Council buying private property and renting it back to you?

[myotherusernameisbetter]

Does anyone have any knowledge of such a scheme? I can't find any info on it on council websites, but I know for a fact they have done it - well, I know they have bought a private house and the occupants are still living in it so I presume that they are paying rent.

Falkirk will buy back former council properties in some circumstances. Presumably other councils may do the same?

Thanks for that. I'll have a look at it but the property I know it was done with is a 4 bed "new build" in a private estate. It all seems very odd to me.

Or there's the Mortgage Rescue Scheme for some.

Private companies do it too but obv you lose the security of tenure you get from the council.

But yes, a new-build seems unusual. Are you sure it was the Council?

My friend ( England) was going to have her home repossessed. The HA purchased it and rented it back to her. It was a privately owned home not a previous HA property.

Ah that was looking really likely till I got to the very bottom and it says "The Council does not purchase your property."

Absolutely certain is was the Council. It was detailed on one of the house price websites though was subsequently removed and the council are there regularly doing repairs.

Could it be through shared ownership? www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/right-to-buy-scotland (scroll to bottom of page)

It sounds like the buy back scheme is to increase the stock of council housing, rather than prevent homelessness by allowing the occupant to become a tenant.

The mortgage rescue scheme usually involves housing associations. Tbh I didn't know it was still operational. Property would not need to be ex-council to be eligible.

Don't think shared ownership would apply either.

This was a private home bought about 8 years ago. Not brand new but a could of years old - bought privately at market value.

I believe the owners may have been in financial difficulty (collapsed private business) though both of the couple do now work.

House was definitely bought by the council about a year ago, council vans have been here doing repairs, family continue to live in the house. 4 bed house, 2 DC, eldest now 18/19, younger 13 and boarding at private school (believe on sporting scholarship). I thought that they had maybe had to shed equity in order to qualify for the scholarship but had no idea why the council would buy a 4 bed house in a private estate and continue to rent it (presumably) to the existing occupants. I'm not really sure if I think that is a good use of my council tax tbh. They could probably have bought back 2 or 3 ex council properties and housed more people.

I didn't think councils were able to do this, (or would see it as a good use of resources). However Scotland maybe different to England, and my knowledge is out of date. If you were concerned you could probably put in a good request to see if the council had purchased any properties for this purpose.

Nb, I have just found out that Scotland is ending rtb, which is excellent news but doesn't seem to have been much publicised.

FOI request - fucking auto correct!

Mortgage to rent scheme?scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/mortgage_arrears/mortgage_to_rent_scheme

My friend done this recently actually. South Lanarkshire council had offered to buy it but she got a better price fromt he local housing association and financial advisor siad that was better. She did still have like a 12k shortfall which she is having to pay herself whilst also paying rent. But it saved her house getting repossesed (sp) sos he is happy for now :)

Thanks Grief, I agree that I didn't think councils were able to do this either and it has really been niggling at me and I have to keep justifying to myself that it is neither just nosiness or sour grapes and that I genuinely don't think it is a good use of council resource. Yes, obviously if they had had the house repossessed they would have been homeless and the council would have had to find them somewhere else to live, but for the amount the property cost they could have housed them and another family at least - obviously maybe not on as nice an estate though. They are also under-occupying.

The fact that they are currently driving round in a brand new jag has nothing to do with my renewed interest in finding out how they have managed to do this at all! :o

They are honestly the type of people that could fall in the river and come up with fish in their pockets.

Thanks for the link itsallgoingtobefine - it must be that then. the previous link about the same thing said that councils couldn't be involved, it would have to be a housing association etc but this one says councils do it too.

I did hear something about rtb on the radio a few months ago grief. Interestingly the scheme linked to by itsall does mention possibly being eligible to re-buy the property under rtb after renting for 5 years - presumably getting a tenant discount - but presume that wont apply it rtb is scrapped.

I'm sceptical about the "sports scholarship". It is possible to get some assistance with school fees but it rarely covers anything near the whole fees (about 10% is the norm). I've never heard of anyone getting a full 100% for sporting ability.

You do know that information about who owns a house, when they bought it and for how much and whether there is a mortgage over it is available at a very small cost from Registers of Scotland?

This house will probably be on the Land Register rather than the old Sasine Register and one issue with the Land Register is the immediately available information is just the current owner (the Sasine Register gives the history of ownership) but if it really bothers you can for an additional fee go behind the Land Register for the ownership history.

tbf the child is very talented - probably will be playing for the country in the future. I know they applied to loads of schools but struggled as he failed all the academic tests.

The school does say that scholarships are up to 20% but that bursaries can be up to 100% - at £10k a term for a boarder that's a hefty whack of assistance.

Thanks Alass - now that I have seen the info, it all seems above board so I will stop wondering how they managed it now - it may not be the best use of council resources in my eyes but it doesn't look like they have done anything dodgy, just taken advantage of what was available.

I'm not sure if I understand exactly what this thread is about and the example given by OP seems strange. How do you know the financial details of this house and the family.

However what I am sure about is that there is a huge shortage of council property, or HA property (as most councils contracted out their housing stock to HAs) SO in order to meet their statutory obligations to house homeless people who are unintentionally homeless and in priority need, they have no option but to either buy private properties and rent them to tenants, or put tenants in private rented properties. They usually buy properties in the cheapest areas and tenants have to move to wherever there is a property available (especially if you live in London as this is being "socially cleansed") and this is much cheaper for the council than putting tenants in private rented property because they have to pay the landlord the "going rate" for the property, which is usually extortionate. I resent my taxes going to line the pockets of these property owning landlords who are making huge profits.

It's crazy I know but this is what happens when you allow people to buy their council houses (thanks to Thatcher) and then fail to build any more to replace them............and now the Tories are offering tenant the opportunity to buy their HAs houses..........WTF!!

Nana, yes the example is strange and I know the people involved hence my awareness of a lot of the detail - It seemed strange to me too which is why I was curious as to how the situation had come about.

It does however seem to have a perfectly plausible explanation in that there is a government scheme that allows it. I personally think that they could have bought more, cheaper properties rather than buying one expensive one and then charging whatever the council rent is basically allowing this family to remain in house that is larger and grander than their needs and presumably their budget would buy/rent them. But hey ho, seems like they have taken advantage of a scheme that is open for people to do so.