Right to buy

volvo240

Hi, this might seem an odd question to ask, but my wife and I have no one else to ask this as we have no support network.

Currently we are living in a housing association home and have been in social housing for 15 years. I am 51 and work full time with the NHS and my wife doesn't work due to mental health.

We are considering exchanging our HA home to a council flat, so we can buy a home for our future. We have worked out that if we stayed in the current house, once I retire we will continue paying rent until we die. So based on the current rent and assuming that we live till 85, that's about 180000. So the lump sum from the pension will go on rent instead of giving us some security in old age. And the monthly payment of pension will just about enough to cover our bills with the state pension (if it is still available) so being able to have any form of life on retirement won't be possible.

We understand that if we are able to buy a flat will have other expenses on top of the mortgage (service charges etc) and this will continue onto retirement and into the future.
To us it appears to be a sensible thing to do, but would like others opinions on this.

seven-day-weekend

Be aware that if the council as freeholders do any major works on the block of flats, such as re-roofing or new windows, that you will have to fund your share. For example, if there are four flats and the three others are all tenanted by social housing tenants, then you will have to pay a quarter of the cost.

On some council properties this can amount to many thousands. Even in purpose-built private flats it can be expensive; my son had to pay £4k for extra works on top of the £60 a month service charge.

Hope this helps.

Murphybear

How big is your HA home?

[Deleted User]

Don't understand the security in old age with a private property. Security would be low rent payments which could be covered by housing benefit should you need it. No expensive repairs and a secure tenure until you both die.

Private means not having payments fully covered if you can't afford to make them. Unsecured in that it will be taken by the bank if payments are not made.
Expensive repairs as the poster above points out and having to cover day to day repairs and accidents.

volvo240

Our current house is a 3 bed, fully understand that there is the cost of repairs as an ongoing cost. As for being secure, it's not only in the end of having no payments to make to the bank, as I said I work for the NHS and have been for 20 years, so when I retire I will have worked for them for over 30 years and will get a lump sum that we don't want to use on rent as a way of topping up the small income from the pension. I can't rely on a state pension still being around to top up my income, so seeing the money disappear just on rent would be hard.

Again fully understand that there will be ongoing repair costs, but would hope that we could after five years, sell the flat and buy a very small property by the coast, so yea there could still be ongoing costs at this point and it all depends on being able to sell and buy something else after five years.

[Deleted User]

At the moment you are a HA tenant rather than a council tenant so if you are able swap your home then how much of a discount would you be entitled to? Are you trying to swap like for like or downsizing?

volvo240

Looking to downsize as well, as there is only the two of us and one son now living at home. The discount on a flat would be £82200.

[Deleted User]

Would you really be entitled to that much of a discount since at the moment as HA tenants you only have the right to acquire or do you have a preserved right to buy?

volvo240

As we were council Tennant's first and moving back into a council property, this goes towards the discount and currently the discount for a flat only is 82200

Norman_Castle

volvo240 wrote: »

The discount on a flat would be £82200.

Its impossible to state what the discount would be without knowing the market value. If outside London the discount would be up to 70% with a maximum £82,800.

[Deleted User]

Ok, got you. Have you spoken to a mortgage broker to get an idea as to whether you'd be eligible for a mortgage. It's just that at 51 the term of your mortgage will be limited. If you are eligible and you can find a flat you'd like to swap to in an area that you'd like to live in then I can understand why you'd want to go for it.