DP doesn't want to buy an ex-council flat

[relpee]

There is a council estate near to where we currently live in Central London. It's nice enough and is literally 5 minutes from where we currently rent.

We live on 'posh street' where a one bedroom flat is about £600k.
On the council estate a two bedroom flat is about £550k.

I want to just get on the ladder. In a couple of years time we should be able to afford something more expensive/nicer. But I think if we buy something cheaper that we won't immediately outgrow, it will help 'ground us' so we don't feel beholden to our high stress (and high paying) city jobs.

But DP says he will not buy on a council estate. What will people think of him? He didn't go to Cambridge to only afford an ex-council flat.

Dear oh dear

We owned a council flat in London - pros were that it was spacious, and service charges were reasonable. But honestly - there was a lot of issues with neighbours in our building and on the estate. All night parties, fly tipping, dogs barking, etc. I’m not being snobby, just honest. You’re unlikely to make any profit on one - we only did as we did a full renovation, and even then it only repaid what we spent.

I wouldn’t buy an ex council flat either.

The council will see you as a cash cow whenever repairs need to be done and if and when they decide to “regenerate” the estate you can get a low ball offer for compulsory purchase.

This.

I bought an ex council flat as my first property and am also a Cambridge graduate. It was all fine until the major works bills for leaseholders started flooding in. That would be the major thing I'd say to look out for. The rest is just his snobbery.

It’s like goady bingo , Cambridge and counci;
all we needed was the op to throw in some fat jibes and we’d have house..

My dd has got one, in London, it's spacious. the grounds are well kept the neighbours are lovely, the service charge is reasonable and spent on renovations and upkeep. The lifts are new and working and clean.
I'm impressed with it. The area is unlikely to gentrify as there are very few owner occupiers.

No no, she needed to say chav and it would have been a house 🤣

If it's leasehold, as most flats are: I wouldn't buy it, regardless of whether it's ex council or not.
I'd stay away from anything leasehold as so many people I know have had so many leaseholder problems.

Don't as the poster mentioned the neighbours - it can be a nightmare.

We owned an ex council flat in central London and wouldn’t do it again. The council absolutely fleeces you for leaseholder works and any works are generally done to a very poor standard. No real issues with neighbours.

I wouldn’t buy a council flat again.

I’ve owned an ex-housing association flat, an ex-council flat, and completely private sector flats and houses. I’ve also rented both ex-council and private.

The pros are that you get good value for your money and they can be quite spacious.

My experience of it was:

Most of the neighbours were absolutely fine, but there were some problematic and disruptive neighbours. You can complain to the council if their tenants are being really disruptive and they’ll be pretty robust if it’s a persistent problem.

I pretty quickly had to pay significant contributions to stuff I had no control over (eg security entry system, communal hot water system). The difference in private sector with common areas is that you’ll often have a say or a vote.

It was difficult to sell my ex-council flat despite its great London location, and I lost money on it when you factor in my renovations. My ex housing association flat sold quickly in a competitive process and I made more out of it - largely due to economic cycle timings but the property was also more similar to private sector than council in many ways.

The difficulty selling, the cost of ownership vs ability to increase equity, and the higher incidence of problem neighbours all combine to put me off doing it again.

I think she was trying to be subtle.

PS to add: a black cab driver once commented that every time he came to my council estate he thought how nice it was, clean and tidy etc, one of the nicest in London - I still wouldn’t buy there again.

I don't think it worked, all I got was her husband is a stuck up snob😆

Yeh and why juxtapose council flat with having been to Cambridge

Trying to show just how far away from his usual haunts it is🤣

I know, I was being sarcastic! 😂

Sorry, lack of sleep 🤣🤣🤣

Oh wow. Where is that? DS is currently looking to buy in London. As a FTB, he's likely to only be able to afford ex-council, and I've been worried, as PP have warned, about crazy renovation bills form the council, and anti-social neighbours.

Would you PM me the name of the estate?

Ridiculous to let such snobbery and perceived entitlement cost you more for a home but crack on I guess

Ex-LA house, no problem. But a flat? No - because when I did live in one, I saw the owner-occupiers absolutely crucified financially because of an 'improvement' programme.

They had to have their existing, privately purchased central heating systems torn out and replaced with far lower specification ones, bathrooms and kitchens replaced with the cheapest possible ones that you could get from B&Q/Wickes (and no replacement shower for the resident who needed one instead of a tiny bath), built in ovens and hobs removed in favour of a gap to put a freestanding cooker, their perfectly fine windows replaced and on top of the damage done to their decoration, carpets and kitchens/bathroom tiling (replacement was two lines of the cheapest white tiles) and the frankly piss-poor installation work of the contractors, they then got hit for not just full market value for those works, they received a separate fifteen grand bill for a 'share' of roof repairs on another part of the block.

he is a snob, and cutting off his nose to spite his face

He might be a snob, I don’t know, but he’s not cutting off his nose to spite his face. Have you read the actual experiences on this thread? Ex-council flat ownership is not a good economic choice.

My first house was a post war built ex-council. It was spacious, solidly built and well maintained with a big garden. We made a fair profit when we sold, having lived in it for 5 years, but still not as much if it had been a private build. If you want a long term home, then the money aspect is not so important, but if you are thinking to flip it for a profit in a couple of years then its probably not such a good investment.