Buy an ex-council house?

Sparky85

Hi folks,

Looking for some opinions please...

House for sale is an ex-council house. It is in a cul de sac where all others are owned by the occupiers and it backs onto a cul de sac when all properties are owned by the occupiers & it's through this cul de sac that there is an entrance to the estate. BUT there are other houses furthe into the estate that are still council owned properties. It is an old council estate so most residents are getting on in years and I expect over the next 10-15 years the owner occupied houses will come on the market.
The town its in is exactly where I want to live, great transport links, popular Dublin commuter town, friends & family live locally etc.

It's on for well below what I am approved for as a FTB, and has scope to massively improve the house, I could live there for 20 + years.

Would you consider it?

pablo128

Sparky85 wrote: »

Hi folks,

Looking for some opinions please...

House for sale is an ex-council house. It is in a cul de sac where all others are owned by the occupiers and it backs onto a cul de sac when all properties are owned by the occupiers & it's through this cul de sac that there is an entrance to the estate. BUT there are other houses furthe into the estate that are still council owned properties. It is an old council estate so most residents are getting on in years and I expect over the next 10-15 years the owner occupied houses will come on the market.
The town its in is exactly where I want to live, great transport links, popular Dublin commuter town, friends & family live locally etc.

It's on for well below what I am approved for as a FTB, and has scope to massively improve the house, I could live there for 20 + years.

Would you consider it?

You come across as having pre-conceived ideas about council tenants. Would I be right? If you have concerns regarding the estate, visit the local Garda station and ask them what it's like.

One other question. How can a cul de sac be the entrance to an estate?

Sparky85

Hi Pablo,

Apologies, it's not really a cul de sac where the entrance is but like a horseshoe around a green if you know what I mean, and the entrance off the main road is in onto this horseshoe.

I know the area well as I said I've friends & family locally. I've driven around the estate and there is the odd house with say and old washing machine in the garden or a rusted up car outside. These are the houses further into the estate... I'm absolutely sure most residents council or otherwise are perfectly fine but I'm just aware this estate used to have a very bad reputation 15 or so years ago.

I will visit the Garda station & seek Info thanks for the tip!

Mrs OBumble

google <<estate name>> "with an address" and use Search Tools to limit the results to the last couple of years, to find out what the current residents are up to. No results = good.

Otherwise, yes, I would consider it provided the neighbourhood on average is ok. There will be some bad tenants / owners wherever you go, council estates or otherwise.

The_Conductor

If it ticks your boxes- there is no reason whatsoever not to buy the property. Council properties tended to be constructed significantly in excess of building regulations- and be of very good standard.

Do not assume you'll get permission to extend or significantly modify the property- even if some of the other owner occupiers have done so- having learnt from hard experience- the demographic of the other residents is a good indicator of whether they are likely to object to planning applications or not.

Go ahead by all means- but just don't imagine you're going to get away with the sort of planning applications that some of the other residents got in past years.

Also- some of us might be familiar with particular areas- if you'd like to enlighten us we might be in a position to give you further information. For example- I live across the road from an ex-council estate (now almost exclusively privately owned and occupied). The worst I can honestly say about the estate- is the habit of some of the residents to have quite incredible collections of gaudy garden gnomes- and complaints from residents if young children try to play on the common green area.......

Sparky85

Yeah that's what I'm afraid of. This property would only suit beyond 3-4 years if I could get permission to extend. Almost every single house in the estate have large single story extensions, including those either side (massive one directly next door) and also directly behind. At least 2 others in the estate have 2 story rear extension which is what I would have to do to make it a long term home.

Is the a way I could find out if the planner would look favourably on an application prior to signing contracts etc?

MarkAnthony

Bear in mind the property could well be leasehold, make sure to ask. It's easily converted but if there is less than 70 years to run you may need to organise something before mortgage drawdown. There are also usually additional hoops to jump through so just be aware, nothing too onerous.

andy125

With my sherlock cap on im going to take an educated guess and say this is the property in question? http://www.daft.ie/meath/houses-for-sale/navan/beechdale-drive-commons-road-navan-meath-1105786/

If so then yes the connected estate of towns park is still one of the worst areas in navan

TeaBagMania

If you’re concerned about the area and neighbors visit the estate on a Friday and Saturday night, park your car and “walk” the entire neighborhood multiple times looking and listening to what’s happening