Major renovation in an ex-council flat possible?

hazyjo

Sotts said:

hazyjo said
How well do you know Newham as it's not the nicest Borough in the world! What's the budget? I wouldn't want to spend too much on an ex-LA flat there unless it's an absolute bargain. Even then, it wouldn't be my first choice.

Really?  I live here and its no better or worse than many others 

The world would be a very boring place if we all liked the same things My FIL was happy enough there too as his friends were all nearby.

100eyes

hazyjo said:

Councils are usually pretty strict, especially in larger blocks.

How well do you know Newham as it's not the nicest Borough in the world! What's the budget? I wouldn't want to spend too much on an ex-LA flat there unless it's an absolute bargain. Even then, it wouldn't be my first choice.

Be very careful they're not planning any major works. You may find a massive bill land on your doormat. They're often flexible with payments towards large bills, but you'd have to weigh up if you'd actually want to spend thousands extra.

I'm pretty familiar with East London and docklands area, but I haven't spent much time in Royal Victoria where the flat is, it strikes me as a quiet neighbourhood, with not much buzz or life, or shops, jest residential housing, which is fine by me.

I did ask the EA about past major works and upcoming major works and she still needs to ask the current owner about this. In regards to the major bills for cladding repairs and fire safety, from yesterdays announcement seems like the government is going to be covering repairs for blocks over 18m or 6 storeys, which this on is. I was also told that council blocks would have been the first to acquire an EWS! certificate, but I've asked to confirm if it has one or not.

numbercruncher8

Down by the river it is pretty quiet, I think it is different from the worst bits of Newham. But as with most of London you won't have to travel far to find a rough bit. 

That being said, IIRC the ex-LA flats are just ugly, and will always be the cheapest properties in the area. Personally I think adding value would be difficult - if you have the money for renovations why not just go for a different property that doesn't need them? 

FTB_Help

numbercruncher8 said:

Down by the river it is pretty quiet, I think it is different from the worst bits of Newham. But as with most of London you won't have to travel far to find a rough bit. 

That being said, IIRC the ex-LA flats are just ugly, and will always be the cheapest properties in the area. Personally I think adding value would be difficult - if you have the money for renovations why not just go for a different property that doesn't need them? 

Completely agree with the above.

Newham isn't the nicest area eventhough its so close to north Greenwich.

If you’re by royal vic station then it isnt too bad compared to say west ham, but properties over there are very "cheap" for London and with it being on the dlr which often can be slow/a wait it might not be worth putting in a lot of money in an ex-council flat as i don't think it would draw a lot of interest/ add much value

100eyes

kasqueak said:

Check the lease. I owned an ex council flat and needed permission to change internal doors, bathroom suite and install a new boiler. 

There were also some strange things in my lease like the walls had to have at least 3 coats of emulsion paint! (Like they’d know if I’d only used 2 coats haha) 

Thanks for your answer. That is crazy! I've very aware of all the issues with leasehold and all the strange clauses they could have, though, I've only viewed the flat once and at this time I don't have access to the lease, I might try to request a copy via the EA, but I don't know if that's something that they would be keen on at this stage? I guess they will have no problem providing a copy of the lease if there is nothing dodgy going on.

I did just discover with some nifty research that the flat has been listed for sale in May 2018, July 2019 and Sept 2020, could that be a warning sign? the price was dropped by 20k as well....

100eyes

tacpot12 said:

I would expect that the council will not approve structural changes. The risk to the block is too great, and they have the job of rehousing most of the block if you cause a structural collapse. If you do get permission, you will need to engage a builder and should check their liability insurance to check it covers structural work. You don't want them to cause a structural problem and find that they and not insured, as you will be liable.  The council are likely to allow non-structural walls to be moved. I have an ex-council flat that has non-structural walls between two of the bedrooms and forming various closets, and was able to get permission to move the wall between the bedrooms easily enough. 

You also need to consider your neighbours. Major renovations can be very noisy. and in my experience, neighbours in blocks of flats are very good at complaining about noise from adjacent flats.

If it's a load-bearing wall that's fine, I wouldn't push for removing that, would be interested in removing id non-load bearing, the only thing is that I don't know which ones are and which ones aren't at this point!

wilfred30

100eyes said:

kasqueak said:

Check the lease. I owned an ex council flat and needed permission to change internal doors, bathroom suite and install a new boiler. 

There were also some strange things in my lease like the walls had to have at least 3 coats of emulsion paint! (Like they’d know if I’d only used 2 coats haha) 

Thanks for your answer. That is crazy! I've very aware of all the issues with leasehold and all the strange clauses they could have, though, I've only viewed the flat once and at this time I don't have access to the lease, I might try to request a copy via the EA, but I don't know if that's something that they would be keen on at this stage? I guess they will have no problem providing a copy of the lease if there is nothing dodgy going on.

I did just discover with some nifty research that the flat has been listed for sale in May 2018, July 2019 and Sept 2020, could that be a warning sign? the price was dropped by 20k as well....

The EA has got nothing to do with the lease, they won't have it or even see it.  That's the job of your solicitor should you decide to go ahead with the purchase.

I would be sceptical about the sale listing history.  It could be because of cladding or upcoming major works or both.

bex2012

Is this the area that falls under Custom House? If so, theres huge regeneration/demolition schemes planned for the area. The bit opposite City Airport is also undergoing a huge building scheme.

100eyes

numbercruncher8 said:

Down by the river it is pretty quiet, I think it is different from the worst bits of Newham. But as with most of London you won't have to travel far to find a rough bit. 

That being said, IIRC the ex-LA flats are just ugly, and will always be the cheapest properties in the area. Personally I think adding value would be difficult - if you have the money for renovations why not just go for a different property that doesn't need them? 

I personally like ex-LA flats, there are usually more spacious, and a lot of them have large windows in comparison to other older or period properties and purpose-build houses (not including new builds here) also I have a very limited budget. I have liven in a low rise council block in Camden for 3 years and it was a good experience.

100eyes

bex2012 said:

Is this the area that falls under Custom House? If so, theres huge regeneration/demolition schemes planned for the area. The bit opposite City Airport is also undergoing a huge building scheme.

The block is in Royal Victoria / Canning Town, there is a lot of regeneration going on around there