Buying a house..., GRRRR Options

[Strafin]

What about a caravan?

[The Hatter]

What about a caravan?

Mates of mine lives on Ravenswing, they wouldn't live anywhere else. Recon it's far better than the flat they had in Reading.

[HJD]

tsk tsk...We're moving away from the 'Council House' tag if you don't mind... so down market and trailer trashy. These days it's 'Affordable Housing' through Housing Associations (I don't think WBC own ANY houses now do they?)

A step on the housing ladder is what's been ingrained to us in this country as a 'must have' but renting is pretty much the norm nearly everywhere in Europe

I was brought up in a 'Council House' as they were known then & I suspect a large percentage of working class people were before Thatcher persuaded people to take up the right to buy. Most of my friends & relations lived in them ( some still do ) & the proud owners kept them well decorated / gardens cultivated etc. more so than some of the private owners I knew, ( unless they paid for a man to do the work for them, my father being one ! ). Unfortunately the tag 'Council House' these days seems to have the stigma attached as only being available & lived in by Unmarried Mothers or the Unemployed, which is a pity because there are still decent hard working people around who live in them or would probably like to given the chance.

[JeffG]

lived in by Unmarried Mothers or the Unemployed,

I don't think you are allowed to talk about unmarried mothers in today's PC climate.

[On the edge]

I was brought up in a 'Council House' as they were known then & I suspect a large percentage of working class people were before Thatcher persuaded people to take up the right to buy. Most of my friends & relations lived in them ( some still do ) & the proud owners kept them well decorated / gardens cultivated etc. more so than some of the private owners I knew, ( unless they paid for a man to do the work for them, my father being one ! ). Unfortunately the tag 'Council House' these days seems to have the stigma attached as only being available & lived in by Unmarried Mothers or the Unemployed, which is a pity because there are still decent hard working people around who live in them or would probably like to given the chance.

Ironic what's happened. Council housing originated to house 'the deserving poor', to lift them out of poor / slum housing. The basic idea being the vacant housing could be taken by the remaining poor. Then, whilst Minister of Health immediately after the war, Bevan was also responsible for housing; his take being that Council Houses should be so good, no one in their right mind would want a private one....then along came Supermac, who reduced the spec. and so the slow decline set in. The concept is great, fair rents, landlord keeps property in good fettle. The trouble is in the name, Council...they simply used their estates as cash cows, failed to do the repairs, failed to manage lettings, failed to keep the design principles. Mrs T just pushed the door the Councils left wide open, an absolute gift to her sponsors in banking!

[Baffers100]

My first home was a shared ownership property. We managed to get a 2 bedroom semi detached new build and paid less for our rent and mortgage combined than we were previosly paying to rent a flat at Jago Court. In fact, we saved around £200 a month. Plus, you can rent flats with deposits form as low as £5k

You can make modifications to shared ownership properties. They're fine (depending on the housing association) for you to make cosmetic changes and keep pets. You can't sub-let, make structural changes (eg add on a conservatory) or change the purpose of the room (eg convert a garage).

With regards to having something that may not ever be yours- you may find shared ownership will have cost benefits to you over renting, plus if you get a repayment mortgage and don't just pay the interest each month then you are clearing your mortgage down. There's something called 'staircasing' where you can buy a greater % should you wish to but we didn't go down this route.

There's no (again depending on the H/A) checks or other interference from the council and you get a lot of helpful advice through the process, and I would definately recommen

It's important to do some reseach as shared wnership and shared equity are different. You should speak to your local HA as your first port of call really.

[gel]

And for the not so poor:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/460202/Fu...-COUNCIL-HOUSES

[On the edge]

Rather interesting that!

Council housing didn't start for the poor - rather the artisan who was striving to better himself. The idea being that the lower quality accommodation he left could be used for the real poor from the slums. In the late 1940s Nye Bevan as well as delivering the NHS also built a large number of very high quality council houses - his (and his Socialist colleagues) vision was that everyone would want to live in a house of such good quality, set in a pleasant environment, managed by the council. Laudable aims, but he reckoned without the Tories and the Council. Bob Crowe should actually be applauded for sticking to his Socialist convictions.

[spartacus]

I work full time (and actually normally do more like extra time) , I don't really have the time, knowledge or inclination to buy a run down property to renovate it. It could be done but for a first time purchase I don't think it would be a wise decision. I have nowhere I can stay for an extended period of time during renovations either.

You need to reassess your priorities mate... If you spent rather less time buffing up your car to such a high sheen and allocated just a few of those precious hours you spend every day cleaning all the dust off your alloys on some DIY, then you may just surprise yourself by finding that you're sat on the first rung on the property ladder. Having a place of your own is probably just a shade more satisfying than having a concours standard motor standing on the driveway of your mum's home.....

[motormad]

My first home was a shared ownership property. We managed to get a 2 bedroom semi detached new build and paid less for our rent and mortgage combined than we were previosly paying to rent a flat at Jago Court. In fact, we saved around £200 a month. Plus, you can rent flats with deposits form as low as £5k

You can make modifications to shared ownership properties. They're fine (depending on the housing association) for you to make cosmetic changes and keep pets. You can't sub-let, make structural changes (eg add on a conservatory) or change the purpose of the room (eg convert a garage).

With regards to having something that may not ever be yours- you may find shared ownership will have cost benefits to you over renting, plus if you get a repayment mortgage and don't just pay the interest each month then you are clearing your mortgage down. There's something called 'staircasing' where you can buy a greater % should you wish to but we didn't go down this route.

There's no (again depending on the H/A) checks or other interference from the council and you get a lot of helpful advice through the process, and I would definately recommen

It's important to do some reseach as shared wnership and shared equity are different. You should speak to your local HA as your first port of call really.

Good to hear that it worked out for you... like you always hear these things but it's good to read someone's actual opinion about it.

I will / have been looking into it. The problem with this whole thing is that the market around here is pretty dry. Houses and flats are hard to find as well
I've been looking on RightMove, Zoopla (is it that one?) and a few others. The only shared ownership properties around are flats which I don't want

You need to reassess your priorities mate... If you spent rather less time buffing up your car to such a high sheen and allocated just a few of those precious hours you spend every day cleaning all the dust off your alloys on some DIY, then you may just surprise yourself by finding that you're sat on the first rung on the property ladder. Having a place of your your own is probably just a shade more satisfying than having a concours standard motor standing on the driveway of your mum's home.....

I'll do what I want with my time, thank you.. !!!
As an example I left for work at 6:45am and have gotten through the door less than 10 minutes ago. That is not an uncommon working pattern considering I'm actually a 9-5 kind of guy. Those precious hours I spend on my car are what stop me from going completely insane.

Regardless of what I can or can't do with my time, there are no decent properties to buy let alone ones in need of renovation in the local area, in a nice area (IE not the bad side of Turnpikey or some ex-drug lords flat). By the time you've bought a run down old shack you then need to invest heavily in it and unless you do a lot of it yourself (I cannot afford to mortgage a home and continue to rent privately) you get HUGE builders fees.

The motor is parked on the driveway of the house I privately rent, like it has been for the last 4 and a half years, thanks.
Although I get your sentiment. It's finding a property that's a difficult thing at the moment

[Claude]

I sympathise with you and others in a similar situation, especially given that house prices are predicted to continue to rise in future.

[On the edge]

I sympathise with you and others in a similar situation, especially given that house prices are predicted to continue to rise in future.

Yes, wholly agree. In real terms house prices have significantly increased. Yes, sure a few of us did the buy a wreck and do it up path - but many others didn't. After all DIY is just as much a hobby as looking after cars. Co-ownership is simply a panecea, in cynical terms a way of getting you the tenant to do the landlords job!

[JeffG]

We oldies were lucky to get in on the ground floor - my first house cost £4,500. It was a new build semi. We couldn't afford the detached as it was over five thousand!

[On the edge]

Quite, ours was a terrace in Reading for £9,100. Just able to do that on an average wage for my age at the time, just under £3,000pa. Let's just assume a clerical type job pays around £25,000pa today, where can you find the equivalent for £75,000?

[Andy Capp]

Housing policy since the 80 has been ruinous. Fine flog the houses Thatcher so that no-one feels inclined to strike and create a sense of ownership, but if you don't build any more you will just create a massive problem down the line. And of course, everyone has a castle, creating even more fractious communities (i.e. nimbys). Now we have a situation where we can't build too many homes through fear of devaluation. A perfect storm.

[On the edge]

That's a great summary.

[spartacus]

It's finding a property that's a difficult thing at the moment

I can't comprehend just how difficult it is for younger people to find somewhere to settle down around this area. Eye-watering house prices.

The only thing I would perhaps strongly suggest is to check the market in the next few months, as (once the waters have subsided) there will be a considerable number of residents who have been ground down by the floods and may be wanting to sell up and move - at any price..

Their depressed and default position will be that nobody will want to buy. The house price will reflect that and the flood history associated with the property will allow you to put in what might have been a 'silly offer' only a year ago. You may have to be prepared to be ruthless, but for a house which has suffered some flooding it may present your only opportunity of getting a decent home around here. Keep your head screwed on and both parties could shake hands on a house purchase which they both feel they haven't done badly from.

Current owner gets to move from a house where they have suffered loss of possessions and are angry about what they have had to endure and doesn't want to even think about going through it all again. But they have at least found a buyer (a mug as far as they are concerned).

You on the other hand get a house at a bargain basement price and know what you're buying into and can forward plan accordingly. You can take the view that the recent weather is something that COULD happen again, but if the Council, the EA, Thames Water etc put in remedial flood alleviation measures over the next year or more then it may have to be considerably worse weather than we've had even this year for it to have the same flood problem on the property.

Clearing drainage ditches, improving riverbank protection, ensuring the protection of houses takes priority over the protection of habitat for some obscure molluscs could potentially mean you could get a home that never suffers another flood for the next decade....


In truth I don't think there could be a better time for you to buy! You just need to be ballsy..

[spartacus]

You can take the view that the recent weather is something that COULD happen again, but if the Council, the EA, Thames Water etc put in remedial flood alleviation measures over the next year or more then it may have to be considerably worse weather than we've had even this year for it to have the same flood problem on the property.

The 2007 floods damaged hundreds of homes in Thatcham and families were living in mobile homes and caravans on their front garden for months afterwards. Many sold up, not wanting to repeat the experience. But flood improvement works were undertaken in the interim and despite the poor weather and being close to the river and canal, not one of those homes have been flooded this year. The residents that stayed will have been worried and holding their breath, but whatever work was done to protect their homes and prevent a repeat has worked... and worked very well.

[On the edge]

Yes, that's pretty good advice. The defence work Newbury already has in place, demonstrably works; so there may well be bargains. I know someone who lives by the river, which didn't actually get into her property, but she's selling - simply because it worried her.

[MontyPython]

In truth I don't think there could be a better time for you to buy! You just need to be ballsy..

....and be prepared to have a house that you can't insure!