Selling to the council

tatli_lokma

Hi Guys,

just wondering if anyone has any experience of selling a house to the council? Has anyone done it recently? I know they don't pay the same amount as the open market, but in this climate, to have a guaranteed buyer even at a lower price and no estate agency fees must be worth considering?

Are any councils even doing this any more, with the way things are?

Just wondering if anyone has experience of doing this, and pros and cons?

thanks in advance

The_Conductor

Councils were only interested in housing in high demand areas, to begin with- which in normal conditions would mean you probably wouldn't have an issue with selling on the open market to begin with.

The issue at the moment is that councils simply don't have the money to invest in properties- and it looks like this scheme is on the back boiler for the forseeable (as there is a proposal to force developers to complete the 'ghost estates' and these in turn would be transferred at the discounted rates to councils for housing those on the social lists).

S.

gurramok

Last year my mother tried this with DCC, was told the scheme had ended as in reality the council is broke. Her friends in her social group who all owned their houses were told the same.

tatli_lokma

well I spoke to Fingal Co Co last week, and they said no, its not finished, they are still buying houses in certain areas, and it depends on the location. They said in theory there is a possibilty they would be interested and to put the request in writing - which has been done.
Its not for my house directly, but a family members house. Worth enquiring at least - but I just wanted peoples experience and knowledge of the process and how they found it.

I know that in the town where I live, the council themselves approached a friend of mine and her neighbour to see if they would be interested in selling, as they have a high demand for 3 bed houses in that particular part of the town - yeah there are loads of apartments, but when they offer these to people they refuse them as they want a house, so I know they are still buying in certain circumstances.

Victor

Typically the councils were buying houses for young families in not so well off, but established areas, so as to improve the sense of community by having multiple generations in the same neighbourhood and the supports that brings. It means there is someone to mind the kids and a few years later, someone to look after granny.

There was an "over 55s" scheme where the councils were buying "empty nest houses" and providing the residents with smaller properties.