by reference to the costs of the works.

True but the cost floor rule doesn't really affect the discount which will be a percentage of the market value but it can effect the price paid if the works cost more than the discounted price. The buyer will pay the higher of the two.