Would you buy an ex council house ?

[LovelyYellowLabrador]

They seem good value for money and often big gardens

Yes.

All things being even I'd rather buy an ex-council house than a house built in the 80s/90s. Generally pretty solidly built with decent sized gardens as you say.

Yes, absolutely yes. Solidly built and big gardens. Especially the ones for sale in Norfolk currently.

It would depend on the area. Is it all bought houses or still a council estate with just a few that have been bough?

It would depend where it was / the area much like any other house I was buying .

Yes, my current house and my first house are ex council. Big gardens, big rooms, high ceilings, solidly built... What's not to love??! They're snapped up around here.

Yes. I’ve got one and it’s brilliant. Big rooms, massive garden, solidly built. And 50k cheaper than a smaller house the next road over because some people still have negative connotations.

yeah, why not?

No .

I'd be worried about resale and the neighbourhood

Depends to be honest. Some of them have quite poor kerb appeal and not attractive at all, others not so bad. They are solidly built in larger plots but due to the external appearance often lower cost compared to their private prettier equivalent. So it depends on what else I could get for the same money.

I have had 2. Didn’t regret them

Yes. The first house we bought was ex council. We stayed there 9 years. The only downside was it made moving on really hard. We were looking at houses twice the price that had smaller rooms and smaller gardens and much less central location.

The council house was well laid out, solidly built and had a big built in cupboard in every room!

My house is an ex council house. It's in a village and has a big garden and decent sized rooms. It's much bigger than our old new build and I'm very happy with it

Definitely if the area was good. I lived in one for a while and it was very soldily built and the rooms were good proportions.

Yes I did was great area and went up hugely before we sold and moved. Good solid house, nice feel to it, v little work needed.

I'd love an ex council house. Huge and solid. Currently in a boxey new build

Yes. Mine is ex council. And shock horror it's on a council estate with a mix of bought and council houses.

It would depend on what the area was like, but in and of itself - yes, I would.

You have to judge every case on it’s merits. Just like every Victorian, modern, 30s semi, yurt or lighthouse.

God yes. All the reasons given, plus the older ones are often in area with really good strong communities.

Although I wish they were still council owned.

In my area, absolutely. Friend bought one around the corner from me just before they stopped selling them - she got a big 3 bed, bigger back garden than many houses in the area and a front garden big enough to become a 3 car drive.
Her house is solid and well kept however, it did need some work to modernise (which isn't a bad thing tbh).

Where MIL lives I probably wouldn't, purely because they're smaller, small gardens and limited to one estate quite far away from local amenities.

snap

Only if it was freehold.

Leasehold can come with insanely high maintenance charges.

It depends on the area and I say this as a council tenant, my area isn't great l and if I'm ever in a position to buy it wouldn't be the house I'm in ,
Some estates are far better though and they are generally really well built .

Yes, I did & definitely didn't regret it. Good solid property in a lovely area, at a fraction of what nearby non ex LA properties were. I sold it years ago to move cities & now dealing with a non LA doer upper... at times I really miss my old flat

Honestly, no I wouldn’t. I think it’s because while there’s nothing really wrong with the individual houses somehow the estates depress me and so I have that association in my mind.