Successful bid on council property

[TheTartfulLodger]

Posting for traffic as the housing forum is slow.

Possibly soon not to be a Tartful Lodger but a Tartful Tenant.

Miraculously I was placed in position 1 on a council property the weekend and was still position 1 when bidding closed at midnight. Does anyone have experience with how long it usually takes to be contacted for viewing please? It's Redbridge if that helps?

Yes I know 'why don't you call them, we can't tell you', but you can't because they won't tell you anything and it's possible someone on here can actually tell me because they've been where I am with bidding themselves recently.

The problem is -

A) I'm seeing multiple incidents where people have still not been contacted weeks later,

And

B) My anxiety is through the roof to the point I can't eat and feel sick because In more than 3 years of bidding I've never been in position 1 and this property is my absolute dream come true. It's really everything I dreamt of. I'm frightened to believe this is even happening.

Equal measures of scared and anxious, more so because I made the mistake of getting too invested when I realised nobody was out bidding me and I know I'll be devastated if this doesn't work out 😭

I'm just really unfamiliar with how the system works and don't know what happens if you get to position 1 because they don't really tell you much on the website. Has anyone been bidding on council property lately and got to position 1? Was there a long wait to be invited to view?

I feel so nervous I have to keep running to the loo! Really grateful for any feedback , even the ones telling me to just call them and ask. ☺️

Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable for using two emojis in one post. I'll take that one like a woman.

Title edited by MNHQ on OP's request

good luck = but presumably there are huge variations from one council to another?

I don't know but really wanted to wish you luck!🤞🏻

Thank you. It does vary widely and I know it's a long shot but just wondered if anyone on here maybe lives in my area and went through this. Small chance I know.

I will update anything I hear anyway, even though I'll probably drop my cornflakes all over myself if the phone rings.

Well after a very difficult day yesterday when it initially looked like I would be declined on medical grounds, management have agreed that I can have the property and have asked me to send in my ID documents. I'm in shock 😯

That's great news 🥳

So pleased for you!

Received my formal offer letter and just have to wait for someone to contact me for viewing when the property is ready. Roller coaster week but I'm so happy, I'm also really nervous but the letter makes it all feel so real now.

Wonderful update!

So pleased for you OP

Congratulations. I hope you're very happy in your new home when you finally get moved in.

The kitchen and bathroom have been stripped out and awaiting re filling now. They don't seem to be in any immediate rush but at least I know it's thorough and all new for when I do get to move in. I really wanted to buy a new things for it in B&M the other day 🤣

I understand the B&M urge @TheTartfulLodger 😁 it'll come soon enough

Just updating in case anyone in a similar situation finds this thread.

The wheels are turning very slowly and there's been a bit of an information blackout.

I know that the kitchen and bathroom were stripped out the day after I received the offer but no work appears to have been done since to get the property ready.

I have met the neighbour who is lovely and told me the house is lovely as well as the street and it's a really nice neighbourhood, she also confirmed that no builders have entered the property for a couple of weeks.

A little deflated as I had hoped once I got the offer a team would be dispatched to get it ready for me, but this doesn't seem to be happening and no information is forthcoming.

I know I've got the property so I'm not worried about that but there seems to be a sudden slow down once you win the bidding and receive the offer.

I'll keep updating as things progress to give other people an idea how the process works from bidding to actually moving in.

I have a feeling it will suddenly go from 0 to 100mph without warning and I'll be rushed at the last minute with very little warning but hopefully can measure the wait in weeks rather than months.

Another update, not what I wanted to hear but it may be useful to anyone else dealing with the waiting process after a successful bid.

So a month after the property was formally offered to me no work has been started. Every time I asked for an update there was a wall of silence so I had to push for a response higher up.

It transpires that they discovered an extensive problem with damp and mould in the empty basement below my new flat and also in the kitchen. The reason for the delay was getting approval for the costs involved and they cannot start the work inside until the basement is done.

The rough estimate for when the property will be ready will be a minimum of around 3 months. So I'm stuck as I want the property so will have to wait but I had hoped for a summer move. It now looks like September at the earliest. They are asking me to bear with them while this is sorted out, or if I don't want to wait 3 months I have the option of removing my bid but I don't want to do that because I love the flat, it's perfect and I'll never find anything this perfect again.

It's far better than finding out after I moved in but at least I will know a significant amount was spent on the issue before I moved in. I do have a dehumidifier anyway so already have a solution if there is going to be condensation although the previous tenant had covered the extractor fans in plastic to stop air flow so may not have realised the basement was the problem and inadvertently exacerbated the problem in the flat itself.

I'm sorry to hear about the delay @TheTartfulLodger Hopefully you'll get to settle into your new home in September

Thanks. I'm trying to look at this as a positive of sorts as now have a rough idea what is happening I don't feel so worried about the lack of progress. It kind of makes sense because as soon as the kitchen was removed all work suddenly stopped. Maybe that was when they realised there was a problem.

Friend of mine came up at No 1 on the bidding on a 2 bed bungalow in June 2023, and she got contacted by the social housing landlord a week later asking her if she definitely wanted it. Got her official offer letter 2 weeks later. The bungalow had had the same tenant for 30 years and was a wreck. Needed new EVERYTHING. Bathroom, kitchen, doors, windows, gas central heating system, radiators, electrics, the works.

Was 5 MONTHS before she moved in. She also kept getting jittery, and worrying about if the offer would be retracted, and she was a nervous wreck. The tenancy was up on her private let property too in the July, and she had to beg them to go onto a monthly rolling tenancy. (Which they did.) She got a WEEK'S notice to move in to the new property/start the new tenancy. She signed up, then she gave a month's notice (in the November.) Was paying 2 lots of rent for 3 weeks, but it gave her a few weeks to move.

Congratulations on your new home @TheTartfulLodger Hope you will be happy there!

Congratulations, the 3months will go quickly. Why did they nearly decline you on medical grounds? I didn't think they could do that?

i would hold on .. sounds perfect . You will be in this home a long time so waiting is awful but time will pass

@TheTartfulLodger

One thing that does annoy me (with your case AND my friend's,) is if they know that a place has gone to shit, and needs to be updated/modernised/have everything replaced and renewed, why don't they wait til it's fit for habitation before putting it up for people to bid on?

Having someone bid, and get the property, and then making them wait and wait for months and months (with no date of when they can move in,) along with all the big, long, fortnight-long silences, is a bit annoying, and very stressful for the tenant.

I had an assessment by social services who said I needed level access as I've had lots of surgery on my pelvis and lower back. This house was on a slope so they built a few steps at the front but the rear access (where the flat is) is on level ground, so at first they said I might not be able to have it because of the steps but a manager stepped in and said as long as I have level access through the rear doors it was fine.

It's not just that, you are also not allowed to bid anymore if you have an active offer so those months you have to wait could mean somewhere even better slips by and you're not allowed to bid on it. I totally get that it might take a while to get the place ready but by the time a month went by and they still hadn't even started it was obvious something wasn't quite right. That's why I started asking questions in the end. If it needs extensive work like this I think they could at least communicate it early on, but it's just radio silence.

It is in their interests to get you moved in as soon as possible - they will be monitored on how long properties are empty, and obviously are losing rent in that time. 3-5 months is a lot - maybe they need a specialist contractor or it needs to dry out.

The lack of communication sounds really frustrating. I suppose being social housing they don't have the same commercial pressure to keep you updated, as there is no lack of people wanting properties, but it's not great.

Congratulations on getting your dream property. You go and do your B&M shopping - it's like buying a cute baby outfit after your first scan!

Ahh such exciting news OP. Congratulations on your new home! It must be frustrating dealing with the hold ups but I promise it’ll be worth the wait 😊

I've already been to B&M and seen a lovely chopping board for the kitchen 😂

You would think they were losing money leaving it empty, I think it would be different privately as there would be more money involved probably. I don't even mind that much now I know what is happening. It's just the not knowing anything this last month when they clearly knew there was a problem. Still I suppose they are aware I know and have started to question it so hopefully now there's more incentive. I remember the council tenant next door died last year and the place was left empty for 2 months before any work even started to get it ready to let again.

Well, on Friday I popped round and noticed that the builders waste that was in the living room had disappeared. I think the workmen have been inside the property so am hopeful this could be the start of work commencing at last.