Son & Partner buying first home shld they take a bigger risk

[Alfierabbit]

My son & his partner in mid 20's both have steady decent jobs They have had an offer accepted on an ex council house in our area where most of their estate is privately owned. (The one adjoining is still local auth and has rubbish in front garden)With family contribution and their own they will have a small mortgage. The purchase has dragged on and as time has gone on I have started to worry about re-sale value as this is a starter home for them and they intend to move in about 5 years. Should they have been encouraged to stretch themselves more?. AIBU to have concerns.? I know they are adults and its their decision.

I think it's a relevant point.
Council estate properties don't seem to appreciate as quickly as non council estate properties unless they're in London & happen to be a 10 min walk to a tube station. But it's still better than no property.

UnderTheStairs51 · Today 16:54

Hmm. I live in an ex council house so I am obviously not anti this.
But rubbish in the garden is a red flag. As PP has said, there's rubbish and rubbish.

Rubbish has been there the whole time. Car tyres, suitcase, bin bag, concrete, scooter. They dudn't notice it when they put the offer in

Hmmm it’s a tough one. My parents were always of the opinion to stretch to the max and they always made their money working their way up the property ladder, stretching themselves as they did and finding a way to make it work and building wealth that way. With the mindset of it being an eventual pension if needed and would downsize.

However, I think it’s a lot tougher to do that now. Stamp duty to move up is a huge chunk and jobs are more volatile and mortgage payments extortionate.

I think there’s a lot to be said for sticking to a lesser mortgage payment and the certainty of being able to pay it.
But - from a stamp duty perspective and the fact you really need to settle somewhere for a while to give enough time to make some money on it, I would say they need to make sure it’s somewhere they are happy for the long term. Otherwise it may make sense to stretch a little more for somewhere they would love if there was a downturn and they couldn’t move for a while etc. It’s a balancing act!

I’d say the rubbish is a big red flag. You could knock on neighbours doors and ask what it’s like living around there, and you can also check with the local council about any complaint history regarding these neighbours. I don’t know how, but you definitely can!

My first property was a 3 bed ex council end of terrace. Did not have an issue selling despite council tenants either side and planning granted for a huge housing estate in the field behind..

Well said! Some people have 0 nuance when making judgements and it is tone deaf.

I'm not anti council house at all, I've lived in them myself as a child and an adult, and one of my bugbears is there aren't enough of them. (Personally, i think they should have stayed in council ownership but thats a whole different debate.) But I would have concerns about buying one, mainly flats and/or on large estates.

My concerns are that LAs trend to treat leaseholders like shit. For example, when there's work to be done on the whole estate, the leaseholders have to fund the full price quoted by the council, regardless of whether they want it or being unable to get other quotes. Also at times they choose to demolish the whole estate and the leaseholders have to accept the price thecouncil offer, not the market price. This has happened a lot in London.

My brother bought an ex LA flat in a block. His adult children are currently in it. Apparently there is a big issue with damp/mould and the council have to do some of the corrective work but there is so much issues with it.

I do think that you need to research it thoroughly.