To buy my housing association home now and not wait for right to buy

[Fulani1989]

I have lived in a housing association home for 6 years. Refurbished houses sell for roughly 130,000. Average semi detached houses in the area sell for over £200,000 as it's not a bad area but my house is on a medium sized (100 houses) council estate which brings down the value.

There's absolutely no way I want to live in this area any longer than I have to. It's okay for now as it's 12 miles from my job.

I have the right to acquire. I requested to know how much the housing association would be willing to sell me the house for. They said it was worth £90,000 and with discount of £9,000 that's £81,000. The reality is that my house is a worth around 110,000-130,000 but HA's tend to under value.

My house is a Council house it was just transferred to a HA 9 years ago. The right to buy is supposed to be extended to HA properties but I've been waiting over a year now and there doesn't seem to be ANY development. I'm starting to believe it's never going to happen.

With the RTB instead I would get a 36% discount and would only pay £57,600! Well, well worth waiting for. I'd be willing to wait a few years to get the discount as the discount gets bigger with each year I'm a tenant.

BUT I don't know if it will ever even happen and I don't want to live in this area indefinitely.

My parents and friends said wait for the Right to buy. But I'm sick of waiting.

Buying my housing association home is my only chance of buying a house. It's the only mortgage any lender is willing to give me because of a less than stellar credit rating from a few years of unemployment.

AIBU to just buy my house now? And just forget the chance of a much better discount?

It's just whether I get a £9,000 or £36,000 a discount.

Hark! Is that the dulcet tones of the world's teeniest 🎻 I can hear?

In your position, I too would buy. Hate the game, not the player, etc, etc.

Hving said that, you have to be one of the least sympathetic posters to post about your "dilemma" in quite some time.

That's nice Maggie bit not everyone is offered their parents house. Are you paying market price?

yeah, we know the ha/council get a shit amount of money to apparently replace stock. you can see how well it works from the huge number of council house/ha stock being built to replace it (sarcasm)

£27 is the average uk salary. Somebody on a high uk salary or even an average salary shouldn't be in a council or HA house. The tax payer pays money to help the poor not the average or higher paid.

I did wonder that pink delight!

Fizbo Yes that used to be the case. But house prices are much higher now and it is very hard to save deposit and pay high rents. It is true that for some people buying their council or HA home is the only way they can buy. 99 percent of people in that position probably would, many on this thread included.

So if a Tory turns a quick profit that's selfish and evil but if 'one of us' , even one of us with a Tory mindset, does it that's ok?

Ok

If op is prepared to live in her house for 5 years then I don't see why she can't improver her credit rating and do this the moral way. It makes me sick that so many people do this, it's so selfish

Posts like these make my blood boil and give people who genuinely need social housing a bad name. RTB should be abolished. It's absolute madness that people who can't afford to buy privately not only can get a huge discount on a social housing property but they can then rent it out and make money from it! Disgusting.

I agree if you're rich you should buy your HA home. However if it's your only chance at buying a home it's not wrong.

That's the way I see it.

33k is a decent salary. But it's not 100k. I'm financially okay. But im by now means rich.

I understand why people don't agree with the RTB. But it's not my fault it's a policy.

I don't agree with RTB but I don't know why people are annoyed about the OP's salary. Do they really expect a single parent to give up an affordable, secure home? I live in a new build HA, we had to have an affordability check before we moved in to make sure we earned enough as a household to be able to pay the rent, and all the homes in my bit have working people in them.

*shouldn't

Clown the only tax payers paying for the properties are tax payers like the op!

How can I rent a housing association property?
Housing associations work with local authorities to meet local housing needs. Most areas operate a central waiting list for all council and housing association properties, although some housing associations do keep their own waiting lists.

Find social housing providers in your area on the Homes & Communities Agency website.
Who is eligible?
Most people who live in the UK are eligible for a council or housing association home. But the fact that a person is eligible for housing does not guarantee an allocation - affordable housing is in short supply in the UK, and there is high demand for the available homes.

How do I apply?
Procedures will vary from one local authority to another, but all local authorities must follow certain rules:

first you must get an application form from the housing department at your local authority or housing association (some are available to download from the relevant website)
your local council may have transferred their homes to a housing association - if so, the council will probably still keep a housing register that acts as a joint waiting list for properties from the council and housing associations in your area.
How do councils and housing associations decide who to house first?
All applications are assessed and prioritised on the applicants' housing needs. 'Reasonable preference' must be given to people who are homeless, living in unsanitary, overcrowded properties or on welfare grounds.

In addition to granting 'reasonable preference', local authorities and housing associations may also grant extra priority on the basis of need, such as:

your medical needs, which may require you to be rehoused
your accommodation was provided as part of your employment, but you have now left your job
you have suffered domestic abuse or racial or sexual harassment in your own home
These are only examples, and may or may not form part of your local allocations policy. You should contact your local council or housing association for a copy of their allocation policy.

You now the ones paying the rent.

Sorry, didn't actually mean to post that whole quote.

It isn't about mass tory investments it is about someone buying their home. A roof over their head. That person will have to maintain it and the council can build new property.

I don't get the big deal. I know a few people who have used rtb and they have all improved their lives because of it and they all remain in the same house. None could have bought on open market or laid private rent. They would still be in their houses if renting. Nothing has changed. However they all work more hours now amd have a stake in something that is theirs. This is what everyone should have. Not a race to the bottom. Why not protest that people should be able to afford a house at a reasonable price?

ThNks everyone.

Unfortunately I have two CCJ to my name. I didn't even know I owed any money. Got the letter through the post!

I've always been sensible with money but I had to go on payment plans 4 years ago because I just couldn't afford to live. I spent years in absolute poverty it was awful.

It's only recently that I become financially comfortable. From now on I will be building a decent credit rating. But it will be 6 years before I could get a mortgage for a private house. I'm a single person so wouldn't get much.

I also have a lot of outgoing due to childcare and commuting costs.

I have only been offered £80,000.

Having a go at the people who use the RTB really is targeting the wrong people.

Buy the house now whilst you have chance. You are doing nothing wrong. Lots of people have a hand onto the housing ladder whether through schemes or parents helping etc. I think some people just prefer to see people 'kept down'. It seems it is your only way to buy a house currently so I would do it now. Too risky to wait for higher discount.

You keep telling yourself that OP. If you can afford private rent why don't you move out and let, for instance, someone stuck in a tower block have that house?

Fuck me. Here I am wasting money paying interest to the bank on a mortgage and funding my own way through life.

How do I get on this gravy train?

Do people really wonder why people are sick of society the way it is and the Cons just won another election. Thank god for May looking to end this nonsense.

The tories are behind the rtb scheme? Don't get your comment.

Your a good reason why social houses should not be for life.