Would you buy an ex-council flat in Central London

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We currently live a few streets over from a council estate in London. We love living in this area. It’s good for work, shopping, everything.

We are thinking of buying here. We would only be able to afford a 1 bedroom flat on a ‘posh’ street where we currently live.

If we buy in the estate, we could get a 2 bedroom and be well under budget. The estate seems fine. We haven’t walked through during the night, but we are told some blocks are worse than others. The block we have seen a flat in is on the very very edge of the estate. For example, we could go day to day without ever walking through the estate if we wanted to. But as I say, it seems alright.

We might ‘not fit in’ as we are both working in highly paid professional jobs, and unfortunately there is a lot of deprivation on the estate. But for us it seems perfect as a first home.

Has anyone else bought an ex-la house/flat?

I wouldn't personally.

I'd rather have the smallest house / flat somewhere nice than more space somewhere less nice.

I'd be worried about resale - check how long the flats take to sell compared to your posh street.

I’m a nightmare in a hotel 😂

I would say that even though our block was horrible we had no issues selling. Open day and sealed bids and lots of offers, a lot of people seem not to be bothered.

Good for you but not everyone can afford a house especially in a city like London. Ex local is fine depending on the size and state of the block.

I bought a ex council flat in an estate, the flat, the neighbours and the estate were fine, no real issues. But it was difficult to sell it as people wrongly assume it’s a shit hole with shithole neighbours.

I'd be reluctant. We nearly bought a flat and Southwark were the freeholder. I googled and there are forums (or were) about how bad a freeholder they are.

Personally I wouldn't want to live on an estate but I guess it depends where you are and what the estate is like!

Depends on the estate, but if you already live in the area can you try and get a feel for how it is at night, who lives there etc? We currently live on an estate in Lambeth, have been here for 8 years and it's great. It's all houses, no flats, and every property has a garden so not like the estate you describe, but it's a mixture of private and council, and everyone is lovely. As PP have said too, the bins are emptied loads and there is even an estate allotment.

We had much worse neighbours when we lived in a flat within a victorian house on a beautiful road nearby.

We know loads of people who have lived and do live on estates. No real issues. In London you nearly always get professionals living in ex-council flats. It's not like estates in other places in the UK.

I live on a council estate in a block in a nice area of London. I would buy - however before I did I would speak to those who are already leaseholders and council tenants in the block you're looking at. How nice it is entirely depends on who's there.

Flats are different to houses and not everyone would cope with estate life in one - we have some who've bought in mine who don't get along with everyone else who has a lovely community mindset and looks out for each other because they don't understand that having bought might mean you're paying maintenance charges I'm not but it's giving you no more rights to a parking space, demanding people to be quiet because you work nights or from home in the day etc

If you can cope with lack of control over who's moved in - there will be that neighbour who struggles with their mental health, that family who's kids are louder than yours and sometimes those people who are doing DIY or running the washing machine out of hours and probably someone with a dog you'd rather not meet in the hallway very often and likely a smell of weed from someone's balcony - then estate life especially in London can be extremely supportive and much more of a community than I've experienced living elsewhere

I would ofc leave my property should I win the lottery but I'd be buying right next to my neighbours bc after a decade - I couldn't cope without the security of knowing regardless of the time - if I'm ever in need- they've got my back. We go to each other's funerals, do each other's shopping, and watch out for each other's kids

There's no snobbery towards those who are professionals in my block - only towards those who look down upon those of us who aren't leaseholders for one reason or another and have unrealistic expectations - you have to be able to share

It really depends on the estate.

There is a council estate in the market town we live in, right to buy means many have been sold and the difference to what it’s like compared to 25 years ago is night and day. It’s a perfectly ok place to buy on now. The estate used to be run by two criminal families, they were evicted eventually and it changed the face of it forever. A police officer I knew said they were responsible for about 80% of all local crime.

When you look at crime maps avoid places with lots of anti social behaviour. There is plenty of crime in middle class areas but it tends to be behind closed doors.

We 💯 have crime on our estate. You survive by minding your own business and you honestly wouldn't cope if you were the type to call the police over every group of teens smoking weed or weed dealer or raised voices

Serious crime- like a break in, a stolen car, or violent crime ... you have everyone reporting at the same time, checking on the victims and chasing off the offenders

A close friend of mine bought an ex council flat in Wimbledon a few years ago. She has had no issues at all. I agree with pp that many are now in private ownership and an estate in central London as you describe doesn't sound as if you need worry any more about your neighbours than on a privately owned development.

The Nextdoor app if used in your area is a great place to ask what it's like- the posh houses by us tend to have an opinion that it wouldn't be as nice as it is - but we genuinely know and care about our neighbours, friends of mine who live on the "posh" streets are often surprised by how friendly we are with our neighbours in comparison

It depends really, as others have said.

My first flat was an ex-council place in a low-rise block in Zone 2, just before the area up and came.

• 30-40% cheaper than the equivalent lovely Victorian flat
• HUGE
• So solidly built
• Generally decent maintenance

But

• High service charges (made worse by having a lift in the block)
• Weeing in the lift - just why?
• Some low-level dodgy/criminal behaviour in the parking area
• Plenty of families and households carrying on with their lives, but a few loud jackasses.

Overall I'd do it again.

Can check proportion privately owned with a bit of RM/Land Reg sleuthing.