Adjacent to a Council owned property

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bgg1961
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Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby bgg1961 » Fri Nov 08, 2019 7:25 am

Does anyone have any opinion of the effect on value of a house if the next door house is council owned and split into flats? I looked at a house which was great in all ways but the agent said it would not sell because the house next door was council owned and so would always be in a different state to the other houses in an expensive road. We are looking at another house which seems good value but now find the next door house is council flats. No real bother in principal, loads of bins etc and the house looks slightly run down but I'm concerned long term about potential resale and also about flats with living rooms on the same level as our bedrooms. 
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Christyvm
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby Christyvm » Sat Nov 09, 2019 12:43 pm

Unbelievable comment
I know exactly where this is going. Live and let live and if YOU don’t like the property next door then MOVE as people like you won’t be missed. 
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Suslik
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby Suslik » Sun Nov 10, 2019 1:05 am

dont think your agent got it right. one - i dont think it's obvious when you view a place and make an offer whether neighbouring house is council or not. two - noone told me as yet that it has any impact of value of your property. i'd say, the state of next door is more imporatnt - if it looks run down, it might detract your future buyers. but who knows what will happen by then, not taking a property you like for that reason does not sound logical. 
what kind of agent says the place wont sell - is he working for you (the buyer) then? cause if he is working to sell, he is not helping his cause... 
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dequacivis
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby dequacivis » Sun Nov 10, 2019 8:03 pm

Do not let anyone criticise you for covering all aspects of buying a house or flat.
Homeownership for the majority is a huge commitment, and aside from the huge time and financial commitments, there are extreme emotional and personal considerations on lifestyle and family planning.

The question of council or housing association ownership is a very real consideration, and this has nothing to do with snobbery or bigotry.
Any property lacking personal “investment” in ownership, is going to suffer in maintenance.
There is also the question of accountability.
Councils are great at enforcing rules against those deemed able to pay, but very quick at breaking the law at not following their own rules. See them do it, best report it to ... to ..err... the council????
This is no judgement on social status, but Fulham is full of streets, where the private ownership costs huge sums, and the rules are very strict on rubbish, parking etc etc. Then inter dispersed are five or six Council owned properties.. the lady at no12 is very nice, and so are her four children, abandoned by four different dads. Then the boyfriend throws the tv through the front window and it stays there with the abandoned sofa for 18mths. The fifteen year old tries his best, but his drunken older friends think it real fun to throw bricks up and down the street at 3am, scratching many of the private cars in the process, police aware of the “non-adult” status, of the perpetrators, so totally ineffectual!
Will this effect the value of your property...? Who knows, maybe just one of the quirks to expect in Fulham. But can attest to being extremely stressful!
Knowledge of housing association property in familiy street in Wandsworth. No real visible signs from outside (but tired looking) but family of five next door had three year stressful experience, as abusive relationship involved at least four police incidents during the night, with last one involving attempted murder.
Cameron introduced anti-social behaviour requirements on landlords, but just try imposing that on Council tenants!
But this is not limited to council ownership. Wandsworth have been secretly bodging their own rules on HMO’s for decades. Some landlords have built up portfolios valued into the £30m to £50m range.. all with no building control, almost no planning, over 50% of the flats don’t exist, so no tax on rents, and actually planning rules would dictate three flats max, but they actually create five, with a separate extra unit in garden, then actually rent out as single room lets to individual migrant workers or students. Nice people, but no investment in their accommodation. No deposits etc. Imagine the crap in front garden and various come and go patterns of up to twenty different individuals....?? Now imagine all that cash to the landlords!!
But guess what those landlords do pay? Religiously and immediately... Council Tax!
Flat won’t exist in planning records, planning enforcement decidedly absent, but CouncilTax paid on the nail!
Traditionally this only happened in tooting, but expanding into Battersea, Southfields and around the Common.
Oh yes, no planning enforcement on refuse or bycicle storage, and each house entitled to up to 18 parking spaces....

So basically, the question is not just ownership of the property, but also the history and level of conversions in the street and likely growth of it.
Sorry if this confuses, but you should be aware of how the council will sacrifice your home and family, if you get in the way of a new strategy! Just ask Candlemakers near the heliport! That seven story strict limit soon became 30 stories! Don’t worry though, the council and developer expect you to win a lawsuit of right to light exclusion, that’s why they budgeted £4m into contingencies .... not against them or the Billionaire overseas owner... no, taken against the affordable home allowance! Isn’t that cosy? Leader Govindia did get an award from the industry at his services to them, sorry my mistake “homebuilding”
Good luck
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Kirstie’s Mom
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby Kirstie’s Mom » Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:13 am

For the people who think this is about snobbery grow up ! I lived on Crockerton Rd for 25 years which has a few council flats on it and I can say that it definitely did effect the value of the houses on the road as well as even more the ones that were next door .
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bgg1961
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby bgg1961 » Tue Nov 12, 2019 6:53 am

Thanks for all replies and clearly this is divisive. I appreciate the knee jerk is that this is snobbery but that is really not the point it is about liquidity and choice and if any issue in housing prevents or slows a sale or affects value it has to be considered. I would not be asking the question if I was looking at a rental. 
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Kirstie’s Mom
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby Kirstie’s Mom » Mon Nov 18, 2019 9:38 am

Trust me . It will have an effect . The estate agent won’t tell you but when I came to sell it all came out . The amount of times I was told that people did not want to spend a certain amount and live on a road where there were council properties that were not maintained so despite loving the house decided to go elsewhere was heartbreaking. One agent actually did tell me they were having trouble selling one that was right next door to a council house because of the noise .- when it did sell it went for much less than a house a few doors down . And given all the houseware the same give or take it was because of the Neighbour. I personally thought they were nuts because the houses were beautiful large double fronted houses and you live inside and LONDON is LONDON but the value of the road over the 25 years I lived there did not keep up with the other roads and as I said the amount of times the feedback from agents was the road was run down in parts which put people off .
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Lainie
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby Lainie » Mon Nov 18, 2019 10:41 am

I’m currently flat hunting with my son and we check every property we view for proximity to council owned properties. We do not live in the area so we have to rely upon what we can uncover ourselves.

We google social housing and the name of the road and we search council websites.

We look at the police crime website and we look at social media for any mention of the road, this can also offer positive insight into the area.

Needless to say, this rules out a lot of lovely properties - on the inside that is. Sadly so many properties look neglected from the exterior front aspect. Why is that?

So, for us, a beautiful property ticking most boxes would not make the second viewing list if situated next or very close to social housing, whatever the price.

If you think that property is for you, visit the area a lot to observe what it’s like at different times and put in a low offer so that when you come to sell, you might find someone attracted by what might appear to be a ‘cheaper house for the money.’
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BrianP
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Re: Adjacent to a Council owned property

Postby BrianP » Mon Nov 18, 2019 12:10 pm

Housing association properties are by no means the only risks for disturbance. Living in a city always requires consideration to and from neighbours. Council tenants can be just as accommodating as owner-occupiers. Properties owned by remote landlords and rented out on illegal short-let Airbnb deals in 'desirable' areas have much greater potential to ruin the environment. Home ownership is pot luck.  Townies who move to the country end up complaining about noises from animals,  slow broadband and the fact that Ocado won't deliver. If city life is for you,  you can start to make life habitable by making the first move towards the neighbours.  You never know,  they might just reciprocate!
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