Buying ex council properties

Arsenal2019

user1977 said:

Arsenal2019 said:

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We don't know what "bad things" you've heard. You need to ask the people saying the bad things!

I suppose if it's an estate still largely occupied by social housing tenants, some people don't like having them as neighbours. Can't see it makes any odds if it's mostly now owner-occupied though.

I guess I’ve just been brought up with everyone around saying bad things about council estates - but I’ve never questioned it. I know of course you can have really rough council estates (I’m a police officer and know this), but equally, you can also find rough areas that are not within council estates.

i don’t know if this particular house  I’m looking at is in fact a council house - don’t even know hot to check. I don’t even know if the majority of the area is privately owned or rented too- again, I don’t know how to check

You're a police officer but you don't know which areas are social housing?

I'd have thought it's local general knowledge which areas were built as council housing.

I work In an area 20 miles from this area In question & have never really been to this area until recent days

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swingaloo said:

I bought an ex council house in 2001.  Loved it but then needed to move near family. Sold it easily and have since bought another which we now live in.

 In between these 2 houses we bought a new build. Never again! 

I love my ex council house, big garden, big rooms and decent soundproofing between us and next door.  Its right on the edge of a council estate and almost all the houses are now privately owned but you couldn't pay me to live on the  other side of the estate. 
Whenever a house comes up for sale within the estate around us it is gone within a couple of weeks. My sisters partners mum has recently died and hers was put up for sale. It was very unloved and needed renovating and is also on the rough end of the estate but it sold very quickly. The couple that bought it said they had been trying to get  one for some time but had lost 2 nearby others to higher offers.  

Im also confused as to why you cant tell if it is a an ex council house as they are usually quite uniform with the surrounding houses in terms of the brickwork or masonry finishes.

Thanks for your response& time.

thats good and interesting to know.

There are 14 semi detached on a private road, which branches into two separate lanes with 7 on each. They’re red bricked and all look relatively the same. The house I’m looking at has 3 big rooms and a big garden - which I guess could suggest it was an ex council but then again I guess it could quite easily not be?  my first  ever house when living with my parents was a red bricked semi but that was not an ex council 

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Calidad said:

They’re usually aesthetically quite unattractive, but as you point out they tend to be solidly built, have good sized gardens and well proportioned rooms. I’d be mindful if there’s a high tenant rather than owner occupancy rate though, as there can sometimes be issues with anti-social behaviour or unkempt properties/gardens. 

Hi

can you please clarify what you mean by high tenant rate as I’ve never heard of this before.  Thanks 

user1977

Arsenal2019 said:

user1977 said:

Arsenal2019 said:

.

We don't know what "bad things" you've heard. You need to ask the people saying the bad things!

I suppose if it's an estate still largely occupied by social housing tenants, some people don't like having them as neighbours. Can't see it makes any odds if it's mostly now owner-occupied though.

I guess I’ve just been brought up with everyone around saying bad things about council estates - but I’ve never questioned it. I know of course you can have really rough council estates (I’m a police officer and know this), but equally, you can also find rough areas that are not within council estates.

i don’t know if this particular house  I’m looking at is in fact a council house - don’t even know hot to check. I don’t even know if the majority of the area is privately owned or rented too- again, I don’t know how to check

You're a police officer but you don't know which areas are social housing?

I'd have thought it's local general knowledge which areas were built as council housing.

I work In an area 20 miles from this area In question & have never really been to this area until recent days

Well, maybe chat to some people who know the area well? You probably want to do that anyway.

user1977

Arsenal2019 said:

Calidad said:

They’re usually aesthetically quite unattractive, but as you point out they tend to be solidly built, have good sized gardens and well proportioned rooms. I’d be mindful if there’s a high tenant rather than owner occupancy rate though, as there can sometimes be issues with anti-social behaviour or unkempt properties/gardens. 

can you please clarify what you mean by high tenant rate as I’ve never heard of this before.  Thanks 

Like I said above "if it's an estate still largely occupied by social housing tenants, some people don't like having them as neighbours."

Search around the sites which give demographic data (census results etc) and you'll get an idea.

If properties don't seem to be sold very often (or haven't even been registered) that might indicate they're owned by a social landlord. Sales at very low prices might indicate purchases with a right to buy discounts.

Look at the local news/gossip social media sites. Local history resources might tell you how the area originally developed. And so on.

Arsenal2019

Like I said above "if it's an estate still largely occupied by social housing tenants, some people don't like having them as neighbours."

Search around the sites which give demographic data (census results etc) and you'll get an idea.

If properties don't seem to be sold very often (or haven't even been registered) that might indicate they're owned by a social landlord. Sales at very low prices might indicate purchases with a right to buy discounts.

Look at the local news/gossip social media sites. Local history resources might tell you how the area originally developed. And so on.

Thank you- I shall keep an eye out and do some research on the areas 

Slinky

How about the radical option - try asking the estate agent if it's ex-council.

bobster2

user1977 said:

We don't know what "bad things" you've heard. You need to ask the people saying the bad things!

I suppose if it's an estate still largely occupied by social housing tenants, some people don't like having them as neighbours. Can't see it makes any odds if it's mostly now owner-occupied though.

Having experienced an estate with a mix of social housing tenants and owner-occupiers some notable features were...

- The housing association managed properties tended to be in better condition with new windows and doors etc. Housing association would get a team in and do them all at once.

- Many of the social housing tenants were families who had been there for many years - so there was quite a sense of community.

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Slinky said:

How about the radical option - try asking the estate agent if it's ex-council.

I did that, yesterday and they haven’t got back to me yet… 

Mr.Generous

I've bought, renovated and sold quite a few former council houses. Good solid built homes, maintained ok but things like windows and doors were cheapest and not fitted well. They make a good project for a renovator because they fix up, they sell and they rent out.

Biggest issue has been neighbors can be hit and miss. After we bought one particular house the one next door went downhill really fast, just started dumping crap in the garden. Sofa, christmas tree (artificial), old video unit, knackered mower, kids toys. We ended up having to clear that garden free gratis to sell ours. Complaining to tenant and housing association was a waste of time.

Housing association spoke to tenant who said she had "Big plans for the garden" and they just accepted that. They even said to us "What do you expect us to do - we aren't ever going to evict for a garden"

Try selling a lovely renovated house next to a rubbish dump.