Dublin City Council Affordable Housing

Tweets

Hi folks,

Given the way the property market is going I thought now was the time to buy as I can afford it (just) and who knows what the future will hold. Anyway am going through Dublin City Council's Affordable Housing scheme and need some advice from those who have the T Shirt.

I got mortgage approval and applied to the Council last week. Also contacted them about the property I like and have a viewing on Wednesday. I have been told to bring along my €3,000 booking deposit. I have that arranged but am wondering what happens the €3,000? Does it go towards to cost of the property?

Also are there any other hidden costs that I should be on the look out for?

Is there an adverage processing time for the process, start to finish? I was advised by DCC that it would be 14-16 weeks.

Thanks in advance.

meglome

Good luck with that but there's no way the arse has fallen out of the market yet so personally I wouldn't rush. You'll save thousands by waiting, far more than you'd pay in rent. I'm sure I won't be alone is telling you this.

Tweets

Thank for the response, I know the prices are still dropping but also know that my income has been too and if I wait much longer I won't get the mortgage.
The apartment I am viewing is actually in the development I want and over €60k cheaper than if I buy privately.

I know the consequences but am happy to buy now. Just looking for info on the DCC AH process.

irlrobins

This link might be of use.

Personally, I think you're mad to buy a house under the AH scheme. Give it a few more months and the councils will be selling their AH stock to anyone, at the same low price but without the burden of clawback.

gurramok

irlrobins wrote: »

This link might be of use.

Personally, I think you're mad to buy a house under the AH scheme. Give it a few more months and the councils will be selling their AH stock to anyone, at the same low price but without the burden of clawback.

They are already in the Docklands. Too many vacants on their hands, its a buyers market in AH land.

meglome

Tweets wrote: »

Thank for the response, I know the prices are still dropping but also know that my income has been too and if I wait much longer I won't get the mortgage.
The apartment I am viewing is actually in the development I want and over €60k cheaper than if I buy privately.

I know the consequences but am happy to buy now. Just looking for info on the DCC AH process.

And keep in mind a lot of apartments will be worst hit.

And honestly unless your going to be laid off it's unlikely your wages will drop as much as prices.

Emma1980

Hi Tweets, i bought AH in December 08 and i don't regret it for a second. I could never have afforded a 20k deposit on a house so only paying the 3k suited me fine. At the end of the day, i was buying a house to live in for the rest of life, not buying it to try make money out of it in a few years time.
The 3k goes off the mortgage, i wondered the same thing at the time! I got the 100% mortgage so i ended up getting the 3k back and used it to pay my solicitor!
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

superflyninja

best of luck with your purchase. where are you thinking of buying?
We are due to sign the contracts to our affordable home this week *touch wood*
The 3000 deposit in our case is going toward paying the council the difference in the property price and our mortgage. to be honest now im not even sure of the timescale involved.its been so hectic.but the council are SLOW

ntlbell

Tweets wrote: »

Thank for the response, I know the prices are still dropping but also know that my income has been too and if I wait much longer I won't get the mortgage.
The apartment I am viewing is actually in the development I want and over €60k cheaper than if I buy privately.

I know the consequences but am happy to buy now. Just looking for info on the DCC AH process.

so you're going to get a mortgage knowing you won't be able to afford to pay it back when your wages gets lower?

I would put a bit more thought into this if I was you.

Oliver1985

Emma1980 wrote: »

Hi Tweets, i bought AH in December 08 and i don't regret it for a second. I could never have afforded a 20k deposit on a house so only paying the 3k suited me fine. At the end of the day, i was buying a house to live in for the rest of life, not buying it to try make money out of it in a few years time.
The 3k goes off the mortgage, i wondered the same thing at the time! I got the 100% mortgage so i ended up getting the 3k back and used it to pay my solicitor!
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

I thought with banks you could only get 92% mortgage or is it different under the affordable housing??

Emma1980

Oliver1985 wrote: »

I thought with banks you could only get 92% mortgage or is it different under the affordable housing??

100% mortgages where still available last November so i got one... not sure if they have stopped doing them now or not

Tweets

Emma1980 wrote: »

Hi Tweets, i bought AH in December 08 and i don't regret it for a second. I could never have afforded a 20k deposit on a house so only paying the 3k suited me fine. At the end of the day, i was buying a house to live in for the rest of life, not buying it to try make money out of it in a few years time.
The 3k goes off the mortgage, i wondered the same thing at the time! I got the 100% mortgage so i ended up getting the 3k back and used it to pay my solicitor!
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks. My thoughts exactly. Even if the property prices are going to drop a little more, I'm not planning on selling in the near future so I want to buy now.

superflyninja wrote: »

best of luck with your purchase. where are you thinking of buying?
We are due to sign the contracts to our affordable home this week *touch wood*
The 3000 deposit in our case is going toward paying the council the difference in the property price and our mortgage. to be honest now im not even sure of the timescale involved.its been so hectic.but the council are SLOW

Well Ive paid the deposit and that on one of the RCP apts. Close to friends and family and I really liked the layouts etc. What about yourselves?
I spoke to the council and things so far have moved fairly quickly. Hopefully it keeps going this way. They think I should be in by end of oct so I think it realisticly be Nov/Dec.

ntlbell wrote: »

so you're going to get a mortgage knowing you won't be able to afford to pay it back when your wages gets lower?

I would put a bit more thought into this if I was you.

ntlbell. Thanks for your concern. I never said I wouldn't be able to repay the mortgage. It's getting harder and harder to get a mortgage and banks are being more careful about their lending (which is a good thing). What I was saying was that if my wages drop any more I won't qualify for what I need at the moment.

I have put a LOT of thought into it and spoken to a lot of people and know that now is the time to buy for me. I have friends who bought 2 - 3 years ago and are deep in negitive equity but dont care because they don't want to sell! Prices are already starting to level off and rise in other countries. I know we're worst hit but the recession won't last forever.

Oliver1985 wrote: »

I thought with banks you could only get 92% mortgage or is it different under the affordable housing??

With affordable housing - because you purchase at 80% the actual value(in most cases) the banks give you 100% because in actuality it is only 80% of the value.

amdublin

ntlbell wrote: »

so you're going to get a mortgage knowing you won't be able to afford to pay it back when your wages gets lower?

This is not what he/she said

gurramok

Tweets wrote: »

I have put a LOT of thought into it and spoken to a lot of people and know that now is the time to buy for me. I have friends who bought 2 - 3 years ago and are deep in negitive equity but dont care because they don't want to sell! Prices are already starting to level off and rise in other countries. I know we're worst hit but the recession won't last forever.

It will last longer in Ireland. What happens abroad won't be a mirror of what will happen here.

Best advice if you are going to buy, have a safety net if you are forced to sell through loss of job or change of circumstances and be able to afford repayments when interest rates go back up.

Its better to be wise than have a life of misery if something goes wrong a few yrs down the road.

oceanclub

Tweets wrote: »

Hi folks,

Given the way the property market is going I thought now was the time to buy as I can afford it (just)

Interest rates are bound to go up. Therefore, if you can only just afford it now, you will not be able to afford it in the near-future. You should be stress-testing any prospective mortgage by considering if interest rates go up to 5%, at a minimum.

Prices are already starting to level off and rise in other countries

The excuse for the bubble was that "we weren't like other countries". Now the excuse for buying is that we are.

And the wheel turned.

P.

Tweets

oceanclub wrote: »

Interest rates are bound to go up. Therefore, if you can only just afford it now, you will not be able to afford it in the near-future. You should be stress-testing any prospective mortgage by considering if interest rates go up to 5%, at a minimum.

P.

I have to laugh at everyone who assumes I haven't thought about it of looked into it. I have. By my calculations, I can afford it on my own if prices go up to 7%. If they go higher than that (whether its likely or not) I have a spare room I can rent out and some friends that have already offered to take it!

Im not being funny but if people actually paid attention I didn't ask for advice on if I should buy or not. I asked if anyone had been through the affordable housing process recently and what to expect from that!

oceanclub

Tweets wrote: »

I have to laugh at everyone who assumes I haven't thought about it of looked into it.

Sorry for caring about you; I read "as I can afford it (just)" and took you at your word.

P.

Tweets

oceanclub wrote: »

Sorry for caring about you; I read "as I can afford it (just)" and took you at your word.

P.

Well, Thanks for your concern. The (just) was more in relation to what the banks are willing to lend at the moment combined with my savings, not my repayment ability.

Damos Girl

Hi Tweets,

Im in the process of buying through the DCC also its been almost 13 weeks now and Im hopefully due to de-snagging soon P.G. I could have never afforded sumwhere on my own and I would have never raised the 20K for the Dep! DCC all the way even if they are a bit slow. I know people that bought where Im goin for nearly 80K dearer that what I got mine for because of the downturn.

The EBS I think are the only people giving 100% mortgages at the mo but that could all change soon tho!

Good luck with everything,

Hopefully there will be plenty of housewarming soon:D

Damos Girl

Actually What i did want to ask is that has anyone that has gone thru DCC AH find the snagging a long process??

Oliver1985

Funny enough i applied to D.c.c about two weeks ago and I have heard back saying things have come to a stand still at the moment

Tweets

Oliver1985 wrote: »

Funny enough i applied to D.c.c about two weeks ago and I have heard back saying things have come to a stand still at the moment

How do you mean have come to a stand still?

Im having problems at the moment because when I went to view (about 3 weeks ago) I was given a purchase price and a value. The purchase price being 80% the value.... have only found out that the value they gave me was June's (so they say) value and they are now valued over €12k cheaper but DCC are refusing to lower the value, meaning I have to come up with more money as instead of being 20% cheaper its now 16%!!!! Its really frustrating dealing with them. Every time I ring I get a different story!:mad:

Is anyone else having similar problems?

Oliver1985

I got from d.c.c that they cant offer homes anymore until they get the prices down as people cant get a loan cause the homes they offer are no longer 80% of the original price! In somes cases the the affordable price is nearly the same as the normal asking price!!

Tweets

Oliver1985 wrote: »

I got from d.c.c that they cant offer homes anymore until they get the prices down as people cant get a loan cause the homes they offer are no longer 80% of the original price! In somes cases the the affordable price is nearly the same as the normal asking price!!

Hmmm interesting. I must ring dcc on Monday. They had said to me that they can't lower the price any further.

SkepticOne

The government recently issued a letter to local authorities suggesting that, in the current climate of falling prices, they may have difficulty shifting affordable homes ant that they might instead consider reallocating them to social housing or other uses rather than trying to sell them.

Oliver1985

Dublin City Council have a few available now this week on there site but they are All dublin 1 and 2 !! Very pricey even at an affordable price 260k for a 2 bed up ny hueston station and a management few of 2500 a year :eek::eek::eek:

Oliver1985

Open day Viewing Saturday 17th October 2009

Dublin City Councils Affordable Unit will be having an open day viewing of the following properties on Saturday 17th October at
10 am:

• Herberton, Dublin 8
• Prospect Hill, Dublin 11

gurramok

They omit the area where Prospect Hill really is

As a part of my life had lived in that area, I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe across the road in Premier Sq be a better outcome.

Jesus Wept

I know little about affordable housing.
I didn't realise councils buy properties to sell on at a discount...

1 Bedroom Apartment, Beacon South Quarter
2 Bedroom Apartment, Beacon South Quarter


As apartments go, they're pretty serious.

Oliver1985

The-Rigger wrote: »

I know little about affordable housing.
I didn't realise councils buy properties to sell on at a discount...

1 Bedroom Apartment, Beacon South Quarter
2 Bedroom Apartment, Beacon South Quarter


As apartments go, they're pretty serious.

Yeah the price of those ones are through the roof!!