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Original poster

Buying my council flat and another property on the open marketadvice

18 replies

annathomas · 09/01/2019 19:09

Hi people. New to this, me and my husband are looking into buying my 1 bed council flat but at the same time i will be looking into buying a 2bed in the open market at the same time, as we plan on starting a family so need an extra bedroom...

Im wondering if theres anything stoping me from doing this?any laws i do not know off?

i know there is something that you have to pay back some of council discount if you sell in the first 5 years,

thank you
Anna

OP posts:
Alexalee · 09/01/2019 19:17

No idea but morally a bit contentious

RNBrie · 09/01/2019 19:18

If you own two homes you will be charged a higher stamp duty rate on the 2nd one.

Alexalee · 09/01/2019 19:21

You have to pay all of the discount back if you sell in the first year
80% in 2nd year
60% in 3rd year etc
Also have to offer it to the council or social landlord first
Can't see it working for you unless you are going to live in it first for a substantial amount of time

GalacticChickenShit · 09/01/2019 19:25

If you can afford to buy a property at market price, you would be pretty shitty to also buy a property for an overstretched council, at a discount, instead of letting it back into the social housing sector.

Why not approach your council for advice, rather than a completely random parenting forum.

Original poster
annathomas · 09/01/2019 20:07

Well, 'Galactic'.one of the reasons i was given a property from the council was due to me working..
all due respect they went people to pay the rent on time and not trash the place.
blame the system not the tenants.
and there is nothing to say council is only for the poor,

I have approached the council, and still waiting on a reply from them

Dont tell me if someone offered you a 100k discount on something you would turn it down..

OP posts:
Theunsungsong · 09/01/2019 20:16

If you can afford to buy your flat, and another property - is this also in London? You must have a considerable income.

However a one bed ex-council flat will be the first to fall in value if there is a drop in the property market so it might not be that great an investment.

ButterflyWitch · 09/01/2019 20:18
VeniVidiViciTwice · 09/01/2019 20:27

"And there is nothing to say the council is only for the poor"

Social housing is there to offer security to those that may not be able to secure it otherwise.

Social housing is there for people who need it, those can't afford to go buy multiple properties... from what you have written you don't need it (if you can afford to buy two properties why are you even in social housing?) So in my opinion it is a pretty shitty thing to do.

HeadsDownThumbsUpEveryone · 09/01/2019 20:31

Social housing is there to offer security to those that may not be able to secure it otherwise.

This ^^ How would you have felt if instead of being offered a secure tenancy, knowing it was your home for as long as you needed it the council instead had told you tough shit everyone has brought their house and we've none left. You used it when you needed it, the moral thing would be to let others have the chance to do the same.

GalacticChickenShit · 09/01/2019 20:32

Dont tell me if someone offered you a 100k discount on something you would turn it down..

Even with a 100k discount I couldn't afford it, so yeah, I would turn it down.
But yeah... morals... yunno.

Hwory · 09/01/2019 20:34

So you’re either going to buy it and leave it empty or rent it out at a higher cost then a council tenant rate?

Morals of an alley cat.

viques · 09/01/2019 20:35

You would be better off going for one decent sized property than two smaller ones. You might quickly find a two bed a bit of a squeeze if you are starting a family.

If you bought the council property first you would presumably be planning to rent it out, which means at some point changing the mortgage to a buy to let, which I am pretty sure would go down like a ton of bricks if the council found out. And rightly so, the right to buy is not there to set you up with a little property empire.

Theunsungsong · 09/01/2019 20:41

If the OP spent a couple of minutes with Google they would find out all they needed to know. A quick check shows that, yes, it should be possible to let the flat after they have bought it, but need to let the council know.

LuluMelons · 09/01/2019 20:45

But it and let it out?

LuluMelons · 09/01/2019 20:45

Don't think there's any regulations around buying a council flat and then having tenants.

GalacticChickenShit · 09/01/2019 20:45

Theunsungsung
Ah, but why would someone google a question about property buying, when they could instead sign up to a random parenting website and ask the same question?
Unless of course, said person knows how well this would go down and were getting their kicks over the thought of winding folk up.

Theunsungsong · 09/01/2019 20:49

@galactic chicken. Indeed.

LuluMelons · 09/01/2019 20:49

the right to buy is not there to set you up with a little property empire

So you can't buy your council property and then let it out- whilst you live elsewhere, making a profit?

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