To keep our council property when we can technically buy?

[HungaryForLove]

Hi all,

My partner and I are TTC and thinking about our future. Ideally, after I have a baby I only want to work maximum 2 days weekly so I can be around for our kids, and also save on childcare costs. Partner earns about £35k/year before tax/pension, and we have around £16k in savings. We wouldn’t be claiming UC, just child benefit.

We currently live in a council house that my partner grew up in — he inherited it when his mum moved abroad. It’s a 3-bedroom house. Rent is £480/month. The estate is fine, some people are bit rough around the edges but they never give us any trouble and there’s actually a nice community. I regularly walk to the local shop at night and never feel unsafe. It’s full of young families.

The alternative is buying a 3-bedroom house (we need 3 bed as want 2 DC and I often WFH), which seems to start around £160,000 here and with the 10% deposit of £16,000 our savings would go back down to £0 with no buffer for house maintenance, car issues, maternity leave etc. Also with a 30-year mortgage (we’d need 30 years to be able to afford the monthly payments) at 4.35% interest, I’d realistically need to work 4–5 days a week just to cover costs. I am currently only earning £26,000 full-time. Working so many days would mean barely seeing our kids and only taking home less than £1000 anyway after childcare, and that’s with taking into account the 30 free hours as you still end up paying hundreds a month anyway (I know this from my sister who uses our local nursery 4 days a week for her son who is soon changing to 2 days as she will pay nothing then).

If we stay in the council house, we could comfortably manage on one full-time income and one very part-time income and retain over £10,000 in savings (that would otherwise go on house deposit) to get us through maternity leaves etc, and the a portion of the money we’d otherwise spend on mortgage interest we would invest. Even considering rent going up a few percent per year, we’d still be much more comfortable.

So, AIBU for wanting to stay put in our inherited council house for now, even though we could technically afford to buy? I’m not saying we would stay forever but at least until the expensive childcare years are over, and maybe by then mortgage rates will have become more reasonable and I could go back to working full-time and we’d only be paying wrap-around care.

I do appreciate we are in a fortunate position to be even able to make this choice. Me and DP did grow up in severe poverty, I had alcoholic gambling addict parents and DP is originally from a very deprived country which his DM has moved back to and neither of us will inherit anything. Just to add context.

I think many people get jealous when they hear of others living in council housing which is generally cheaper rent. No one on here is able to pick exactly who would move into the property so can’t determine who would be more deserving.

If was me i would consider what would happen if something happened to your partner as from my understanding succession of a council tenancy can only happen once after original tenant died or left. So i would look into option to buy it or if not save like mad to buy a property so that you and your children always have a home. My knowledge of council tenancy’s isn’t great tho never had one. But my reason for buying was because i wanted my children to always have a home or if older and i died they would get a split of it.

You obviously have very privileged friends and family then if you don't know anyone who rents.Seeing as around 40% of the population do it's not that unusual

@Poms agree this not real at all

I would prioritise getting out of accomodation that’s dependent on the government allowing you to have it. That’s a very precarious situation in which to raise children. I would not subject my children to the uncertainty unless I had no choice. Part of being a parent is being financially responsible for your children.

Being in a position to buy a home is very privileged. I wouldn’t ignore that privilege I’d want to use it to give my children better security.

Everyone is short of money and has to compromise on home size and area when they first buy a home. Your buying power won’t increase with years of part time work and extra expenses, and house prices will continue to rise. You may be out of the market forever if you miss this chance.

I could not do that to my children and their security when you have better options.

", I can rent it out and buy an additional property. I

The irony that you need other people to rent from you ?

I was simply demonstrating that home ownership gives you options that renting doesn’t.

And that it is better to have those options, than to not have those options.

I think the OP should buy a property now, as opposed to continued renting.

I don’t need anyone to rent from me. I’m not a landlord. I don’t want to be. I don’t need to be. But the option exists for me nonetheless.

OP, keep the house and the security it brings while continuing to save steadily.

Surely being in private rented accomodation is more precautions. I think most council tenants have lifetime tenancies so as long as they pay the rent and behave themselves they are in a very secure position. Even if you own a house and can't afford the mortgage you can get kicked out whereas I. A council property you can get housing benefit if you lose job etc

Not sure why you think this

Thank you everyone who gave useful responses.

Having considered it, we are going to look to buy our current house under the right to acquire scheme. We hadn’t been aware before that the £9000 discount we can get can go towards the deposit and that has been a game changer. The property would be worth about £125,000 after the discount so the monthly payments would be manageable (only about £100 more than we pay in rent, which would mean it’d be still manageable to go PT after I have a baby). We had a preliminary call with a mortgage advisor who is confident they could find us a mortgage where we’d only need a maximum of £5000 deposit (likely to be even less), which would leave us with over £10,000 left in savings. Not to mention not having to pay for a removal man etc

We originally thought we’d need the full 10% deposit and were reluctant because whilst the house does the job, the kitchen is falling apart needs a full replacement and we were once again worried about not having any savings left afterwards. But if we can purchase this and use the discount towards our deposit we can be left with a decent amount of savings left to do the kitchen, spruce up the bathroom etc.

I know it’s taking a much-needed council property off the market and I’ve felt bad about that but at the end of the day it’s not our job to do the governments job for them. If the option is there we may as well take it. Me and my partner will never inherit a house or any money and when my parents pass I will need to find provision for my autistic sibling (who will never live independently) which is likely to wipe out any money my parents leave. If neither us can expect a windfall in the future, we should take this opportunity now.

We also wouldn’t need to worry about awkward sellers…being gazumped…moving in and finding they’ve hidden a load of mold under a false wall etc. we know exactly what to expect with this house

You should speak to a mortgage broker. There are mortgages available for first time buyers with 5% or no deposits. They will also be able to tell you exactly what you can borrow and how much it will cost per month, might be less than you think