Ex Council House

[united4ever]

Looking at this house at the weekend:

m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/33641444

it is ex council I am pretty sure. It actually ticks all our boxes and has a handy location. Do you think being an ex council house it may suffer from a stigma and fail to keep up with market prices in the long term and/or be difficult to sell in the future.

possibly it will be our long term family home but also possibly we may move abroad in future and so would also look to rent it out. Any thoughts on this or the house in general?

[Methe]

Are you serious?

[frames]

Its looks great. I would live in in, renting or buying. Ticks all boxes as a family home, parking garden. Doesn't look LA. Is it on an estate? Have the houses all been sold off?

[pancakesfortea]

I live in a much more obviously ex council house. It was cheaper than a period house or a privately built modern house, and will sell for proportionately less in future. But it has kept pace with what we paid and in the meantime we have had great value. You just get more house for your money.

[united4ever]

Ha ha, yes totally seroious...why do you ask?

not on an estate, just a small cul de sac of about 15 houses. The neighbouring streets all private housing and from what i can sell, all sold off. Recent sales are 200 to 225k so this is more expensive but no sales in the last year or so since price rises really started to happen.

[JamJimJam]

Ex council houses are always cheaper.

But the plus side is that the demand for them is high.

[Xcountry]

so what if its ex council? if it meets your needs primarily then surely that's what matters?

[crazynanna]

I live in a Georgian rented 2 bed flat with original features such as arched windows and shutters with a 60 ft garden and off- bedroom patio in a trendy street in North London.

You would have to work in the Housing office to know it is actually a council flat because you would never know otherwise

[united4ever]

You're right Xcountry, just that we are moving from our first home (new build flat) which we have sold at a loss, don't want to find myself with something else to take a hit on when i eventually move on....although would probably be there for a long time.

[ThePerfectNegroni]

Were you the poster that was looking at the new build in Broadheath?

These are the last few houses that went on the street
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=14618391&sale=43767371&country=england
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=8061020&sale=34573478&country=england

I'd say that it looks like a nicer street than the one you were looking at, ex-local authority or not, its near the tram etc.

[united4ever]

Yes, was looking at a townhouse in broadheath...decided against that in the end.

[Longdistance]

My first property was ex LA.

I had 3 viewing, and 3 offers in the matter of days. It was on the market for 5 days. Hth.

[Openup41]

This looks fine and not at all like a typical council house. It has a lot of space.

I would not opt for a house in a council estate.

[HauntedNoddyCar]

My first house was ex LA in a cul-de-sac. Great sized rooms. Solid build. Loved it. Sold fine.

[RainySunday]

I want to know what road you live on CrazyNanna! You have just described my (ex)council flat. I think we are neighbours...

[Parietal]

as long as you own the freehold, it is fine. Especially if the neighbours are also now private.

ex-local flats can be problematic because the local authority is normally the freeholder and can make life tricky in various ways (e.g. renovation of common parts).

but for a house - the local authority no longer has any hold, so ex-local doesn't matter at all.

[ogredownstairs]

It looks completely fine. Non-estate location, of traditional construction (ie bricks not concrete) and not a flat. (Parietal is right about ex LA flats - I also had one in N. London, Georgian, beautiful etc but common parts and building maintenance a pain.)

[united4ever]

Actually I think it is leasehold. Will check tomorrow when i view. I know the downside of leasehold....assuming its got many years left on the lease would it be a problem besides paying ground rent. Would like to do a side and rear extension if we bought it.

[ogredownstairs]

Leasehold would be a killer for me, however long it was. Probably not a great bet for re-sale.

[crazynanna]

I'm In N4, Rainy

[17leftfeet]

I thought that road was a Barrett's development?

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

It would be unusual for a house to be leasehold unless it's shared ownership. Are you sure this is leasehold?

[hiccupgirl]

The house looks great but leasehold would also be a total killer for me too.

We got stuck with a leasehold flat that we struggled to sell for nearly 5 years because the freeholder (our downstairs neighbour) was a complete knob and was just constantly difficult for the sake of it. Never again.

[Cobo]

If the price is affected by it being an ex-council house, then you'll be buying it at under market value too. It's already an ex-council house, it's not going to lose value in future because of it.

We've just bought an ex-council house, and it was cheaper than houses of the same size that weren't ex-council. That's why we bought it. But similar houses are already going for more than when we bought, so it's going up in price proportionally.

[RainySunday]

We're in N19 Nanna. Postcode neighbours then, if nothing else.

[pancakesfortea]

Leasehold houses are surprisingly common - there are 1 million in England. But you have more rights as a leaseholder of a house than a flat. I don't think its a dealbreaker but do get proper advice and work out what the lease is all about. For example are there service charges for maintenance of the street or communal hedges?