Would you live in an ex-council house if it meant being mortgage free?

[huffpuff75]

Just wondering what other people's perspective is on this. Basically my question is as above, ex-council house on a small estate in a desirable (to us anyway) rural village, with very good primary school nearby, good but not outstanding secondary, large garden, much larger house than we would get for the same money in non ex LA properties. There are a handful of properties fitting that description available in our two target villages, some we'd be completely mortgage free, others would require a small mortgage. Thanks for reading!

Council did sod all when my parents were threatened and harrassed by the neighbours. The whole process of eviction for nuisance is long, hard and difficult to prove.

My current house is ex council. We modernised it for minimal cost and it went up by value of 20k in one year. Front and back garden, 3 double bedrooms etc...

2 ex council houses for sale in my mum's village have just been bought back by the council. Possible due to their being only about 10 council houses left out of an original 100.

I wish they would buy mum's neighbours house as they are 2 semi-detached very individual wooden houses. Beautiful with large rooms, built in the 1940's so have downstairs loos, a coal shed and a shed and a back kitchen built onto the house. Mums has just been modernised with a new roof, central heating and a new wood skin. Next door can't afford all that so no-one is willing to shell out £150,000 plus £100,000 in essential improvements. It has been empty now for about 6 years and he won't rent it out because he won't know who is living in his house. If it was big enough for us we would move there.

Definitely - in a village close to where we used to live the ex LA house go for £350k because of the desirability of the village. We couldn't afford to live there council house or not.

In a word, yes! My mum's house is ex-council. It's a really great house - built to last and in a nice private street close to the school I went to. I would happily live in it (again!)

We have lived in an ex council house for the past 20 years, loved it, big rooms, big gardens rural views, in a National park, next door to local primary school. BUT we want to move but can't sell it because it has a 3 year residency clause and any potential buyers can't find a lender to give them a mortgage. We aren't asking over the odds, infact 4 beds and a garage else where in the area would be £100 000 more. We want to sell to other locals which is the point of the clause but now we are stuck here with a house which is unsellable. A self defeating covenant and banks with lots of money but will take no risks.

before our current house, either could either go for a new build, with one decent double bedroom and a box room and a psotage stamp garden, or an ex-council with solid walls, 2 double bedrooms and a long garden. It was a no-brainer. Really well built with loads of space.

I live in a nice 1930s end terrace with a decent garden in one of the nicest areas of my city, in the catchment area for excellent schools, with nice shops nearby. The other houses are a mix of privately owned, council owned and sheltered accommodation for the elderly. In the same area, for a similar price, the main alternative would be a small terrace with a courtyard and tiny galley kitchen and yearly rotation of noisy student neighbours. I don't think that selling would be a problem given the number of estate agents who regularly approach us to try and sell our house.

When I was really ill about 12 years ago we sold our house so that dp could give up work to look after me for 2 years and bought an ex LA flat. One of the nicest places I have lived lovely neighbours and really good experience all round.

Have a look at ex-council.com

My ex LA 1920s 4 bed semi, huge plot, lovely views, lovely village, wood burner etc etc. What's not to like!

Depends - I don't think it is possible to generalise. I only ever considered one, semi detached on an estate of bungalows on outskirts of London. I had almost decided to go ahead when the neighbours appeared, along with their pack of dogs ... not sure which od two was scarier but I never went back.