Buying a flat freeholder is the council

ahfat41

My son just viewed a flat he likes, the freeholder is the council so my guess it is an ex council flat. This was not disclosed to him, he also said that the downstairs flat is tenanted by the council. Is that something to be put off having council tenants downstairs? I meant moving out frequently . Also I read with the council as the landlord if the flat needs work done, he will be the only one to pay. Thoughts pl. It is his decision if he wants to go ahead but would like some opinions from members of this forum.Thanks

user1977

Usually it's pretty obvious whether a block of flats is council or not, it's not something which needs to be "disclosed".

He won't be "the only one to pay" for works done to the building, the owners of the other flats (including the council) would pay their share. The main concern is that where the council is the freeholder, they will tend to run everything the way they want to.

I wouldn't have thought council tenants were more likely to move frequently, if anything I would expect them to stay much longer than private sector tenants given they have secure tenancies.

If your son wants our opinions, it probably makes more sense for him to post here himself.

Jonboy_1984

Depends on the size of the block (or service charge estate). Round here the council have a habit of trying to gold plate everything at the tenants expense and the larger the block the more they can find to gold plate…

There was an attempt to saddle each flat within two tower blocks with something like £75k-£100k worth of costs a few years back for a large refurbishment including cladding (pre-Grenfell), windows, doors, new sprinkler system etc etc etc.

They then offered to swap equity for costs on the flats that couldn’t put afford it…

EssexHebridean

We’ve got two lots of council tenants in our block section (8 flats total). One is a lovely little family who’ve been there must be coming up for 10 years now - I know we’ve seen a couple of the kids grow up from newborns. They’ll be moving on later this year when they can get an exchange for a house as the flat just isn’t big enough for them now. The others have been here longer than we have - so over 20 years now - and aren’t planning on going anywhere. Longevity isn’t by any means always an issue! 

ahfat41

The flat is a conversion.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132181901#/?channel=RES_BUY

user1977

Ok, not so obvious that it might be a council-owned freehold. But obviously a standard terrace, so not so much concern about costs for cladding, lifts, etc that you might get in a larger block.

Jude57

Jonboy_1984 said:

Depends on the size of the block (or service charge estate). Round here the council have a habit of trying to gold plate everything at the tenants expense and the larger the block the more they can find to gold plate…

There was an attempt to saddle each flat within two tower blocks with something like £75k-£100k worth of costs a few years back for a large refurbishment including cladding (pre-Grenfell), windows, doors, new sprinkler system etc etc etc.

They then offered to swap equity for costs on the flats that couldn’t put afford it…

Interesting that you define as 'gold plating' things like new windows and doors and a new sprinkler system. Leave aside the Decent Homes Standard legal requirements for social housing, and the ongoing fire safety requirements for blocks of flats, surely any decent landlord would want their property to have good (energy efficient?) windows and secure doors? And surely tenants are entitled to a sprinkler system as part of making their homes as safe as possible? You can't possibly begrudge social housing tenants things you'd expect to have in a private rental? 

EssexHebridean

Jude57 said:

Jonboy_1984 said:

Depends on the size of the block (or service charge estate). Round here the council have a habit of trying to gold plate everything at the tenants expense and the larger the block the more they can find to gold plate…

There was an attempt to saddle each flat within two tower blocks with something like £75k-£100k worth of costs a few years back for a large refurbishment including cladding (pre-Grenfell), windows, doors, new sprinkler system etc etc etc.

They then offered to swap equity for costs on the flats that couldn’t put afford it…

Interesting that you define as 'gold plating' things like new windows and doors and a new sprinkler system. Leave aside the Decent Homes Standard legal requirements for social housing, and the ongoing fire safety requirements for blocks of flats, surely any decent landlord would want their property to have good (energy efficient?) windows and secure doors? And surely tenants are entitled to a sprinkler system as part of making their homes as safe as possible? You can't possibly begrudge social housing tenants things you'd expect to have in a private rental? 

I think this is actually talking about Leaseholders being given £75k+ bills  - and let’s be honest, how many of us could afford a bill of that size? The final paragraph makes that more likely too as “tenants” wouldn’t have equity to swap. 

Martico

Looks like a nice flat - I lived a couple of roads away on Victoria Rd in the mid-90s and liked the area. Can't see a problem with council myself, as others have said, council tenants are often long-standing 

tacpot12

It does look nice. Given that you son will effectively own half the property, I would expect the council to consult with him about repairs that might need doing more than they would if it were a block of flats, but the council will not want to delay repairs too long if their tenants are complaining. They have to send him a notice about any work they want him to contribute (that is more than £250), and they have to consult with him, before he can be made to contribute his share.  

I own a leasehold ex-council flat in a block of 12, so I pay one twelth of the costs, and there have been some significant costs, but the council have found the contractors, and managed the work, and the costs has been split, so it's not been to bad, but my council has a repuation for being reasonable. 

My experience with the council tenants in the block are that they generally stay for a long time, and are generally nice people. However, he might get unlucky with the next tenant that moves in, but if the one that is there currently is nice, then that's the most he can hope for. 

sourpuss2021

The layout of that flat isn’t great!  I prefer first floor Victorian conversions where the bedroom is the back room overlooking the garden.  And the kitchen/ diner is the middle room looking down the side return.  With a smaller bathroom (which would involve moving the window) in the mid section.

Anyway my neighbours are leaseholders with the council as freeholders.  They’ve been able to do what they like in terms of building an extension, making internal renovations, etc.  Their neighbours the council tenants will never leave voluntarily, not when they have a secure tenancy!   

The one thing is the council will never spend money on repairing windows or painting the exterior if they don’t absolutely have to.   So it’s not uncommon to see properties which are half neglected and half very well cared-for, when council tenants live in one flat and private in the other.