Buying an ex council house

leahsfx

We currently own under the right to buy scheme and need to upgrade due to overcrowding. We are approaching our 5th year so looking to sell up soon. We’d be interested in another council property (ex) as they are well built, usually cheaper and larger than the average house.
where are they advertised for sale? Are they on mainstream estate agents and advertised as ex council or Is there a special website/agent that specializes in this? Google search has come up with nothing! Any tips greatly appreciated 👍 

gwynlas

There are no specific agents that sell them as it is up to individual owners choice who they use. If you know the area you want to live in check out local agents or individual roads for estate agents boards. When purchasing you need to be aware of number of owner occupiers in the area and whether some are rented out by private landlords who might have a high turnover of tenants.

diggingdude

pretty easy to spot them normally on rightmove, usually wont say ex-local as that put many off

kasqueak

It’ll just be advertised with every other house for sale on rightmove / Zoopla etc. They’re generally not listed as “ex-council”. But if you know the area well then I’m sure you’ll know which areas in your town have council build houses. Or contact some local agents and request that’s what you’re specifically looking for and maybe they can put you onto their ‘books’ 

Grumpy_chap

I agree with the OP that "ex-council" houses are often great purchases.  I add to the "well built, usually cheaper and larger than the average house" that they can often have the best location too.  Once sold from the Council, these properties are simply properties and do not carry a specific marker on website listings or anywhere else for that matter.  Sometimes, you can pick them if you know that a certain estate was once a Council estate, but other than that they are just houses.  Once that stage is reached, the "cheaper" benefit is forfeited.

iampetesmith

Ours is ex-council and we're really happy with it. The previous owner bought it cheap, therefore he had the spare money to fit a new kitchen, bathroom, rewire, new plasterboard walls & ceilings, new roof etc. and then sold it for a massive profit. So not only have we got a well-built house with a big master bedroom and 2 other good-sized bedrooms, the whole house has been modernised and updated.

We knew the area well as the mother in law lives round the corner (hers is still council) so we knew exactly what we were getting when we bought it. The house was just advertised on Rightmove with all the others, so they don't get listed anywhere special.

Drawingaline

Ours is ex council. Big bedrooms, nice square rooms and decent storage. We knew it was ex council because we knew the area. We are in the process of marketing it to sell, it will go on Rightmove as normal, no ex council banner lol! But anyone who knows the area will immediately recognise the style and location as ex council. They are quite highly regarded as they are much bigger than newer build started homes.