Should I buy it?

silvercar

TBeckett100 wrote: »

who would rent a house ina council area? either your house would be wrecked or the rent unpaid.

Not generalising at all?

MAny single mum's make excellent tenants and ex-La houses offer ideal accom. The tenants want the security of a long term let and take price in their homes and their family.

If it wasn't for the mass sell-off of council housing, these would be the exact same homes they would be living in through the council.


If you are still looking at this house, check that it is freehold and that there is no requirement to contribute to the area refurb. If these schemes do take of they are often rejigged and you may find that they are scaled down. Too many privately owned properties often causes problems. Buying them back is a very difficult exercise, balancing the home owners rights to a market value for their property with the need not to be seen to be throwing money at thse that were able to buy their own home. Too many privately owned homes will cost too much of the refurb pot in buying these houses back.

Also once the council commits to the refurb, they will start to move tenants out of the properties, lots of empty properties is never good for an area. This devalues the private properties and lowers their value causing considerable bad feeling.

silvercar

just looked at the rightmove link.

consider the resale market, who wants a 4 bedroom home with no back garden?

shafeeq

Life_Tasted_Sweet wrote: »

There are owner occupiers on the estate and some of them will be displaced by the demolition of 100+ houses at the top of the estate. Some of these may find that they cannot buy somewhere else with the money that they get from the housing association.

Some potential tenants may well be on housing benefit but, you may be surprised, even these people can be good tenants.

When the estate is sorted (remember, £22,000,000 goes a long way when houses are cheap), I think the reputation will be improved.

I know it's a bit of a gamble.

Life tasted Sweet

The area where I live similar thing is happening.. the owner occuipiers are getting market value + 10% and also life time mortgage (relocation loan) upto £75k.

The owne occuiper buy another house, For example £150k, The owner puts £75k and the council will give you up £75k mortgage. They will have a 50 % share of the house. You pay no rent on the council share.

When the house is sold, that could be in 100 years time the council will get their share back, depending on value of the sale, so it could me more then £75k or less. If the house get sold for £200k Council will get £100k, If there is a crash and the value drops and it is sold for £100k Council will end up with £50k

If you pass away you can pass on the mortgage up to 2 people, so you can pass it on to your child.

So what I am saying is that people will buy somewhere else with this help from council

Shafeeq

elona

Guy

My DH used to live in Loftus about 30 years ago and still has friends there so visits regularly.

Anyone we spoke to about the idea of retiring there in future said they were doing everything they could to get out of the place.

The High street is very busy at all times and police cars used to be regularly stationed there at night to break up the fights.

Have a look on "chav Towns " and see what it says about the place.

There are some lovely people there but it has been overtaken by people from Middlesborough and the whole atmosphere has changed.

If it were me I would be looking at Saltburn or Guisburgh instead.

Innocenti

Life Tasted Sweet, I wouldnt touch it with a barge pole. I live in a Housing Association house and when I first moved in 8 years ago the estate was OK, not too bad a reputation and I honestly had no trouble.

Fast forward 8 years and I have scrimped a deposit together to buy a house and I cannot wait to move. We have had the promises of an estate regeneration too, millions to be spent and improving the area. Some houses to be knocked down and new porches to be built. Sounds lovely. But -

I know house that have been up for sale for over 5 years and out of 10 houses for sale only 1 has ever sold. Yes, 1! It is the estates reputation that is putting people off. 2 of the houses that couldnt sell now have tenants in. Even with the estate done up you probably would struggle to sell it.

What sort of tennants are you going to get? Most people dont want to rent in a council area with a bad rep. So the majority of tennants you get will be locals and probably on Housing Benefit.

It is a shame as the houses are big and the gardens are massive. We could get a small mortgage as we were council before it became Housing Executive so we have our Right To Buy intact. Do you think I would buy it? No chance. The HE dont give a crap who rents their houses. We are surrounded by drug dealers and ASBO. The estate is a sh*t hole and I am for the first time genuinely scared to live there. It doesnt help that we have been targeted by the local dealers children.

I work hard and so does my hubby and we have to live in fear and with scum. We have now got a MIP and we are in such a hurry to move to bring our kids up in a nice estate.

Sorry didnt realise just how much I had ranted. If you want my opinion then walk away.

Innocenti

Just editing to add that not everybody who lives in a council estate or HE estate are scum but there seems to be plenty that are! My neighbours are lovely and I will miss them so much when we move. It just seems that nice people get fed up and move and the low lifes who couldnt give a cr*p about their neighbours move in and make everybodys life hell.

Lotus-eater

Life_Tasted_Sweet wrote: »

Thanks to those who gave helpful advice.

To the rest, thanks for nothing. What are you doing on this site???

I probs won't be buying but if I need advice I'll find it elsewhere.

Goodbye


Life tasted Sweet

Somehow I don't think the OP wants any advice that doesn't agree with him.

TBeckett100

silvercar wrote: »

Not generalising at all?

MAny single mum's make excellent tenants and ex-La houses offer ideal accom. The tenants want the security of a long term let and take price in their homes and their family.

.

I have read enough issues of Take a Break and Chat to know that the bottom end of the market attarct more trouble than the top end.

izzybusy23

Life_Tasted_Sweet wrote: »

Hi all

I have seen this house on RM. It's ex local authority but has 4 bedrooms and is larger than most houses.

The estate has about 300 houses but a bad name locally. There are plans to spend £22 million putting it right! Most of this is to demolish the houses at the top of the estate (some HA and some private) and build new town houses with three floors (but smaller rooms I bet). This one is at the bottom of the estate and will probably be getting a garden at the back (the tarmac area in the picture). The plans have not been finalised AFAIK.

£87K is well affordable but the market is falling and I'd hate to lose money. Obviously, I'd offer £80K first - cash sale and all that!

I'd be letting it initially and rents are around the £450 - £500 mark. Not a great return but potential for some appreciation with the work that is in the pipe line.

What do you guys (and gals) think?


Life tasted Sweet

What a scary looking place.. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, not even if it was £10k. LA housing is for people who cannot normally afford other housing, so why on earth would you want to invest £80k into a council house? And especially on an estate that needs £22 million spent on it. What does that tell you?

You need your bumps read if you buy this. The house looks like a prison made over.

izzybusy23

Life_Tasted_Sweet wrote: »

Found this link which gives some background to what is planned.

Ignoring the misplaced snobbery from what I expect are Southern softies, this looks like a good BTL investment. If only we knew what property prices would do? I'll let you all know if I decide to make an offer.

Life tasted Sweet

I am from the south so you can call me soft if you like, but I was bought up on one of the worse and notorious council estates in Portsmouth which was Portsdown Park. It was a HELL HOLE. Then we moved to yet another council estate in Highbury which wasn't so bad. I would NEVER want to go back to a council estate, unless you have lived on one you will never know how demoralising they are, and how scary. Portsdown Park was demolished due to drugs, damp problems and overall suicides from tenants jumping off the tower blocks. It had sheds underneath the maisonettes which were currently broken into, smelt of urine, and people got locked in them. It was a really dire place to live. I currently privately rent at the moment in Gloucester, but if I had the funds to buy the house you are thinking about buying, I would rather throw my money away on a fast car and fancy holidays.