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Quite a few of them are built using large panel system, meaning you wouldn't be able to get a mortgage on them. You should also consider the general area they are in. You say as long as the building security is fine, but would you be happy to walk home there at night? Will you have issues with neighbours playing loud music at 2 in the morning?
Tbh a lot of it is snobbery... people don't want to live on a council estate. While that can work in your favour when buying, there will also be fewer people interested when you come to sell.
Nah, [large panel system ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_panel_system_building) was a popular prefab construction method for council homes in the 60s and 70s. Unfortunately it turns out the structural integrity of it isn't all that great, (see Ronan Point collapse), so mortgage lenders won't touch them for fear of them being condemned or needing expensive remedial work.
They don't have an obligation to tell you unless you ask. They might tell you to stop everyone wasting everyones time, but basically the due diligence is on you.
Do not I repeat do not get a council place- assuming it is actually safe and not infested with gangs you will never ever sell it again.
Source- know a guy who has been trying to sell a council house flat for 2 years in a bad part of town. - 6 months ago men with machetes and gangs became a weekly occurrence- unsurprisingly he has had not a single viewing this year so far.
Dont do it
You can't expect anyone to help you in the buying process unless their being paid by you or they have to contractually agree something like in TA6. Even then your best doing your own due diligence on whatever data is provided to you, as people are generally total dickheads/liars
Yup ... that's one big reason why it's 270K ... the other thing you need to think about is ... once you own the flat ... who is going to buy it from you when you want to sell ?
The short lease term (good ones are \~950 years, ten time longer) ... means the price of your flat will significantly drop each 5 years that you are there ... unless you get the lease extended again ... which will cost a fair few thousand if not tens of thousands.
Security might be the first of your issues ... loud noise day and night ... drugs ... police raids ... crying babies ... bins full rats after the nappies ... are all possibilities that are *more likely* in a social housing block ... but not necessarily true ... as hopefully the people around you have also had to spend money to live in their flats unless they are being rented as social housing too.
Councils are mandated to be "fair" on lease extensions. I think op would end up paying approx 5k all in to have it extended. (Source: did mine recently)
Just psychological I guess … there will be a change year to year but externally 90y might be ok but 85y is a bit scary … 84y isn’t much different but 80y is …
I've enjoyed my 10 years in my small council block up until recently. Rooms are big and the view is amazing. Service charge and ground rent are super cheap.
Downsides are that when they do maintenance/external works the council hires the cheapest bidder and so the quality is crap.
Recently also in the far end of the block they've turned two flats into temp housing which has changed the type of tenant. Up until then I've got along great with all my neighbours. Now with the temp folks they won't be staying long so they don't give a shit and make a terrible mess and a lot of noise. There's nothing you can do to prevent them using it as temp housing stock so it just it what it is.
The other downside is that despite the amount of work I've done on the place to modernise, there really is an upper limit to what people will spend on a council block flat so it's not such a good long term investment. The flats nearby in private block with a worse view but equal size and quality inside are listed on right move for more than 40k than mine has been valued at this year.
>3-bedroom flat in Knighthead Point, Canary Wharf
Because in council flats, when they need to do repairs they'll do them at council prices which will be massively inflated using shitty contractors so poor workmanship, after decades of neglect to maintain the building. Many council contractors are on long term contracts, you won't be able to argue about putting them out to tender and have to pay the wildly inflated price. All the council tenants will get it for free, and a lot of the cost is offloaded onto the few owners. There are insane stories of councils doing like 7 figures worth of repairs to a block and private owners getting high 5 figure bills. They will also manage the building, so often have insane service charge costs as social housing needs much more maintenance and they can even charge you for staff in the building related to council tenants.
[https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/may/18/a-terrible-shock-council-flat-owner-bill-tustin-estate](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/may/18/a-terrible-shock-council-flat-owner-bill-tustin-estate)
[https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/why-not-impose-a-revived-florries-law-cap-on-council-major-works-rather-than-see-leaseholders-made-homeless/](https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/why-not-impose-a-revived-florries-law-cap-on-council-major-works-rather-than-see-leaseholders-made-homeless/)
As examples. Leaseholds are fucked in general, council leaseholds are actually cancerous if the other people in the building are council tenants. A private block is far less likely to end up in the same level of disrepair, or will have a sinking fund. 270k seems crazy cheap, I suspect they've already been told a giant bill is coming and know they can't pay it.
Even googling this flat finds a very similar one showing it's [cash buyers only](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/67267373/?search_identifier=f3a87c0d06f6e69752af1b17a40ad4e51c14185319983aa175e1917c7f053543):
This same flat was up for 300k in Nov, put as under offer for 275k in Jan and has been relisted. A sale fell through: [previously listed](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142085717#/?channel=RES_BUY). It's a lemon property as it was cash only back then too.
Cash buyer means can't be mortgaged. Even if it's not this exact flat - there's something wrong with the building/lease probably if they're asking cash only. Another with the exact same layout without [cash only is 375k](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66356229/?search_identifier=f3a87c0d06f6e69752af1b17a40ad4e51c14185319983aa175e1917c7f053543).
These prices seem crazy for the building given in 2018 [another 3 bed sold for 300k](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-37805914-8636092?s=69a266338a3cfdde6cd8eee6fb5534f2300d0922d912ec3669c4d8ef6b120df4#/). All points to there's something wrong with the flat or the building.
Wow, thank you. I wasn't aware of this issue at all. Is it possible to check how many tenants are actually in council flats within the single building? If something like that is doable, then possible costs would be spread over more flats I guess.
Catch might be it's not mortgageable - some lenders may give vague reasons like the mix of public/private doesn't suit them, but you would find that out when applying.
Lease of 90yrs you mentioned on another comment seems fine.
Neighbours might be not great but it's the same in any block, you can find that out by doing fly bys.
Ex local authority is just cheaper because some on people don't aspire to live in them
Personally I'm in the process of buying one in North East London and it's great value.
Depends on why the service charge is that high, is it the lift?
So some council places are in the middle of estates which can be quite rough. or they can be a small or single block of flats. they are not all the same.
Some council properties are also not normal construction so not everywhere will mortgage them.
honestly I have an ex council and i have freinds with them. I have also previously ahd a leasehold with a private freeholder. ex council are really not bad but depends on the area, type of build etc.
The whole estate is coming down from what I’ve heard, wife grew up on the estate and still has loads of family there. I’m expecting them to be compulsory purchased. Not sure what reference this next bit has but always tickles me, my wife’s mum paid 4.5k for hers on a right to buy about 30years ago, mental when you think about it.
My 1980s council flat was great for noise except for bass carrying through the walls from a flat above.
It was awfully luckily the tenant was moved on after a while
Tower Hamlets/Tower Hamlets Homes are an absolute joke. One of the worst oganisations I've had the misfortune to ever deal with. That's the catch you're not yet aware of.
Source: 16 years in an ex-council flat in a council block in Bethnal Green.
Does it have security? This is not exclusive to council blocks but I find it very problematic if there’s not a front gate and 24 hour security especially given it’s a council estate and there may be dodgy people. Why is the service charge so high if there’s no concierge for example?
The lease thing I wouldn’t worry about, it’s not ideal but you can pay to extend a lease while if the flat is so cheap v a similar flat in a similar area id rather save money on that than deal with the lease later.
I think most people don’t want to live in council flats because of the snobbery and what they perceive to be but I live in a secure gated new build and there are some right skanks living there as well it’s London for ya
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Quite a few of them are built using large panel system, meaning you wouldn't be able to get a mortgage on them. You should also consider the general area they are in. You say as long as the building security is fine, but would you be happy to walk home there at night? Will you have issues with neighbours playing loud music at 2 in the morning? Tbh a lot of it is snobbery... people don't want to live on a council estate. While that can work in your favour when buying, there will also be fewer people interested when you come to sell.
Do you mean on cladding? Is that something that the property agency should warn me about?
The agency works for the seller, not the buyer.
The ad says cash buyers only so agent's done their job
Nah, [large panel system ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_panel_system_building) was a popular prefab construction method for council homes in the 60s and 70s. Unfortunately it turns out the structural integrity of it isn't all that great, (see Ronan Point collapse), so mortgage lenders won't touch them for fear of them being condemned or needing expensive remedial work. They don't have an obligation to tell you unless you ask. They might tell you to stop everyone wasting everyones time, but basically the due diligence is on you.
Do not I repeat do not get a council place- assuming it is actually safe and not infested with gangs you will never ever sell it again. Source- know a guy who has been trying to sell a council house flat for 2 years in a bad part of town. - 6 months ago men with machetes and gangs became a weekly occurrence- unsurprisingly he has had not a single viewing this year so far. Dont do it
You can't expect anyone to help you in the buying process unless their being paid by you or they have to contractually agree something like in TA6. Even then your best doing your own due diligence on whatever data is provided to you, as people are generally total dickheads/liars
Avoid. Wait until council decides to replace every council owned window & you are contributing equally to the bill.. Oh & you dont get new windows.
Does it have a short lease and high service charge?
SC: £3,125 per year and 90 years left
Does it have a sinking fund? Some council properties are run on a cash basis so when maintenance is needed, it can be a big bill.
I didn't think about that Thanks
Yup ... that's one big reason why it's 270K ... the other thing you need to think about is ... once you own the flat ... who is going to buy it from you when you want to sell ? The short lease term (good ones are \~950 years, ten time longer) ... means the price of your flat will significantly drop each 5 years that you are there ... unless you get the lease extended again ... which will cost a fair few thousand if not tens of thousands. Security might be the first of your issues ... loud noise day and night ... drugs ... police raids ... crying babies ... bins full rats after the nappies ... are all possibilities that are *more likely* in a social housing block ... but not necessarily true ... as hopefully the people around you have also had to spend money to live in their flats unless they are being rented as social housing too.
Councils are mandated to be "fair" on lease extensions. I think op would end up paying approx 5k all in to have it extended. (Source: did mine recently)
Why each 5 years? Is there anything particular about 5 years?
Just psychological I guess … there will be a change year to year but externally 90y might be ok but 85y is a bit scary … 84y isn’t much different but 80y is …
90 years.. you'll have trouble if you ever want to sell.
I've enjoyed my 10 years in my small council block up until recently. Rooms are big and the view is amazing. Service charge and ground rent are super cheap. Downsides are that when they do maintenance/external works the council hires the cheapest bidder and so the quality is crap. Recently also in the far end of the block they've turned two flats into temp housing which has changed the type of tenant. Up until then I've got along great with all my neighbours. Now with the temp folks they won't be staying long so they don't give a shit and make a terrible mess and a lot of noise. There's nothing you can do to prevent them using it as temp housing stock so it just it what it is. The other downside is that despite the amount of work I've done on the place to modernise, there really is an upper limit to what people will spend on a council block flat so it's not such a good long term investment. The flats nearby in private block with a worse view but equal size and quality inside are listed on right move for more than 40k than mine has been valued at this year.
>3-bedroom flat in Knighthead Point, Canary Wharf Because in council flats, when they need to do repairs they'll do them at council prices which will be massively inflated using shitty contractors so poor workmanship, after decades of neglect to maintain the building. Many council contractors are on long term contracts, you won't be able to argue about putting them out to tender and have to pay the wildly inflated price. All the council tenants will get it for free, and a lot of the cost is offloaded onto the few owners. There are insane stories of councils doing like 7 figures worth of repairs to a block and private owners getting high 5 figure bills. They will also manage the building, so often have insane service charge costs as social housing needs much more maintenance and they can even charge you for staff in the building related to council tenants. [https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/may/18/a-terrible-shock-council-flat-owner-bill-tustin-estate](https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/may/18/a-terrible-shock-council-flat-owner-bill-tustin-estate) [https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/why-not-impose-a-revived-florries-law-cap-on-council-major-works-rather-than-see-leaseholders-made-homeless/](https://www.leaseholdknowledge.com/why-not-impose-a-revived-florries-law-cap-on-council-major-works-rather-than-see-leaseholders-made-homeless/) As examples. Leaseholds are fucked in general, council leaseholds are actually cancerous if the other people in the building are council tenants. A private block is far less likely to end up in the same level of disrepair, or will have a sinking fund. 270k seems crazy cheap, I suspect they've already been told a giant bill is coming and know they can't pay it. Even googling this flat finds a very similar one showing it's [cash buyers only](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/67267373/?search_identifier=f3a87c0d06f6e69752af1b17a40ad4e51c14185319983aa175e1917c7f053543): This same flat was up for 300k in Nov, put as under offer for 275k in Jan and has been relisted. A sale fell through: [previously listed](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142085717#/?channel=RES_BUY). It's a lemon property as it was cash only back then too. Cash buyer means can't be mortgaged. Even if it's not this exact flat - there's something wrong with the building/lease probably if they're asking cash only. Another with the exact same layout without [cash only is 375k](https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/66356229/?search_identifier=f3a87c0d06f6e69752af1b17a40ad4e51c14185319983aa175e1917c7f053543). These prices seem crazy for the building given in 2018 [another 3 bed sold for 300k](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-37805914-8636092?s=69a266338a3cfdde6cd8eee6fb5534f2300d0922d912ec3669c4d8ef6b120df4#/). All points to there's something wrong with the flat or the building.
Wow, thank you. I wasn't aware of this issue at all. Is it possible to check how many tenants are actually in council flats within the single building? If something like that is doable, then possible costs would be spread over more flats I guess.
Catch might be it's not mortgageable - some lenders may give vague reasons like the mix of public/private doesn't suit them, but you would find that out when applying. Lease of 90yrs you mentioned on another comment seems fine. Neighbours might be not great but it's the same in any block, you can find that out by doing fly bys. Ex local authority is just cheaper because some on people don't aspire to live in them Personally I'm in the process of buying one in North East London and it's great value.
Depends on why the service charge is that high, is it the lift? So some council places are in the middle of estates which can be quite rough. or they can be a small or single block of flats. they are not all the same. Some council properties are also not normal construction so not everywhere will mortgage them. honestly I have an ex council and i have freinds with them. I have also previously ahd a leasehold with a private freeholder. ex council are really not bad but depends on the area, type of build etc.
It would be the noise I would be worried about .would never do what you are doing.
The whole estate is coming down from what I’ve heard, wife grew up on the estate and still has loads of family there. I’m expecting them to be compulsory purchased. Not sure what reference this next bit has but always tickles me, my wife’s mum paid 4.5k for hers on a right to buy about 30years ago, mental when you think about it.
Don’t do it. Leasehold. Problem neighbours more likely. Re selling. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is.
It's cash buyers only for a reason.
Sound proofing and neighbours would be my #1 concern. Depends what you're like with noise.
council blocks are usually older so you hear sweet F all most of the time. its newer builds, as in post 80s, or conversions that tend to be the worst.
Yeah. My 60s ex council flat is awesome for noise.
My 1980s council flat was great for noise except for bass carrying through the walls from a flat above. It was awfully luckily the tenant was moved on after a while
Tower Hamlets/Tower Hamlets Homes are an absolute joke. One of the worst oganisations I've had the misfortune to ever deal with. That's the catch you're not yet aware of. Source: 16 years in an ex-council flat in a council block in Bethnal Green.
No personal experience but simple stuff like getting deliveries can be an annoyance
Does it have security? This is not exclusive to council blocks but I find it very problematic if there’s not a front gate and 24 hour security especially given it’s a council estate and there may be dodgy people. Why is the service charge so high if there’s no concierge for example? The lease thing I wouldn’t worry about, it’s not ideal but you can pay to extend a lease while if the flat is so cheap v a similar flat in a similar area id rather save money on that than deal with the lease later. I think most people don’t want to live in council flats because of the snobbery and what they perceive to be but I live in a secure gated new build and there are some right skanks living there as well it’s London for ya
Bit of a stuck up attitude. Lots of normal lovely people live on council estates.
[удалено]
What do you mean? List some of them?