£55000 to give up my council house?!?

[Edenviolet]

AIBU to be in complete shock that the council offered me the above amount today to buy a home in the private sector if I relinquish my secure tenancy three bed council house?

It seems like an awful lot of money? Just for one house. Why don't they just build more social housing instead of paying out grants like this?

You also give up any right to be rehoused, ever, in the future as I understand it.

I think lots of people would consider leaving London for the opportunity to own their own home, secure tenancy or not.

Op obviously doesn't have to, but she might have had a hankering to move to the country and the council have to try something to free up homes for those who need them.

Don't do it.

If the council pay you £55k and you accept, then they get a vacant council house that they didn't have before. Presumably they are desperately short of them. It is the cheapest way for them to acquire a council house as they can't build one for that money due to the cost/availability of land. So I can see why they'd offer it to you.

However in your situation, it seems like it's not enough and would take away your security. Other people in similar council houses in your area might be able to take the £55k and put a substantial deposit down on a purchase if they relocated to a cheaper area away from London and that might appeal to them.

55K ??? a basic 2 bed costs £60k+ do they realise that ?

Do you have right to buy OP?

Don't do it.

A three bed home where you live and love and where you have secure emolument in london

Vs

Moving out of london

No contest. There is more to life than being a homeowner (especially when the home owning option means living in a crap house in a really dull boring area with no friends family or employment!!)

Take the £55000 and put it towards buying a 25% share in a shared ownership property that the council has helped you get. I know people who have done this.

£55k will not get the op a 25% share in a three bed house. More likely a 10% share plus £1,000+ rent per month on the rest.

I don't think you could buy a 3 bed house in the north for that much, not in an ok area anyway.
our town is pretty degenerated and a 2 bed terrace is between 70/80k
I think its worth looking further north though, its very nearly there with a small mortgage.

Are you able to negotiate? That's not even enough to put a deposit down on a like for like in the surrouding areas.

puts tin foil hat on

This validates my opinion that they want the "Low earners" and "Great unwashed" out of London to make way for the international rich and powerful.

takes tinfoil hat off

The next family that would move in there if you accepted would have to pay 80% of market rates which i would imagine is considerably more than you pay now for rent, which would be extortinate in NW London. Or it will be sold on to the highest bidder for a hefty sum and no longer used as social housing.

Puts tinfoil hat back on

I picture London in 20 plus years as a great rich utopia with a massive wall around it to keep the peasants out.

You could have any of these

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?searchType=SALE&locationIdentifier=REGION%5E790&insId=1&radius=10.0&minPrice=&maxPrice=50000&minBedrooms=3&maxBedrooms=&displayPropertyType=&maxDaysSinceAdded=&_includeSSTC=on&sortByPriceDescending=&primaryDisplayPropertyType=&secondaryDisplayPropertyType=&oldDisplayPropertyType=&oldPrimaryDisplayPropertyType=&newHome=&auction=false

Yes we have right to buy as have been here for six years

I was at 55k but yes, unless you move out of London it's not worth it.

I wonder how many people have taken up the offer then pissed it up the wall, then what happens? I know they've given up the right to another house but presumably they then need help. How much extra does that cost? That's not taking into account the emotional cost.

A 3-bed house in NW London for £55K! It's an absolute bargain - for the Council. I'd want a damn sight more if it was me.

Agree with aurorablues. I read about social housing tenants unable to use previously communal areas. This is because of apartments being sold next to them at starting price of 1.5 million.

Morethan - I live a quiet street of a slightly mixed, in some places run down ex mining village. A 3 bed in my street can set you back anything from 35K to 95K, depending on condition. There's a lot of very cheap properties because people who have lived here for many decades have died and their house needs work. The last burglary in our street of over 100 houses was 3 years ago, when some lads from another village went on a spree.

It really is possible to live somewhere both cheap and not scary.

Are you a council property Tennant? And they are offering you that amount for free? For nothing?

Flame me as much as you want but I don't think council tenants should have the 'right to buy'. The properties are for social housing, not for the council to sell when they can't then build more homes to replace them.

'Portable discounts' like this were apparently quite common in the 90s. You must be in a high housing pressure area?

There are plenty of homes in the UK, there just aren't any jobs near those homes. If businesses spread about to the regions a bit more we wouldn't have any of these problems.

It just seems like a costly scheme whereas if they left current tenants and used the money earmarked for the grants they could build more homes surely than they would buy back?

They know that, but they are not allowed to build new council houses. You have the right to buy your council house which would be one less house as part of the stock and it would cost what a year to house a family in a 3 bed place privately?

I'm not entirely sure why they're offering you money anyway? As a previous post put it, 55k for nothing?!

£55k towards buying a house of our own and giving back the council house, or alternatively they offer a few thousand to move into private rented.

There are literally no council/housing association properties in this area, there is a massive shortage. Waiting times are years.

In your situation - four children with chronic conditions and health needs, not to mention yours and your DH's health probs - no bloody way! Don't do it!!

P.s. Hope you're all well. :)