Council Flat, Right To Buy, Solicitor advises me not to buy it, but I'm not sure

JohnDoe8392

Hello everyone

I'm in a bit of a pickle and I'm not sure what I should do.

Background:

I've been a council tenant for over 23 years. I am male, single, have no children and live alone. The council flat I live in is in a high-rise block of flat (like Grenfell) with 36 flats in total.

Over this period, I've paid approx £85K in rent (have always worked full-time, but factory line-work, so not great pay).

A little over a year ago, the council started some renovation work on our block of flats, the work is still on-going, due to fully complete in Feb 2026.

Right to Buy:

In May 2024 I applied for RTB. They sent someone out to value the property and I accepted the offer after the discount.

The flat has a service charge which I knew about it already as I've been paying it.

I went to a local solicitor and started the paperwork.

Last week, the solicitor got back to me with a property report and in it the following things are listed:

Insurance - £66.86

Lift Maintenance - £70.00

Cleaning - £405.00

Communal Lighting - £230.00

Total £771.86

Additionally there is: External cyclical maintenance e.g painting/patch pointing £850.00 that is all fine, but but then the solicitor goes on to say:

Non-Itemised works: The figure of £500.00 highlighted on the Schedule of Charges is for day-to-day responsive repairs and does not include any charges for the major works which are currently ongoing at the block. As you are not yet a leaseholder, the Council has not been able to carry out the Section 20 consultation (this involves the service of a notice which would tell you what works are planned and the estimated costs) that would be required before the Council could charge. This clearly indicates that you, as a leaseholder could be charged for a portion of the extensive works currently in progress to the exterior of the Block.

Please note that the windows of the Property are not being replaced as part of the scheme of works.

These works, under a scheme with X Group Limited, include external wall rendering. They are not yet complete and we are informed that final documentation will not be sent to the Council’s Homes and Neighbourhood Housing Management delivery team until February 2026. You should then be provided with a full health and safety file for the works including plans, materials used, contractor details, current Fire Risk Assessment and an EWS1 certificate with cover letter.

As stated above, you could be charged for a portion of them by way of an increase to your Service Charge, to the point where the charge is not affordable. On this basis, we would advise you not to proceed with the purchase of this property as the costs could be prohibitive. It is however a matter for you to decide.

What should I do?

I'm afraid that if I purchase this flat, with the hope to stop paying rent and have a place of my own, the council will increase the service charge so much so that I end up where I started.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do if you were in my shoes?

dinosaur66

i read a thread on here yesterday about a block of flats having upgrade and that those had purchased there flat were going to be billed 30k each for just basic work and everyone is being charged sky high prices because of the cost of scaffolding etc etc on flats

i am not sure of the rules but i would have thought if you let the application for RTB lapse then wait for the works to finish in 2026 and then reapply for the rtb you would no longer be liable for the costs

but it might be retroactive on whole block and charges might be in place until huge bill is deemed to have been accounted for-i do not know

i hope for you that it is the former and once work has been finished you can buy without have to pay

maybe the new leasehold law will be in place for you by 2026 as well although as far as i have read its only going to apply to new builds so not sure yet until it has passed what will be in it.

Bookworm105

unlikely the service charge will increase in the way you think

as solicitor has warned, the huge downside of flats in a block is that one off costs of major renovations are shared out among each flat. For flats which are leasehold privately owned then the owner gets a lump sum bill for this share. It could runs to tens of £thousands and thus make your flat unsaleable as many have now found out in relation to the costs of dealing with the cladding issue for example.

There are many other types of major works. If you buy this flat (assuming you can get a mortgage on it, as many lenders will not touch flats above a certain floor level in tower blocks) you are simply gambling that your block will not have major works on it before you die / sell up as by the sounds of it you will not have the money to hand to pay your share. Where you can't afford it then either you get a loan or a charge is put on the flat so when you sell the debt is paid from the sales money (+ interest).

As a single person with no kids you obviously have no need to worry about leaving an inheritance so being stuck in that flat unable to move/sell until you die may be a reasonable outcome for you. Your solicitor advising you not to buy is however being sensible.

Ratkin007

I had an ex local authority flat in London and decided to sell it because I started to get lots of section 20 notices (it was unclear whether works would take place to the block) and didn't want to run the risk of having bills for major works that I could not afford. 

It is risky. Obviously if you decide to withdraw and try again in the future, the discount will be capped af whatever it is for your area. 

Also, whilst it is possible you don't have to pay for major works now, you don't know what works will be done in the future and could be landed with a hefty bill at any time ........ or not.  

SarahB16

JohnDoe8392 said:

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

The short answer:  Definitely DO NOT BUY THE FLAT.  

Apologies for the bold/shouting but as I say do not buy the flat.  

A friend of mine was telling me about her friend who did exactly what you are considering doing and couldn't afford the service charges when they included the capital maintenance and had to sell her flat.  

There was a BBC news article about this too.  A couple had bought a RTB flat but again could not afford the service charges when it included the capital maintenance charges. 

There are posts on here if you search and the advice is always the same - RTB regarding a house - Yes.  RTB regarding a flat, no avoid, due to these service charges that you will be liable for when you are the owner.  

Have you enquired whether your RTB discount could be used against a council house?  Not sure if that is a possibility for you?  Are there are registered providers that have houses that you could move to first and hopefully retain the years you have accrued?  Sorry I'm not an expert on that aspect re your entitlement to a discount.  

NameUnavailable

I would be wary - with potential unknown costs you really don't know what you're getting into. If say in 12 months time you were landed with a bill for £50K would you be able to pay it?

Also you might be stuck if you tried to sell up - mortgages are harder to get for high rise ex council flats and also hard/impossible if there's large service charges.

One thing you said that confuses me though is that you say you pay service charges currently as a renter? Surely that's not correct.

gwynlas

I believe your right to buy is based on length o secure tenancy not on the actual property you live in

I would not buy in a large council block as you have no control over service charge or any repair bills.

What I would do in your situation is look into mutual exchange to a low rise block without lift with a high percentage pf owner occupiers. There would be lower service charges due to lack of lift and any repairs should not require extensive scaffolding

pinkshoes

What do you actually gain by buying it? WHY do you want to own it?

Currently you have a secure tenancy, the council are responsible for all maintenance (interior and exterior), so you just have your monthly rent to pay.

If you bought it, you'd have a mortgage that's dependent on interest rates, and then you'd also be responsible for your share of major building works.

So whatever work is due to be done at the moment, you'd have to pay 1/32 share of that. And if the windows then need replacing, you'd have to pay 1/32 of the cost of that too. 

Do you have large amounts of cash lying around to cover this?

You have a secure council tenancy that many single childless men can only dream of, so I have no idea why you'd want to give this up.

user1977

JohnDoe8392 said:

The council flat I live in is in a high-rise block of flat (like Grenfell) 

Pertinent point in bold...

Consider that the RTBers in Grenfell (and there were some) would have had the insult of having to pay for the cladding to be installed in the first place...

goldfinches

Like pretty much everyone else above I say don't buy the flat you're living in for all the reasons mentioned and then some! I'm impressed with your solicitor and wonder if it might be worth your having an informal chat with them to pick their brains over any local suggestions they may have. 
However, there are some other ideas you could investigate which are to exchange to another property either within your local borough or to another area entirely. You would have to be careful to check that your new home was available for RTB and that you could take your discount entitlement with you as I believe this isn't always the case.
If the idea of exchanging to somewhere else in the UK grabs you have a look at HomeSwapper to see if your borough is signed up and bear in mind that you may find swaps within your own borough that way too.
If you want to swap within your own borough I suggest you consult a local tenants support organisation to find out more about how that works before you appoach the relevant office just so that you know what their rules are and whether those will suit you. 
The other things you could investigate are the various co-housing groups that exist such as those here which might be another way of achieving your own place.