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AIBU?

To be absolutely at my wit-end with ex-council flat sale

46 replies

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 06:27

We own an ex council flat - bought on the private market so at full price five years ago. It was all we could afford and we pushed ourselves to the limit. We sold it to a cash buyer recently as it was a really hard sale - most first time buyers said they didn't like 'the neighbourhood'. We aren't snobs and couldn't have cared less about the 'idea' of the neighbourhood and actually it's worked out that mostly we have had lovely neighbours! Anyway, it was a hard sale and we got 15K knocked off our asking price.

Now two months on, the management pack has come in and the f*king council has out of fking nowhere put in costs of 70K for the roof, 12K for redecoration (both per block) and 6K for electrics (per property). We had no f*king idea about this!!!!! No letter, nothing, first we heard of it was in the management pack. I called the council up 5 months ago when we first put it up for sale and they said nothing was on the horizon...I called up the other day and they said 'well, things change, that's life'!!!!!!!!!

WTF, I am so angry, our buyer has pulled out, we are desperately trying to beg them to come back. The works are scheduled for five years time so way in the future and they are 'proposed' so might not even happen but we've offered 10K off the asking price just to entice our buyer back - this is how much the share would be for all these works for our flat. We have to increase our mortgage for the place we are buying to do this - we have found our dream home which is why we are so desperate. This is a major financial hit for us and I feel sick to my stomach.

I feel like we are paying for works:

  • Five years down the line that may not even happen
  • Will get no benefit from it as our buyer will benefit from the new roof


And basically been completely shafted by the council and our buyers. And our f*king useless solicitor wasn't aware of anything 'untoward' in management pack so didn't even help us with any of this - we heard the buyer was pulling out through our f*king agent!!

Does anyone have experience with selling an ex-council flat and this stuff come up? I never cared about the 'stigma' of them but now I realise why people say avoid - as they are deceptively costly - we've spent far more than we would if if we'd bought a privately owned flat.

I'm devastated, I know this is not an AIBU as such but posting for advice, anyone with any experience please reply, thank you
OP posts:
Wonders71 · 23/06/2017 06:39

Are you sure its for the whole property and not the whole building? Sounds like a lot of money what type of property is it? Are you in London? Sorry for so many questions.

Wonders71 · 23/06/2017 06:40

Sorry should say your..

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 06:44

Thanks for replying, the total costs are for our block of 9 flats, and the 10K share is for just our flat, yes in London, the redecoration of £1080 for our share is literally some f*king handrails which we painted ourselves last year as wanted to spruce it up - there are no shared communal areas as we are a maisonette - there is just ground floor/first floor so the 'redecoration' can only possibly be the bloody handrails outside our flat which cost about a fiver for a can of paint. I'm livid, either the council are incompetent or we are f*king being used as cash cows

OP posts:
BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 06:49

Ugh so they issued a major works notice before you'd exchanged? Nightmare.

I looked a thing a lot of ex LA flats and a few had major works notices out and it was typical for the seller to pay for that.

ShotsFired · 23/06/2017 06:54

First of all, calm down.

This is not the council saying the works will happen 100% for sure. They have to consult you.

Couple of random links:
www.eastkenthousing.org.uk/information-for-leaseholders/consulting-on-major-works/
www.lease-advice.org/faq/what-is-the-section-20-consultation-process-for-major-works/
www.strangfordmanagement.com/received-section-20-notice-now/

Section 20 is the thing you need to be looking into.

Good luck.

mainhall · 23/06/2017 06:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 07:02

I keep thinking if we had pressurised our solicitor to move more quickly it wouldn't have come up in the management pack and we would have saved ourselves 10K! The cash buyer is doing this as an investment, she is going to get 1000K rent a month, pay service charge of £500/year and have NO major works to do ever - as we already did windows for 7K and now roof etc for 10K. Sorry, just really need to vent!!! She's also said she is planning it as investment for next twenty years so we've bared the brunt of everything. I feel like an absolute mug - I'm pretty sure all of these costs are way more than any costs that would have been incorporated into a service charge for a private flat as they have a sinking fund whereas ex-council don't?? Might be wrong..

I couldn't sleep last night. The worst part is, even by offering 10K off we don't even know if she'll agree as she has instructed her solicitor 'not to proceed' and has said the works will cause disruption to rental yield for potential tenants.

[cries to self]

Thanks for the links, I will make sure to look at them

OP posts:
BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 07:09

@mainhall major work notices like this are a particular exLA thing.

Generally private blocks have a bit of a sinking fund (so you pay a higher service charge than is actually spent each year) to cover thing like roof / lift overhaul.

Also in a private block if you have exercised right to manage you have much more control over the scheduling and amount.

Obviously I'm poorly managed private blocks you do get similar issues but there are some peculiarities with S20 that make he process a pain in the neck for leaseholders.

Also I was put off by major works notices cos I didn't want scaffolding blocking my windows for god knows how long (most of them were for window replacement and cladding).

There is a reason exLA is cheaper, and they fall first and further in any kind of down turn.

BangkokBlues · 23/06/2017 07:12

Sounds like Shen is getting cold feet OP, what a nightmare.

Do you have to sell?

notomatoes · 23/06/2017 07:14

So you are angry because if the bill had come a few months down the line the buyer would be lumped with it? Charming.

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 07:15

We have to sell yes, we have a three year old and it's one bedroom. I'm so upset by all of this. I don't know what to do. I feel we made a completely crap choice of flat to buy, we could have bought something for more or less the same price in a privately owned block.

I feel like we've let our son down, we are stuck in this awful flat, he has no room, no garden. I'm crying as ii type this, we tried to do everything right. We worked so hard for this flat, we saved so much money. I am so devastated

OP posts:
TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 07:16

notomatoes I'm angry because we have paid for ALL major works over five years of living here, and she will pay for none in twenty

I'm angry because there is no sinking fund, I'm angry because ALL of the brunt is on us, and she will benefit entirely

OP posts:
notomatoes · 23/06/2017 07:18

Sorry, it sounded like you were wishing an unexpected bill on someone else rather than stressing over your own situation.

Are you able to rent it out and rent somewhere slightly bigger in the mean time?

Jellybean85 · 23/06/2017 07:22

You need to stop being angry at the buyer! She's done nothing wrong, as you pointed out, ex council properties are harder to sell. She's balked at a surprise £10K bill, who wouldn't?!

Im prone to overreacting too so I really sympathise. Try and take a breath, have a cup of tea and get some perspective. You may be there a few months longer than you thought but your son hasn't been failed. He's safe, and loved and fed, he won't miss having a room yet if he's never had one.

limitedperiodonly · 23/06/2017 07:22

Call theLeasehold Advisory Service. They are incredibly helpful.

As Shots said it's a Section 20 issue. They'll know what you're talking about if you say that

Truckingalong · 23/06/2017 07:24

You poor thing. No wonder you feel the way you do. No advice but you have my sympathy. What the buyer/investor may go on to make however is irrelevant. I have a few friends who are bloody rich and make more money than me. That's just the way life goes.

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 07:26

Thank you for link to advisory service, I have requested a time slot of a call

OP posts:
Laiste · 23/06/2017 07:26

Horrible situation OP.

My first home was a big maisonette on an estate, all separately and privately owned but leased by BA. We paid a small service charge per annum for gardening and upkeep of garage spaces. We were there about 8 years altogether. About 3 years in it was announced that BA wanted all windows on the estate which weren't new to be replaced. All ours needed doing and they costed ours at £6,000 (Unlike your situation it was actually a good price as it was a very big maisonette with big sliding patio doors) We told them we were skint and they eventually offered very good terms to pay it off over a long period of time with no added interest. Is there an option you can negotiate it right down like that for the flat? It wouldn't seem so off putting to a potential buyer - a smallish increase in the service charge. (We paid ours off in the end when we moved as we made a lot on the flat - this was back in 2001)

Laiste · 23/06/2017 07:30

Sorry if my post is bollox, i don't know much about it all and i haven't read the link about section 20 ect, it's just that i feel for you and that was our experience with a big unexpected bill from the leaseholders. If we'd been trying to sell at the time i'd have felt like you x

limitedperiodonly · 23/06/2017 07:32

People get slapped with huge S20 bills in private blocks too OP but it's more common in ex-council blocks because of the size. I was expecting you to say you lived in a 10-storey block with 40 flats, lifts and communal gardens. It does sound expensive from what you say.

However, when you live in a block you can't say: 'We painted the handrailings ourselves and it only cost a fiver.' You live communally so you have to accept that things have to be done to a commonly acceptable standard. It would be the same in a private block.

Ask for proper advice from the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. They are experts who are generally on the side of the tenant. Though if the works are reasonable and consultation has been followed they will come down on the side of the landlord. But check it out. I do sympathise. This a blow.

MrsTrentReznor · 23/06/2017 07:38

This happened to my Mum.
They do shaft the private owners.
She ended up selling at a massive reduction in price unfortunately.

TulipsinSpring444 · 23/06/2017 07:40

@MrsTrentReznor Do you know how much the works were scheduled to cost and how much she ended up dropping the price by?

OP posts:

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OnTheRise · 23/06/2017 07:45

This is all so stressful for you. It must be awful.

Could you perhaps rent your flat out and rent something more suitable for you somewhere else?

I hope it all gets sorted soon.

MrsTrentReznor · 23/06/2017 07:49

I'm sorry, I don't know, this was quite a few years ago when the housing market was quite different, but I remember it seemed like extortion!
When she sold her flat she basically got what she had paid for it, but she had owned it for about 10 years. Effectively a loss. Sad
It was bought by someone that let it straight out I think. A cash buyer.
Sorry I can't be more help!

GloGirl · 23/06/2017 08:08

I'm not sure why so many people are surprised how stressed you are finding it. House buying is horribly painful and when it's at risk of falling through, doubly so. And the idea of losing 10k is enough to make someone sick with nerves.

You must go back to your estate agent. If you're prepared to lose £25k on keeping this sale, how quick could you get a different cash buyer if you put it on the market for less? Obviously marketing it is delicate you don't want to say "this flat is cheap for a reason" or people might not come in. But if you remarked it at 10k less it might get more people in through door and estate agent can talk a sale?

It's horrible, I hope you can keep your buyer.

Go back to estate agent and say "I know the uncertainty is stressful for buyer, but please remind them that they flat itself needs no modernisation, and we're willing to deduct in full the total bill for the inconvenience that might not come through anyway. They're welcome to come and have a look again at the building and I can pay for a buulder to accompany her who can advise how likely it is that XY or Z would need to be done. "

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