Anyone here bought their own Council House?

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

My Mum has lived in her Council House for the last 35 yrs & has mentioned the possibility of buying it from the council. I'm thinking of going in with her on buying it too as I've heard there is a reduction given on its value depending on how long the tenant has lived there.

Has anyone here done something similar, & what was the experience like/how did it turn out/what kind of advice can you give me?

Thanks in advance.

[smouty]

My inlaws did. Given the length of time they were tenants resulted in a 70% discount which meant now they are older, they were able to buy a small flat in a retirement home.

[Colin]

My house in Scotland is ex council, in fact all the houses in the street are now privately owned. Bought it in the nineties and it's now worth about seven times what I paid for it. Happy days.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Thanks for the replies guys.

So have you guys got any advice on how i and my Mum should go about proceeding with this?

Anything to prepare/avoid?

Any problems arise? Any good/bad experiences?

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Anyone?

[Brad]

My house is an ex-council house, although it wasn't me that bought it from the council. Erm, nothing to worry about as far as I know.

My mate bought a flat off Basildon Council. No worries there either IIRC.

I would recommend skating with one of the members of the council first though, just to be sure

[Soundwave]

I think the only real issue with buying a Council property is if it's a flat that is still in a block of Council properties because if the Council decide they want to renovate the block you will get charged a % of the cost.
For example the block I live in at the moment which is still majority Council which is getting renovated (new Windows, tidy up car park, walkways etc.) my landlord has been hit with a bill for ?4k for his share of the renovations & if he wants new windows that would be on top as that's an opt in.

IMO if you can rent a council flat never ever buy it, bills like that or even higher could come at any time.
Houses are different though & I'd buy one if I could get into the Council Scheme.

But there is a clause that says you can't sell the property for 5 years after you buy it or you have to give back a sum of money to the council as well (not sure how it's calculated but it's based on the sell price & the amount of discount you were given)

There is something else to consider...while you are council tenants don't forget running repairs are free.
If the boiler goes...ring them up they'll fix it.
Window get's broken, thats free
Roof springs a leak...costs you nothing.

Lastly I know it's horrible but in the future if your mum falls ill & has to go into a home the council will foot all the bills for her care home
If you own the property you will most likely have to sell it to fund the care home.

It happened with my nan.
She moved down here with my Grandad in 1985 in a transfer to a council property & lived there as a council tenant until her Alzhymers got too bad to live on her own & they moved her into a care home where she stayed for about 2 years before she was hospitalized & passed away in hospital.
My parents & my nan never saw a bill for the entire time she was in the home.

Sometimes it's better to stay as you are.

Neil

[Duncan James Waugh]

I think the only real issue with buying a Council property is if it's a flat that is still in a block of Council properties because if the Council decide they want to renovate the block you will get charged a % of the cost.
For example the block I live in at the moment which is still majority Council which is getting renovated (new Windows, tidy up car park, walkways etc.) my landlord has been hit with a bill for ?4k for his share of the renovations & if he wants new windows that would be on top as that's an opt in.

To be honest this is a problem with buying flats in general as you don't own the freehold and are pretty much at the whim of the freehold owner/maintenance company who run the block.

[Brad]

I've recently experienced the care home issue Neil speaks of. Basically if a care home is needed they will use up any and all money your mum has, including selling her house, until there's nothing left before they start paying.

[Soundwave]

To be honest this is a problem with buying flats in general as you don't own the freehold and are pretty much at the whim of the freehold owner/maintenance company who run the block.

Ah I wasn't too aware that the issue went beyond Council owned blocks.
This is why I only rent a flat, would never consider buying one.

I've recently experienced the care home issue Neil speaks of. Basically if a care home is needed they will use up any and all money your mum has, including selling her house, until there's nothing left before they start paying.

It happened to my colleague at work as well.
They took her mums house & everything, there is nothing left now at all no inheritance for any of their family, savings & everything went to fund the care home.
It's a joke how it works.

[Super Grover]

We had a similar issue to Neil and Brad.

Once in a care home, the council fund it by, want of a better expression, stripping all the tenants assets, eg. Home and savings. I believe they have to leave a minimum amount of money in the tenants account, tho' how much I'm not too sure.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Hmm not looking so good an idea now .
I wouldn't want to put my mum in a home tbh & would rather care for her myself if possible.

So if i still went ahead with this how does the procedure go?

[Brad]

Horrible discussion but imagine worst case scenario whereby you are insufficiently skilled to care for her and she has to have professional 24 hour care. ?700 - ?1000 per week. ?52k a year. Doesn't take long for any inheritance your parents have planned for you to disappear...

[gunrock]

Good luck to you and your mum if you decide to buy it. Fundamentally I'm against the idea as it removes social housing from the pool available, but if the option is available to you, I say go for it!

[ETC]

Its ?6000 they will leave alone iirc. Its a horrible situation for people I worked in one for a short while in the office and its horrid having to explain to people why the councils are doing what they are. They don't however sell or force the sale of your house if you have a someone else living in the house and cannot care for them (not in the council area where I lived anyways). It shouldn't be ?700-?1K a week wherever that is (unless its in London W1) they are overcharging by around 75% minimum.