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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

wibu to buy my council house? would you? has anyone?

76 replies

GaryShitpeas · 20/02/2015 09:22

got a letter from the council yesterday offering RTB, i rang the helpline and we are eligible. just not stopped thinking about it since and just wanted to ask advice

pro's

assuming all goes to plan we will have no rent to pay when we are old, something which worries me to death

we will possibly have an asset to leave to our dc

we will be able to extend/alter the house (money permitting)

its a nice house but a shit hole area (recent murder on my actual street) if we buy, we will be able to sell up in five years and move somewhere nicer

I don't want my dc growing up round here its like the Bronx tbh. shit schools, feral kids and teens, burnt out cars and jezza families everywhere (sorry if that offends but its true, I live with it every day)

i want a home for life.....even though we have a secure tenancy here, we will almost certainly have to move anyway when dc leave / we are old due to bedroom tax

cons

dh would have to get the mortgage as I have shit credit and only work a few hours whereas he earns ok money...so he would own it (I think?)

I am dead against the selling off off council homes and would feel I am adding to the problem

the mortgage would actually be higher than the rent by about 100 pcm, more if interest rates rise, we are not high earners and this would be a lot of money to us

we would have to pay for all repairs

I suspect the gas boiler is on the way out so we would almost certainly have to stump up for that within next few years

if dh and I ever split I'd end up back in private rented for the rest of my days as id never get another CH

this has always been mine and my dc home, whilst renting if dh ever fucked off he'd be the one up shit creek whereas me and dc would still have our lovely home

sorry for long post!!

OP posts:
MrsTawdry · 20/02/2015 09:27

YABU. I live in a council house and I would never buy it. I think the rtb has helped arse up social housing good and proper. My sister did and now regrets it as she remortgaged and is now in negative equity. She says she felt safer when it was rented....now she has nightmares over her DH's work being slow and them not affording the mortgage.

Sickoffrozen · 20/02/2015 09:38

Based on your description, I wouldn't buy it.

I would however try and get a move to another area as it sounds horrendous.

mytartanscarf · 20/02/2015 09:40

I would but I am a big believer in owning property.

Mrsjayy · 20/02/2015 09:42

We bought ours years ago I really regret it seeing as now council houses are like hens teeth I know im sounding really poncy but I am do feel bad about it I would sell it back to the council tomorrow if they asked.

adsy · 20/02/2015 09:42

I would buy it. each time you waiver about it just think how you're going to pay your rent when you retire.
Of course, you'll get a load of bollocks that you're making people homeless and you're a bastard capitalist fat cat.

notsogoldenoldie · 20/02/2015 09:57

I'd feel very uncomfortable about it, regardless of whether it suits you. It's not bollocks, either, to deny the effect rtb has had on the housing market. And if your house is not in an area in which you wouldn't otherwise buy, it probably wouldn't be such a great asset anyway, in the long term.

ArcheryAnnie · 20/02/2015 10:00

I am dead against the selling off off council homes and would feel I am adding to the problem

If this is how you feel, regardless of how anyone else feels about RTB, then that's your answer.

creighton · 20/02/2015 10:20

Check the cash discount you will get
Get a mortgage in both your names and put both names on the deeds
Mortgage rates are very low get a fixed rate deal so you know what you will be paying for two, three, five years
Get a mortgage to include funds for the boiler replacement that will be needed
Check how long you need to keep the house before selling on
If your house is neat London you will always make a profit or will be able to rent it out
There is no rush so get advice before you start the buying process

happy2bhomely · 20/02/2015 10:23

We are in a similar situation. The main difference being, we are living in my dream house in a beautiful area.

We have the right to buy our council home. It took 13 years to get this house. Starting with being evicted from a private rental. (Our landlord decided to sell.) We have lived in bed and breakfast emergency housing, temporary accommodation and the top of a high rise on a horrible estate. The day we were offered this house was like winning the lottery.

We live in Outer London. We grew up here. The home we are living in is worth around £380,000. It is 10 times what DH earns. We would get the maximum discount. We have some savings. It would be doable, but tight. The mortgage would be double what we pay in rent.

Everyone we know is telling us we would be mad not to buy it. DH wants to buy it, but I am so confused. This house is in my name. It is my security for me and our kids. One day when we don't need it any more, it will be someone else's dream home. We can raise our children here and then go and buy something small for just me and him. But I love this house. I would hate to ever leave it.

If I was in your situation, I would not buy your house.

SaucyJack · 20/02/2015 10:36

Interesting question. We are seriously considering buying our flat after a thread in here t'other day.

It wouldn't be for the greater good, but it would mean that we could do the work ourselves to get this place into a half-decent state which would improve our quality of life right now.

Is your house in a decent state of repair? That would make me less keen tbh. There's enough benefit in renting a nice SH house as it is.

worldgonecrazy · 20/02/2015 10:37

I would think very hard about it. The house/area you are describing is going to be very hard to sell in 5 years time to anyone but an investment landlord, who will probably be looking to pay about 80 - 90% of what the current "value" of the house is. I have put "value" in inverted commas as the value of a house is what someone is actually willing to pay for it, not what the estate agents tell you it's worth.

So in 5 years time, if you use the worst scenario figures, would you actually be able to purchase a house in a nice area? Don't forget to factor in moving costs - 1 - 2% estate agent fee, a couple of grand for a solicitor, a grand for a moving company.

I have done some very quick figures for a house valued at £150K, maximum discount means you would pay £73K - add a bit for legal fees. So if house prices didn't move for 5 years, then you would have a "profit" of somewhere between £40 and £50K as a deposit for another house. Given that house prices in nice areas are going to rise faster than house prices in grotty areas, is that figure going to be anywhere near enough? You might get lucky and come out with a higher deposit, say £60K, but if a house in a nice area is £200K then you are going to be paying double the mortgage you would be paying on your current home. Of course, if you are good with money, you could save the difference during the 5 years to add to your deposit.

Depending on age, you may also need to factor in availability of mortgage in 5 years time too.

UseHerName · 20/02/2015 10:45

Why don't you save the difference between your rent now and the cost of your potential mortgage plus any repairs for a deposit on a small house in a better area?

Could that work?

Interesting as my parents have just offered to help me but my council house and can't understand why I'm hmmming and hahing about it!

Viviennemary · 20/02/2015 10:51

I would base my decision on this. Would repairs be a problem to pay for. Also are there other owner occupied houses on your road and nearby roads or are they all still council owned. And what kind of area is it in general. And is their a clause whereby you can't sell for a set number of years. All these things have to be taken into consideration as well as affording a mortgage.

bettyboop1970 · 20/02/2015 10:53

Hmm, this a dilema when a council house tenant. I have lived in state housing for 25 years and run the gauntlet of B&B, temporary, shit council flats on horrendous estates, moved county and finally got a house in a good area with good catchment schools.
I would get a big discount, but will not buy on principle.
If me and DP were to be made redundant ( a big possibility due to cuts in social care) at least we will get housing benefit and not left with a mortgage we can' t pay.
We could end up homeless again, and there is no way I could go through that again and we have 2 young DC.

ssd · 20/02/2015 10:55

I'm totally against buying council houses so would say no.

MaCosta · 20/02/2015 10:55

Based on your description it doesn't sound like it would be at all easy to sell in five years. I probably wouldn't

Whereas I think happy2b is crazy not to.

EnlightenedOwl · 20/02/2015 10:57

If it is such a bad area you won't be able to sell it if you buy it now - surely no one would touch it?

PaulaJane37 · 20/02/2015 11:02

I haven't personally bought from the council, but the house I live in was. The tenants bought from the council for 29 grand in 2003, put an extension on.... I bought it in 2009 for 163 grand and had it valued two weeks ago and it's at 179 grand, so looking at it that way, this could be a money maker for you to then sell and buy I a more desirable area. Things like boiler repairs etc. are a drain when they go wrong but I have insurance for most of these things and admittedly a couple of things (windows) do need replaced due to draughts, and I tend to say "well shoes and clothes for DC come first so will have to wait" and therefore the heating bill is getting a bit bigger. But as far as RTB having a bad effect on others, I'm afraid my opinion is my family and their security comes first.

SmileAndNod · 20/02/2015 11:02

In five years time, don't you have to offer it back to the HA / council first - don't they get the first option to buy back from you before you put it on the market?

worksallhours · 20/02/2015 11:07

Hummm ... you got a letter from the council? So your home is still council-owned, rather than housing association-owned?

It is important to clarify this because if your home is still a council asset, the council may have be offering you RTB as part of a liability reduction programme and, if you pass on the offer, they may then sell the home to an HA ... which would make your aversion to selling off council homes a redundant consideration.

The fact of the matter is that most councils do not want to handle housing anymore. Maintenance and administration is a long-term liability, and they would rather get it off the books. This was, in reality, the primary reason for the push behind RTB in the 80s ... councils needed to reduce their debts as they fed into the PSBR (people forget that British public debt was so bad in the 70s, Britain had to go to the IMF for a loan) and one way to do that was to reduce liability and sell off low-income producing assets.

However, my spider senses, based on your post, are swaying to the "don't buy" side. I would not buy a home with a mortgage in an area that I didn't like and didn't want to live in over the medium term, unless it was obvious that the area was going to change for the better (ie. there was some sort of regen scheme going on). There is no guarantee that you will be able to sell later on if the area does not improve, and you could be stuck -- without the option to "swap" your housing through a council house swapping scheme.

I would also look at sold data for your street and area: what prices the properties fetch and how often homes change hands.

mrssnodge · 20/02/2015 11:12

Ive done it and never regretted it-
You dont need a deposit as they take the discount from the council as the deposit, I even borrowed extra on top of mortage to fix the house up- new bathroom/kitchen staircase etc, as the council never done anything in this house - despite others getting everything!

We have 50% equity now, as have done other improvemnts too but we dont intend to sell, we intend to live there so we are happy to spend on improving it.
I bought mine together with DP, after being together 5 yrs, I just reckoned owning half of something is better than owning nothing-!!!
If we were both made redundant- we both work for same company, the redundancy would prob pay off the mortage as we have both worked here for years!
Go for it OP- !!

PrettyGirlsMakeGraves · 20/02/2015 11:14

Maybe save the extra £100pcm for a deposit to buy a house in an area that you feel is better for you?
You said it was in a bad area - like EnlightenedOwl said, do you think people would want to buy it off you if you were to sell?

PtolemysNeedle · 20/02/2015 11:20

Are there any other owned housed in your street that you could look at the value of?

If you think you could sell at a profit, then in your position I'd go for it, but if not, then definitely don't. If it's the sort if area that people won't want to buy in unless it's cheap as chips, then there's no benefit to you.

Home owning is overrated because maintaining a property is not cheap and the cost of insurance and repairs and the like can easily outweigh the benefits of having a secure tenancy.

CountingThePennies · 20/02/2015 11:22

I wouldnt buy it.

If the area is like you say it is then it will be really difficult to sell it.

Whoever is on the mortgage then goes on the deeds. Not on the mortgage? Then you will not be able to go on the deeds.

Adding in everything else you have said, if you bought it then you will be trapped

happy2bhomely · 20/02/2015 11:27

MaCosta Can you explain to me why I would be mad not to. Serious question! I'm not interested in making a profit. I would not stay here for 5 years and then move on. If we buy this house I would want to live here until I die. I love it. We treat it as if it was ours. We look after the garden and decorate it nicely. We have 5dc. We are on the doorstep of the best secondary school in the borough. My son loves it. We are all so happy. The thought of buying it and something going wrong is just terrible.

I was a very young first time mum. I have lived in terrible places, on benefits. DH left school at 14. He now has a job earning more than he ever dreamed he could. Life is about as good as it can get right now. The thought of losing it all Sad

DH works so hard. He complains that I don't have any ambition (he's right). He feels like as soon as people know we live in council, they look down their noses at us. (Again, he's right.) People have even said that they assumed council housing was only for people who don't work. They think we are somehow conning the system. He wants the pride of home ownership. I feel like we should just be satisfied with what we have. Wanting more seems so greedy.