Interested in a potential council managed flat - London

SXX

Hello - I am potentially interested in buying a flat in London and the freeholder is Westminster City Council.  I have never lived in a flat/block whereby the freeholder is the Council.  Does anyone have any experience of this especially with regard to costs for major works and is it 'safe' to live in a block which has a mixture of private leaseholders and council tenants? 

(It's a really nice block, great central location), reasonable annual service charges, long lease etc.   

hazyjo

They often have very low service charges, but then spring massive bills on you. I believe they have to serve [section 20] notice for works - I forget the limit that applies to, and sometimes offer payment plans, but you may find them replacing windows, roof, repainting/rendering, replacing/repairing lifts, etc - and their own/assigned contractors aren't cheap.

If you have spare cash or are happy to save towards repairs/improvements, great. Several threads on here where people have been hit by bills in the thousands.

Jo

SXX

thanks Jo.  I'll check out the other threads relating to this subject.

JM68

You can get major works on any leasehold flat, of course.  But the particular issue with council flats seems to be two-fold.  Firstly, the councils seem to choose contractors on 'approved' short lists, which end up charging huge fees for works that should not cost anywhere near those amounts.  Secondly, there are often lease conditions that mean, when some sorts of works are done, every flat in the block has to get it done.  Friend of ours had both experiences in one in his Wandsworth Council block leasehold 2-3 years ago - 10k to replace the windows in his 2-bed flat.

SXX

Thanks JM68 for the info.

I found this article:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/jan/16/leasehold-nightmare-why-owning-a-council-flat-could-land-you-with-a-wipeout-bill

Apparently - after speaking to Westminster Council - there are planned major works on the block I am potentially interested in in 2025.  

So I've decided not to pursue council owned flats.  I did ask the estate agent who showed me the flat about any potential major works and his response (unsurprisingly) was that as there are loads of flats in the block my bill wouldn't be that large!!!

NameUnavailable

What were the major works? (major just means a cost of more than £250 per leaseholder).

As said, councils tend to use major contractors which means costs can be higher. However on the flip side, a council isn't trying to rip you off (unlike some private freeholders who want to milk the leaseholders for as much money as they can) and councils usually offer payment plans (unlike private freeholders who will want payment in whole up front).

You can't ever go for collective enfranchisement with a council property however, so the length of lease and ground rent are other considerations.

SXX

NameUnavailable said:

What were the major works? (major just means a cost of more than £250 per leaseholder).

As said, councils tend to use major contractors which means costs can be higher. However on the flip side, a council isn't trying to rip you off (unlike some private freeholders who want to milk the leaseholders for as much money as they can) and councils usually offer payment plans (unlike private freeholders who will want payment in whole up front).

You can't ever go for collective enfranchisement with a council property however, so the length of lease and ground rent are other considerations.

I don't know what the major works are - the council wouldn't  tell me (fair enough).  The only way to find out would be to ask the vendor as I believe that when they purchased the flat, they should have been given details of upcoming(and previous)  major works etc.

The lease is a good length and there is no ground rent.

Lyncroft

I used to live in a Westminster Council flat. This was about 10/15 years ago. Had major works done - windows, fire doors, etc. Can't remember exactly but it was over 15k. Work was to a high standard and the bill matched estimates. I always thought Westminster were okay to deal with.

As people say with council flats they'll always be major works at some point. Lifts seem to be a major possible cost, or roof repairs. I'd be mindful of any extra fire work that may now be needed.

I remember Westminster used to have a website showing an approximate list of planned works.

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/housing/major-works

Just to add some councils have been knocking down estates and rebuilding. Not sure if Westminster has been doing this, but something to be aware of.

SXX

Lyncroft said:

I used to live in a Westminster Council flat. This was about 10/15 years ago. Had major works done - windows, fire doors, etc. Can't remember exactly but it was over 15k. Work was to a high standard and the bill matched estimates. I always thought Westminster were okay to deal with.

As people say with council flats they'll always be major works at some point. Lifts seem to be a major possible cost, or roof repairs. I'd be mindful of any extra fire work that may now be needed.

I remember Westminster used to have a website showing an approximate list of planned works.

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/housing/major-works

Just to add some councils have been knocking down estates and rebuilding. Not sure if Westminster has been doing this, but something to be aware of.

Thanks for the info and link to major works.  The block I am interested in is Probyn House.  The link only goes as far back as 2014 and it seems that no major works have been carried out since then at Probyn House.  I believe however that works are planned for 2025.

Also can I assume that there are no issues when living in a block which has a mixture of private and social housing tenants?

Hopefully Probyn House is too nice to be knocked down and rebuilt.