To get your opinions on my mutual exchange

[Changednameadviceneededxx]

I know there are a few of you against the right to buy. I understand but really just need your advice.

I've done a name change as this is very outing but really needed advice.

I live in an area of London I'm not happy in. Zone 5. It's a 2 bed house with a garden. Owned by the council with full right to buy.

I've been on homeswapper and found someone to swap with.

they have a 2nd floor period flat just outside of zone 1.

It's nice, good enough for my small family, but its not perfect being on 2nd floor. However for the location and proximity to central London, it's good.

The thing is, as its a period flat, I suspect that there is no right to buy, given that the housing association probably owned it before 1997.

I am nowhere near ready to buy and doubt I will ever be.

But

I'm wondering whether I'm making a huge mistake giving up my right to buy.

I could justify losing a house and a garden (even though i know that most would move OUT of london, not further in. Me, I want to be as close to zone 1 as possible.

But losing the right to buy, sounds a step too far.

What would you do?

Do you or someone you know have an experience of this?

Yabu - move
Yanbu - stay and wait for a better match on honeswapper with rtb

Thanks

This was my thinking, I thought 'I'm offering a two bed house with garden (needs work), surely people will jump at this'

So far it's been crickets 😭

Well a couple but the flats weren't right for me 🥺

One had a kitchen/living room which was tiny

The other just wasn't as good as this one I'm considering

As far as I understand the right to buy has nothing to do with the property. If the current tenant has the right to buy, you inherite it from them, as they will inherite yours. If they have always been a HA tenant, they won't have it, but if they were transfered to a HA from a council, ie the council sold off properties they should have deferred right to buy, so you will get that.

As you talk about period features, i guess you are not talking about a tower block of any kind ?

and actually once upon a time yes someone from the ( old ) worlds end estate at the bottom of Kings Road, Chelsea SW10 would have moved out to your house with garden !
I say ' old ' as I suspect it's all been redeveloped by now, and probably private housing rather than social housing - tho street maps show me there is still what I would call tower blocks.

Yeah it's a flat in a victorian house conversion - tall victorian building with 3 flats

I'm not looking for a tower block tbh - no judgement, I just want that period home if I'm gonna do this

I've tried those beautiful council blocks in Central London, the available flats said wrong area

For my current area, think the worst part of Croydon for example

I have emailed them

Apparently there's no right to acquire if the ha has had the property since before 1997, which is what i think has happened here x

No I wouldn't live in any high rise building by choice. but then i don't do heights.

I do do Victorian.

can you go back for a 2nd viewing at a different time - just to check noise levels as you say it's a conversion.

and ask tactfully what the neighbours are like ? would you be the top flat i.e. no noise above you

This.

I met the ground floor neighbours

Seem nice, kinda hippyish but friendly. Due to autistic dcs, I dont mind friendly

Same, no point in giving up a home for a tall building

I went in the evening for the visit, and then during the day to view the area. I'm confident that, whilst not chelsea, it's a decent area

We're top floor. They've said that there have been no noise issues with the downstairs neighbours but I grew up in a flat so feel comfortable that as long as I get good underlay and carpet, we will be okay

I mean, I can’t imagine anyone in Chelsea/Westminster doing the swap. Flats in C&W are like gold dust, even in Worlds End, unless it’s a studio…..good luck OP!

😭😭😭😭😭 I think I've got to go for it

The rtb has thrown me but I'm still bloody lucky to have got this flat

Just nerves I think

Thank you for the advice everyone.

I'm unlikely to ever buy

The flat is okay, just needs completely doing up, which I will do (gonna make a tiktok account 🤭)

If I swapped down the line, it wouldn't be for ages anyway. And it's all hypotheticals. There is a real life flat here for me That gets me out of my current area and into zone 2

The house I'm in now is lovely but I don't want to wait here for however long it takes to swap, when the opportunity is here now, just thinking, what if I'd moved

I'm gonna go for it. It's a great match, the woman and I want eachothers places.

Thanks everyone, given my head a wobble and I'm thinking clearly, thanks to mumsnet. It's saved me a few times now 😄🥰

Honestly, id never buy a maisonette or flat attached to a housing association or council due to extortionate service charges.

Also. No a dig. But you have right to acquire, not right to buy, right to buy is discounted up to £140k.

will you let us know how you get on ?

Just seen your update, good luck op, hope it goes well.

Of course, thank you for helping me sort my thoughts! 🥰

Me neither 😄😄

I dunno i just panicked I think, getting myself all twisted about the future. I'm hopefully getting out of this town i grew up in, that's the main thing

Agree, I've only been a council tenant for a few years so have the minimum rtb anyway, and then right to acquire is a max of 16k and min of 8k - not something that should concern me at all 🤭🤭

Thank you, me too 🥺 - will defo come back and update the thread if all goes well x

@Changednameadviceneededxx what gets you thinking you're so entitled? Zone 1 to boot.

I wasn't thinking clearly, that's all. I don't feel entitled but do think my home is a lovely one for someone who wants to leave the city.

Go with your gut instinct, how long do you have to think about it?

what area is it? For example - if it’s Stockwell, it would be a lot harder to do a swap than say Lambeth or Kennington….

This! The service charges and maintenance are ridiculously high, as those in charge of procurement have no skin in it, the cost just goes higher and higher…..have a friend that is desperate to sell before he gets landed with a massive maintenance bill!

Even standard service charge is so much higher than my Chelsea, not LA, flat! Albeit he does get heating, but no sinking fund!

Is that 1hr10 EACH WAY??
Would you be planning to go home during the school day? That leaves you probably a maximum of 4 hours at home, likely less. Having done a school run of that length there is absolutely no way I would be choosing to do it again. That was 10 years ago and the cost was crippling, I spent the day in my car with a book most days just to save on fuel.

I thought the same - that school commute is insane. No way would I do that.

I think if you're in the worst part of Croydon and want to live in a period flat in central London then you've really gotta bite this person's hand off because there's no real chance for most people to make that move without some big windfall which isn't coming, so the rtb isn't as big a deal as you're making it here. I don't understand why you wouldn't move the kids to more local schools, if I've read that properly that you're going to keep going back to their current schools in Croydon. At least put them on local waiting lists. But move wise, it sounds like where you want to live or as close as you're likely to get without a lottery win so go for it.

You can't do a school commute of an hour ten every day long term.

Personally I do not agree with right to buy, there is in excess of a million people in need of a home, local authorities need to stop selling off their stock.
Thankfully Scotland stopped it 9 years ago and are building new SH.