Would you buy an ex council house ?

[LovelyYellowLabrador]

They seem good value for money and often big gardens

I paid £34k for mine when private 2 up 2 down terraced houses nearby were selling for £70k, I bought in 2001, the same house now is selling for £130k, the 2 up 2 down houses are selling for £220k. Mine was timber framed, brick ground floor & timber clad first floor, all internal walls were none supporting walls so you could remove a wall in a day, no brick dust, all that needed doing was to fill in the nail holes on the ceiling & walls. The houses were built in the 1960's to help with slum clearance & were only expected to last 30 years. It was 5 minutes to the link to the M1, 10 minutes to the peak district, if you crossed the road you were over the border to the peak district. It had a 10' x 10,' kitchen 24' x 12' lounge diner, downstairs toilet, utility room, 14' x 11' bedroom 1, 10' x 10' bedroom 2 12' x 8' bedroom 3 & bathroom, the garden was 24' x 30' it was an ideal starter home, cheap to heat & band A council tax.

My house is an ex council one. Its in a very nice area & far better value than other houses in the area. Lovely big rooms, original features, huge garden & off street parking. Its on what used to be the village main street so has kerb appeal & not in an estate.

I think ex council houses have to be looked at like all houses, you can't generalise about them

On a council estate, then no. I've been a victim of crime when I cut through one (other residents ignored/turned a blind eye), and I certainly wouldn't feel safe living there. I'd stand out like a sore thumb.

Sorry.

Wouldn’t matter to me if it was ex Council or not. It would depend on the area. I would never buy any house ex Council or otherwise if it was in a rough area. There are some great ex Council houses in great locations so I would say go for it if you feel it would work for you.

We love ours! Big rooms and big garden. No curb appeal but I think that's why we could afford so much space!

Our first flat was an ex Local Authority flat. It wasn't pretty on the outside but was a great location, good size (2 double bedrooms) and half the price of the victorian conversion flats in the same road. Only 1 tenant in the block still had it as a council flat.

My dad has bought and done up a lot of properties. He always encouraged us to look at ex council, especially the older ones with large mandated garden size and good build quality.

Jesus fucking Christ. I feel dirty just reading that comment.

@AllThingsServeTheBeam 😂

They are very variable and tbh even though I wouldn't buy my council house because it's not a great area ,the vast ,vast majority of residents are fine, it's unfortunately the minority that give it a bad name.

Jesus fucking Christ. I feel dirty just reading that comment.

I was physically hurt, so I'm sorry my comment made you feel that way, but unfortunately that was my experience. It actually, obviously frightened me, so.

In most cases no, not round here. The estates have a significant amount of families living there that don’t look after the property. Overgrown gardens, empty beer cans strewn in the grass, shouting in the street. Rusting cars on the drive fighting for space with old sofas.

We do have some very small rows of ex council houses in nice areas too, very picturesque places and to these, yes, they are absolutely looked after and almost indistinguishable from non council houses. Mind you they go for a similar price too.

I must say that I'm dismayed that's your reaction @AllThingsServeTheBeam to someone who's been the victim of a crime. And to the person who used a laughing emoji.

I must have stood out like a sore thumb, possibly in the way I was dressed, as why else would I have been attacked. I didn't speak and did nothing wrong. I was just walking through an area I didn't know, trying to find the main road and get back to my car.

So thank you.

@nameprivacychange I'm sorry you had a crime committed against you but this could have happened anywhere . People don't dress differently because they're council tenants

I didn't say they did dress differently @stillherenow
I was only talking about my own dress (I haven't specified what that was, so you've made your own assumptions) and perhaps looking vulnerable and lost, and female. I don't know.

Coincidence that it's the first time anything like that has happened, but the area was very rough, I was very frightened trying to find my way out, and that is fact. I disagree it was as likely to happen anywhere. I'd rather not argue about this as it was recent. But I like that my 'possible' snobbery (it's not) is considered the main offence.

Exactly.

I live on one of the largest Council-built estates in the country. It is now a mix of privately owned and Housing Association/Council now. I have no idea which house is privately owned and which isn't, which residents own and which rent. No-one has it tattooed on the forehead.

In fact, the brand new and immaculate front drive a few doors up is apparently social housing, I had assumed it was private as the residents did it themselves. My front garden is terrible, despite owning it (have been gradually doing up house and back garden, front garden is last on the list).

Yes solidly built, good sized rooms, well laid out, good sized gardens.

I don't want to offend, but in my experience some council estates are awful, especially to strangers. We lived on two apparently 'nice' estates. Some people were friendly, including our neighbours, but many weren't, they were very territorial. Feral teens roamed around in packs, really intimidating. The things they did, with no control was shocking. The houses weren't great, the second one was damp and mouldy in every room. Water ran down the bedroom walls.

We lived on another estate (in an ex-LA house) with a bit of a bad reputation, but it was lovely. Quite gossipy, but really friendly. The kids in the street asked DS1 to come and play on our first day there. The house was amazing, thick walls, no damp, it was solid. The garden was huge. We only moved because the landlord sold it. I'd definitely have bought it if we were in a position to at the time.

We've lived all over, in rough areas and great ones and the only bad experiences we've had were on those first two council estates. The third one was lovely though, so my advice is to do your research, talk to people who live there and go there at different times of the day and night to get a proper feel of the place.

No

So everyone who lives on a council estate is out to get you. Get a grip. I dress different than the norm and also disabled and I've actually lived in a council house. Shock horror

Yes

ive lived in one for 21yrs

I admit I was wary when I was looking and did drive round lots at different times of day

makes me sound a snob and I’m not lol

but all was peaceful and I have a 3 bed semi with good size rooms, driveway and large garden

a friend brought at similar time but wouidnt look at my area 1.5m
away from hers as was council

she paid £2.5k more then me for a 2 bed terraced with no parking and Tiny garden

ahe did say later she wish she had looked at my area

tbh there are always going to be nice areas and shit areas in every town