The £0.9m Council House?
Discussion
I am just totally against council housing and all it stands for. Any measure to get it into the hands of the occupier seems fine by me including taking account of the rent paid for anything up to 60 years. Having said that I would be selling off Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace for Holiday flats and Hotel accomodation respectively. 
Don't have time to do a full detailed reply but please read the whole of the story it makes much more sense than the selected quotes.
The ex-Council tennant sold a few years, although at £750k still. They only bought the Freehold in and it would not have been under RTB but Leasehold Enfranchisement legislation. The leasehold interest had been bought by his dad in the early '70's from the council for £15k+ - a lot of money then!!! To put some perspective on this folks sold a massive 5 bed house worth £1.5mil today for less than £30k in 1978...
The ex-Council tennant sold a few years, although at £750k still. They only bought the Freehold in and it would not have been under RTB but Leasehold Enfranchisement legislation. The leasehold interest had been bought by his dad in the early '70's from the council for £15k+ - a lot of money then!!! To put some perspective on this folks sold a massive 5 bed house worth £1.5mil today for less than £30k in 1978...
Karen182 said:
My parents bought their council house in Richmond for 50% cost when the right to buy was introduced. They paid 17k. It is now worth around min of 360k due to the area it is in.
lucky for them, but the principle does seem unfair.
if tenants can afford to buy , why cant they pay the market rate like everyone else???
This really does sicken me too. I'm looking for my first home right now and this kind of thing just makes my life impossible.
I popped into the local Nationwide and was offered just £70,000 to buy a home! I earn well over £22k yet the bank doesn't care nor seems to read the property papers. Do they not realise that you can only buy a portacabin for that price around Berkshire!?!?!?
It turns out the only way I can get a good mortgage (£125k), is to get my dad to guarantor me which he's happy to do but what about those who can't get a guarantor? It's disgusting the way it is right now.
I popped into the local Nationwide and was offered just £70,000 to buy a home! I earn well over £22k yet the bank doesn't care nor seems to read the property papers. Do they not realise that you can only buy a portacabin for that price around Berkshire!?!?!?
It turns out the only way I can get a good mortgage (£125k), is to get my dad to guarantor me which he's happy to do but what about those who can't get a guarantor? It's disgusting the way it is right now.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Totally agree would not have been so bad if the Capital Receipts had been ploughed back into building new Social housing only Mrs T did not understand Economics so decided to use the money to pay off debt that would have been eaten away with inflation anyhow.
Result mega short fall in available housing = Over inflated housing market and your cash wasted on keeping thousands in B & B's
Mind you stamp duty on that is going to be a hefty sum.
peterpeter said:
Karen182 said:
My parents bought their council house in Richmond for 50% cost when the right to buy was introduced. They paid 17k. It is now worth around min of 360k due to the area it is in.
lucky for them, but the principle does seem unfair.
if tenants can afford to buy , why cant they pay the market rate like everyone else???
They (in many cases) wouldn't be able to afford the market price, being not well-off enough, or too old to get a mortgage.
However I think there's an argument for 'shared appreciation' so that if (as in the above case) they pay half-price, then they only keep half the increase in value.
It's a can of worms though - they can only make money if they sell up & move down or out of the area, and (I know it seems absurd) but what if values fell - would the council have to re-imburse them?
>> Edited by deva link on Thursday 14th April 23:17
peterpeter said:
My parents bought their council house in Richmond for 50% cost when the right to buy was introduced. They paid 17k. It is now worth around min of 360k due to the area it is in.
lucky for them, but the principle does seem unfair.
if tenants can afford to buy , why cant they pay the market rate like everyone else???
There was no way my parents could afford a market rate property. My parents weren't qualified in anything, my dad being nearly 76 left school at a very young age, we had NO money growing up.
If it wasn't for the fact they got the house cheap and prices went up, then I would not have a secure future.
In my area, it is impossible to buy - if my parents had not bought the house before their death, I would have been chucked out as you cannot pass it on to children. Least I have a secure home and money in the bank eventually.
Karen182 said:
There was no way my parents could afford a market rate property.
Playing devil`s advocate here, so don`t take it personally...........
If I read you right -
Mum & dad live in a council house for umpteen years at a well below market rate rental, with an entitlement to free repairs on everything from a broken window to a leaky roof.
The council allow him to purchase it (on the cheap) at the relatively advanced age of 76.
He then passed away.
And you have a house for next to nothing?
Please, please don`t take it personally, but that is just bloody ridiculous. I`m annoyed at the system - not your family
Steve
john75 said:
Totally agree would not have been so bad if the Capital Receipts had been ploughed back into building new Social housing only Mrs T did not understand Economics so decided to use the money to pay off debt that would have been eaten away with inflation anyhow.
Result mega short fall in available housing = Over inflated housing market and your cash wasted on keeping thousands in B & B's
Mind you stamp duty on that is going to be a hefty sum.
On the contrary I think it was one of the best things she did.
helping millions to become home owners rather than suplicants at the feet of the state.
and why should they have built more houses with the proceeds?-the house is still there-it is just now owned rather than rented, you have not reduced the housing stock.
I do dispare somethines.
Yes there has been a massive profit made here but please read my post from yesterday. Karen's is also illustrative of this.
For those of you who talk about old folks buying their house cheap, poping off and kids having the major benefit, I take it it is you who agree with 90%IHT?
Finally please remember that it was not the Govt. that took the money paid by the tennants when they bought but the councils, it was also mainly labour ones who pushed the sales once the legislation was in place BTW. If you want to point the finger at someone for not replenishing the LA housing stock you must look no further than them. NOT Mrs T!
Yes there has been a massive profit made here but please read my post from yesterday. Karen's is also illustrative of this.
For those of you who talk about old folks buying their house cheap, poping off and kids having the major benefit, I take it it is you who agree with 90%IHT?
Finally please remember that it was not the Govt. that took the money paid by the tennants when they bought but the councils, it was also mainly labour ones who pushed the sales once the legislation was in place BTW. If you want to point the finger at someone for not replenishing the LA housing stock you must look no further than them. NOT Mrs T!
rude-boy said:
I do dispare somethines.
Yes there has been a massive profit made here but please read my post from yesterday. Karen's is also illustrative of this.
For those of you who talk about old folks buying their house cheap, poping off and kids having the major benefit, I take it it is you who agree with 90%IHT?
Finally please remember that it was not the Govt. that took the money paid by the tennants when they bought but the councils, it was also mainly labour ones who pushed the sales once the legislation was in place BTW. If you want to point the finger at someone for not replenishing the LA housing stock you must look no further than them. NOT Mrs T!
The thing is LA's were only allowed to spend 25% of the receipts from Council house sales on replacing Social Housing the other 75% had to be used to pay debt
Karen182 said:
There was no way my parents could afford a market rate property. My parents weren't qualified in anything, my dad being nearly 76 left school at a very young age, we had NO money growing up.
If it wasn't for the fact they got the house cheap and prices went up, then I would not have a secure future.
Like Towman said, pls don't take this personally, but your situation is just lucky for you - in just the same way as if you'd won the lottery. Obviously I don't know your personal situation, but if you'd had a bunch of brothers and sisters, or your parents had needed long term residential care then the house may well have had to be sold.
Scarily, several of my friends are relying on a (future) inheritance to pay off their (huge) mortgages etc. These days, their parents may well still be alive when their children retire.
Karen182 said:
In my area, it is impossible to buy - if my parents had not bought the house before their death, I would have been chucked out as you cannot pass it on to children. Least I have a secure home and money in the bank eventually.
Although I live 'Up North' I'm aware of how expensive Richmond is. I guess you mean it's 'impossible' for any normal income person to buy? But that's the same almost anywhere now. None of my neighbours could afford to buy their own houses now (if starting again from scratch) so I just don't understand who is buying the First Time Buyer houses, and why the market doesn't collapse?
john75 said:
The thing is LA's were only allowed to spend 25% of the receipts from Council house sales on replacing Social Housing the other 75% had to be used to pay debt
Sir, I have to admit that you may well have one up on me here. This is something I was not aware of, but will have a look at when I get the chance to. If so I shall eat 75% of my humble pie in relation to this aspect of my argument!
towman said:
There was no way my parents could afford a market rate property.
Playing devil`s advocate here, so don`t take it personally...........
If I read you right -
Mum & dad live in a council house for umpteen years at a well below market rate rental, with an entitlement to free repairs on everything from a broken window to a leaky roof.
The council allow him to purchase it (on the cheap) at the relatively advanced age of 76.
He then passed away.
And you have a house for next to nothing?
Please, please don`t take it personally, but that is just bloody ridiculous. I`m annoyed at the system - not your family
Steve
No, the house was bought back when the right to buy was introduced (late 70's??? I really can't remember exactly as I was quite young). We are a family of 6 and my mum worked part time all her life as the four of us children were very spread out in ages. My dad didn't earn very much money not being qualified. The house was still a LOT of money to my parents back in the 70's and my grandparents had to help them out. When my parents took on the house, it didn't have even a kitchen cupboard, there were none of the fitted kitchens they have these days! We don't even have central heating now! It was bought at 50% of the market value at the time - just so happens that house prices in my area have rocketed but in most council estate areas this has not really happened.
The rental of these houses is not cheap btw, for those who never bought them and still pay it. A friend of mine lives in a flat on a really rough estate a few miles away and the rent is over £100 a week. Ok that is cheap for the area, but who would want to live there! Even down my road, there are two convicted drug dealers...
On my single salary of a secretary, I have not got a hope in hell of buying anyway - what is 3 times what I earn? Barely anything. I still therefore live in the family home and eventually will benefit from a quarter share of it.
I know I could move out of Richmond but then as a secretary I would probably only earn about 10k so I still would not be able to afford my own place! Down my road, from the original familes, there are loads of multi generation families, quite simply no one can afford to move out.
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