AIMU to think it is about time I sorted out my financial situation?

[freudisfrozen]

I stay in a council house and feel personally that it is time to move on. I have limited savings - £9K - and about £500 each month for spending once all bills are paid. My daughter is now looking to move into her own accommodation in a private let, with friends, at a cost of approx £600 per calendar month. Various things are going through my head - do I buy my council house for just under 50% discount? Do I buy myself a house and let my daughter take over my tenancy (she is not a priority group so will never get her own tenancy ) or do I buy a small flat for my daughter and her friends as the rent from friends will pay the mortgage? Please point me in the right direction.

A house at a 50% discount is not an offer you'll get anywhere else. If you can afford that, it is the option I would recommend. If you have enough spare cash to buy a flat and rent it out, that could be good source of income. Otherwise, your daughter's house-share arrangements sound pretty usual and, if she's happy making an independent life, let her do that. Be ready to help should things go wrong, of course.

I may be out of touch with current regulations, but when my mum moved out of her council accommodation my brother had to leave too. She had assumed she could pass her tenancy to him but the council said he had to go. Able bodied, employed, not the tenent etc, so not a priority.

Sorry but if you have £500 spare cash each month then why are you in a council house?

@cookcleanerchauffeur... there's no current rule that council house tenants have to be in poverty. Presumably the OP has been in the property for some time if they qualify for discount purchase and their circumstances have improved over the years.

Surely council housing is for those in real need .... It doesnt sound like the OP is. There seems to be some genuinely desperate women on MN who struggle to survive in a bedsit with kids and nothing more, or those who are killing themselves aout how they are going to pay their rent due to the rent changes, even if it is £20 a month. All I am saying is that council house should be for those in need .....

Wish I had £500 spare cash each month.

Cogito has hit the nail on the head - although my circumstances now are now ok, in the past they were not. I am now in a job that doesn't pay a huge amount but because I have practically no debt means I can do some of the things I could only dream about a few years ago.

You would need a 25% deposit for a buy to let mortgage so unless property in your area is exceptionally cheap 9k won't get you far in buying a flat to rent out. If I were you I'd buy my council house.

I'd buy your council home, making sure you have enough put away to cover any future repairs etc.
Maybe put some money to one side to help your daughter if she needs it, but allow her to make her own way for now.
Re-assess the situation in a couple of years if you are able to further invest/help etc.
Make sure your decision means you are secure - don't lose your home.
Ignore any comments on here that will try to guilt you into the gutter. ;)

Buy your council house. It's a no brainer. And if you have any spare cash,aye you could give your daughter her share of the deposit for the place she is looking for with friends, or buy her bedroom furniture for it if you wanted to help her out?

Maybe, not ,aye sorry!

Tenancy transfer rules.
Looks like your daughter could take over the tenancy, unless it was previously transferred to you, as the right can only be used once.
In case you're interested .

How secure is your job OP? I am in a council flat now but I plan to continue renting as I think the risk/cost of ownership is quite high compared to a secure tenancy. I will probably have to reduce my hours in the next year, but the shortfall in rent will be made up with HB, whereas if I had a mortgage I wouldn't get any help with it and could be at risk of repossession.

It's worth sitting down and doing the sums of the different options you can take. In my flat I'd have service charges to pay if I bought it, plus the cost of repairs. With a house you won't have service charges but you'll have to meet the full cost of buildings maintenance and repairs, which could be quite costly.

It sounds like you're in a much cheaper part of the country to me (I am in London) so buying could be worthwhile for you. The new 50% discount will be capped for me so it will work out to be more like 25%, plus with the cost of legal fees, stamp tax and a higher deposit, it would be a real struggle for me to afford to buy. Have you factored in all of those costs in your calculations?

£500 spare money a month!!

That's really interesting Shotgun, thanks for posting that link.