First Time buyer - High Social Housing in Neighbourhood

Ponchob1

Hello All
I am a first time buyer and have had my offer accepted on a property. My mortgage application is in process and everything seem to be going well.
My friends have advised to conduct a thorough local research on the house and area (Schools, crime). I checked police.uk for crime stat and the highest crime % is 10% with the lowest being 7.7%. Schools are outstanding and good in the area. The % of social housing in the area is rather high at 34%. To give a bit more context, houses owned with mortgage are 58 and social housing is 53.  The house i am purchasing is in a close and all detached properties but i was wondering if social housing close to the area might affect property value. I have read where people advised to not purchase property in areas with a high social housing. 

Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Getting_greyer

Heavens, you'll be telling us there's no Waitrose next.

Tiddleshalifax

I live in close proximity to a large council estate. It’s far enough away for us not to have any issues with crime but close enough to know it’s there. I moved from out of the area but did my research and certainly wouldn’t ever have considered social housing being in close proximity as a factor.

one thing if can do as we have found is make your property look largely overpriced. However if the buyer is familiar with the areas, they’ll understand... so onward sale wouldn’t be an issue IMO.

I don’t see any issue provided you do your eesearch 

ratechaser

Getting_greyer said:

Heavens, you'll be telling us there's no Waitrose next.

There might be a few abandoned Waitrose trolleys though... 

HampshireH

Do you feel you are getting it cheap because the social housing is affecting the value as you are buying it?

Why would it affect the value at a later date when you are a seller compared to now when you are a buyer?

Slithery

What makes you think that social housing will cause you to have worse neighbours than owner-occupied?
The worst neighbours that I've ever had have been high-earners that owned their homes outright whereas all of the social-housing neighbours have been fantastic.

Murphybear

We lived next door to the people from hell.  They owned their house we were renting.  We moved 

user1977

Ponchob1 said:

The % of social housing in the area is rather high at 34%.

How big is "the area" you're talking about? 34% doesn't seem particularly high to those of us who grow up with the vast majority of housing being social housing.

To give a bit more context, houses owned with mortgage are 58 and social housing is 53.

58 and 53 what? Percent? So presumably there's some crossover as they're including shared ownership properties in social housing?

I have read where people advised to not purchase property in areas with a high social housing.

Where have you read this? Somewhere authoritative, or just randomers on web forums?

MattMattMattUK

Getting_greyer said:

Heavens, you'll be telling us there's no Waitrose next.

It might sound a bit snobbish, but social housing can have a huge impact. 
A development where a family member lived for six years, it was around 1,700 properties, a mix from single bed flats to 5 bed detached houses. One end was social, the other was private, all build to the same standard, initially a lovely estate. Over time the social end got worse, rubbish in the streets, messy properties, groups loitering (and in time menacing), break ins, muggings, theft from outbuildings etc. and that impacted the value of houses, the closer properties were to the social end the more they were impacted. It is unfortunately that whilst the majority of social housing residents are decent people there are often those who are less than pleasant, and, especially where I live, the council seem to relish putting the absolute scum in the nicest possible areas, on new build sites with families etc. 

p00hsticks

MattMattMattUK said:

Getting_greyer said:

Heavens, you'll be telling us there's no Waitrose next.

It might sound a bit snobbish, but social housing can have a huge impact. 
A development where a family member lived for six years, it was around 1,700 properties, a mix from single bed flats to 5 bed detached houses. One end was social, the other was private, all build to the same standard, initially a lovely estate. Over time the social end got worse, rubbish in the streets, messy properties, groups loitering (and in time menacing), break ins, muggings, theft from outbuildings etc. and that impacted the value of houses, the closer properties were to the social end the more they were impacted. It is unfortunately that whilst the majority of social housing residents are decent people there are often those who are less than pleasant, and, especially where I live, the council seem to relish putting the absolute scum in the nicest possible areas, on new build sites with families etc. 

In my experience - which seem to be reflected in a lot of threads here - the worst areas are not areas of large numbers of social housing or of owner/occupiers, but those with lots of absentee BTL landlords

aburgle

I've worked in housing associations for seven years and have just bought my first home. I made damn sure that it wasn't on a street with high levels of social housing. Are there lots of lovely tenants who take pride in their home and live quietly? You bet. Are there also lots of tenants that don't give a toss about the house or the street with high levels of anti social behaviour? You bet. Anyone who thinks this is a snobby attitude doesn't see what housing associations have to deal with on a daily basis. I'd say do the usual, drive through the area at different times of day to see if it seems peaceful enough. The other issues you mentioned like schools I think are more likely to have an impact on desirability on the housing.