Buying from a housing association

JohnBravo

Hi All,

   I hope you all are doing well.

My question is simple.

How different is the process of buying / bidding for a property sold by a housing association (I reckon council housing association) than a private landlord?

Is it different from council to council or do they follow some standard procedure.

I have not seen this particular property being put on an auction but I reckon there will be some bidding involved. Of course this sale is still through an agency.

Best regards

theartfullodger

If housing association very unlikely to be council.

Why would they want to sell?  Find out, could be a problem.

TripleH

Is it a flat or a house?

With flats it could be sold cheaply because there are development works planned and the buyer can expect a big bill. That might also apply to houses but am less sure.

JohnBravo

This is a housing association that I think is under some investment fund from the City (as they have to consult the sales with them according to the deed) and I see they are selling some old houses in the area.

Yes the property needs some proper renovation done, I see there could be some problem with the roof leaking and causing some marks on the wall with the neighbour - semi detached. It could be a big or small job + some dispute with the neighbour on top (because of the leaks). I think I speak to that neighbour as well.

https://ibb.co/bzSYzhx
https://ibb.co/J3H64PM
https://ibb.co/p3rjsmz

theartfullodger

Is there a tenant in it?  Selling it doesn't end tenancy nor compel tenant to leave.

JohnBravo

I haven't mentioned this but it looks like it's vacant.

eddddy

Is the property being sold on the open market by an estate agent?

A Housing Association will probably want the sale to be transparent and fair - whilst being required to achieve the best price reasonably possible.


That would often mean that they sell by informal tender / sealed bids. i.e. they start by putting the property on the market for a fixed period (maybe 2, 3 or 4 weeks), with a guide price. 

At the end of the fixed period they look at all the offers they've received, and accept the best one (which is very likely to be the highest offer).

If they think none of the offers are good enough, they might decide to leave it on the market longer.

dimbo61

From a quick look at the 2 roofs I guess it's the one with the small tiles which may be coming to the end of use.
Shalling is where the tiles are starting to disintegration and you need a new roof.
If it's also letting in water the rafters and ceiling may also need replacing.
Full renovation of the house ? £50,000+

JohnBravo

@eddddy

Yes, it's an estate agent. Thank you for explaining how the process may look like.

@dimbo61

It's actually other way round. This was exactly my 1st impression but I asked elsewhere and they told me the roof on the right is to blame. They reckoned the council has done some renovation including the roof and they didn't do a great job on the joining ridge and water gets in. According to them concrete tiles are poorer than the clay flat ones on the neighbour's. It was quite a surprise to me because the neighbour's roof looks worse but according to the builders it's old but it does the job

The other question mark is that the actual plot has some smaller sister plot bit at different address with a house on it. I reckon this is not a big problem to solve.

Norman_Castle

JohnBravo said:

This is a housing association that I think is under some investment fund from the City (as they have to consult the sales with them according to the deed) and I see they are selling some old houses in the area.

Councils gave many properties to HAs. Its likely part of the arrangement was for councils to agree any later sale within a given timescale. If the HA is offering it for sale I'd expect the council will already have been consulted. HAs will sell properties for various reasons. They may need repairs or they may be of a size or type they no longer need.