Would you buy this ex LA flat?

[Sssloou]

It’s in a detached modern well built block of 7 flats with underground parking in a beautiful village (25 min fast train to London a 20 min walk). It was built in 2008 and has recently had an interior and exterior refresh.

It looks like there are only 2 flats in the block that have used the right to buy and bought from the council.

The flat is the only property on the top floor.

There is a similar block nearby (gated development) all privately owned.

What issues (if any) would there be in living there and selling it on?

What % reduction would you think appropriate in the LA block compared to the private block next door like for like?

I think the issues with these kind of properties is that if there are repairs you can be hit with a big bill that cannot be negotiated on. Not sure if this is taken into account with a maintenance charge or not.

Yes I have read some horror stories about that. I think that there is v minimal maintenance charge (£2k / pa LESS than private equivalent) - so i suppose that you could ear mark that amount to save towards bills.

Also this block is only 2 storey with 3 flats in ground floor and 3 on first floor with thus one private flat in the roof space alone - so no lift and recently built so hoping no major / massive maintenance costs?

But I have read that as you say there is no opportunity to negotiate etc.

It's worth talking to the council about how any maintenance charges are split and asking the owner to see previous years bills to give you an idea.

In a similar block in my LA everything was added to one list and split, even if not every benefits from the work. So for example they replace the front doors on the 6 LA owned flats but not on the 2 privately owned flats the bill was split between the 8 flats. Same when one flat broke a window and it had to be replaced it was split between all 8 flats.

The charges for small things is huge, about 5-10x's what you could do it for privately.

I would look very carefully at the state of the block including cleanliness. Between selling and buying we rented a flat in an LA owned building. They never maintained or cleaned the communal areas or looked after the garden. It was truly shocking. 2 out of the 5 flats were privately owned but both rented out. Both owners have tried to sell a few times in the past (judging by rightmove) and have failed to do so. But I guess it also depends on your council. I would try and speak to some of the other people on the block and ask about maintenance and service charges.

Check when the every 5 year big maintenance was carried out...and as mentioned council contractors seem to charge huge amounts for work and not often done very well.

Put right off now .... ! Too much uncertainty - thx

ok...you can challenge large bills if enough people group together...i have 2 friends with ex la flats...one is happy and low charges...the other not happy with charges and the quality of works etc....maybe investigate a little more before you write it off.

As a private owner, I would discount ex- local authority flats, unless you have a huge amount of savings or family assistance, as you can suddenly be saddled with an enormous bill for improvements. They fleece the leaseholders- the tenants don’t have to contribute a penny extra! It’s a total rip-off! A colleague had to pay £40k towards the refurbishment of her tower block in zone 2, about 10 years ago, but fortunately had parental support - if not, she would’ve lost the property.

Personally I would avoid buying ex-LA if you can afford a private block in the same area. I say this as someone who lived in a council flat for years and went on to buy under RTB (but sold once the five year wait for repaying discount was up). Partly because of possibility for high leaseholder bills and major works, bureacracy with the freeholders for any changes you want to make, and because there is a higher chance of having problematic neighbours moving in, and harder to get them evicted from a council tenancy if they cause problems. It's just not worth the extra hassle if you can manage to find a flat without the potential for all those problems.

Thx even more put off now ! Shocking stories - def no slack for sucking up tens of thousands of pounds and what’s the point if that’s even more than the slightly lower price.

It’s scandalous that LA pay so much more for works and then land it on the owners.

eaglemoss, you make many valid points. However, it’s also very difficult to get private tenants evicted. At least with social housing, you can contact the landlord. With anti-social private tenants, the landlord is often abroad & difficult to trace, which is even more problematic.