Can you buy your relative's council house?

[sebo]

Hi

I have some relatives that have lived in their council house for nearly thirty years. Do you know if they are able to purchase their house from the council at a low rate because of how long they have lived there?

Also - do you know if another family member can purchase it on their behalf?

Any information on any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Seb

[Davel]

Have they approached the council to see what options they might have?

[john_p]

Yes, google "right to buy"

e.g. www.odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1151289#P49_2453

[bga]

IIRC it is possible. Most of my wifes family is in the middle of a petty feud because of it

[sebo]

Thanks for the replies, particularly the "right to buy" one. There is some good info on the governement's site. Apparently there is a maximum discount of 38k on a house or flat.

Will now be interesting to see how to go about assisting them with the finances..

Thanks for the input as ever..

Seb

[john_p]

bga said:

Most of my wifes family is in the middle of a petty feud because of it

Yeah I think this has to be one of the biggest potentials for upset. Not disputing that you or your relative could do well out of it, of course - especially if you, say, get the boiler replaced and it's just after redecorating time

[leftie]

I understand that now they have to show the source of the money. My Mum lives in a council house and has done for the last 47 years. My brother and I wanted to buy it for her about 5 years ago but were told that she would have to show the source of the money, as she is a pensioner with income support being paid.

[murray]

Isn't that more to do with money laundering? Gave my parents the money to buy theirs about 5 years ago and they had to provide proof to the solicitor of where the money had come from.

Jim

[pentoman]

leftie said:

I understand that now they have to show the source of the money. My Mum lives in a council house and has done for the last 47 years. My brother and I wanted to buy it for her about 5 years ago but were told that she would have to show the source of the money, as she is a pensioner with income support being paid.

Sounds fair enough, or anyone could just go round buying up cheap council houses via their owners!

[billsnemesis]

If the course of the money is an issue that could easily be sorted with a mortgage guaranteed by someone whose name does not appear on the title

I have also seen a trick where the tenant buys the property, immediately contracts to sell it on to the person providing the finance three/five years later (depending on the discount repayment period) and raises money that way. If you get a 38% discount, raise a 100% mortgage on that, contract to sell at 90% of full market value you could roll over the interest on the mortgage for most of the five years and everyone would still make money, especially if the market value goes up in those five years.

There are ways of doing it but EVERYTHING should be in legal documents to avoid the "wife's family" problem mentioned earlier in the thread.

[bga]

billsnemesis said:

There are ways of doing it but EVERYTHING should be in legal documents to avoid the "wife's family" problem mentioned earlier in the thread.

TBH it was all well above board but people getting annoyed after opting out of something when they saw there could be profit in the long run.