Has anyone sold their house to the local council?

Goldielocks123 · 13-02-2026 08:58PM #1

Hi all,

Looking at options for next year...

The neighbour next door (private home owner) has the house and garden in a state and relatives and their friends constantly coming and going and congregating at the front door smoking and drinking.

They have never caused any trouble for me but it's a bad look and I believe it's contributing to another neighbour's house slow to sell to private buyers.

Has anyone sold their house to the council?

How long does it take for the sale to fully complete?

Will they pay current market value?

Can you put your house on Daft while simultaneously starting the process with selling to the council and go with the fastest?

Thanks in advance.

SupaCat95 · 14-02-2026 07:47AM

No, never sold to the council but heard anecdotes. Council will buy anything reasonable (not cowshed or structures waiting to fall in). They love former council properties that they should never have sold in the first place.

Where an estate agent will tell you "its worth 200k, gimme 6 weeks and I can whip up enough interest to make it 250k". The council will send out two local contracted estate agents to value it on the day at a fair price like 225k. That also has to be approved at council meeting. The advantage for you is you are not dealing with dreamers (people who are viewing but no finance in order) or people in a chain (selling one or more house in order to make an event happen).

Seen those slow sells before in Navan, two houses both structurally fine and priced correctly. Catch, one was on the street where two families were feuding and the other had a family that were not from Romania, conducting independent pharmaceutical sales. Council will know this information too and may use it as leverage. Hence beware of any property on the market not shifting quickly or going on the market and return three weeks later due to due dilligence. Estate agents will always blame the cautious buyer for due dilligence.

mumo3 · 14-02-2026 10:10AM

Tried last year with a council tenant in it they showed interest went back and forth for the best part of a year looking for this and that all good, then got word the tenant got notice of being housed by them! I had to call them for them to tell me they were no longer interested. Went with an estate agent who was also selling a home that had gone sale agreed with the council and then the council pulled out after a two year process… I don’t think they have the funds to be buying up properties anymore no matter what the government are saying the local councils are not in the market for replenishing their stock! Now that was Dublin I don’t know about other local authorities

Cyclingtourist · 14-02-2026 11:23AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124234574#Comment_124234574

Similar but different. A member of my family owned a rented house in a good estate on the outskirts of a rural town with rail connections to Dublin. The longstanding tenant pulled political strings to get the council to put in a decent bid (well over their normal level according to estate agent) with a view to continuing as their tenant. Offer was accepted and sale to the council went through. This was about ten years ago.

SupaCat95 · 14-02-2026 11:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124234574#Comment_124234574

The councils may no longer be buying but the NGOs and Charities are. Two years is a long time to be "making up your mind". It appears every council is different resources planning and the odd one does it for political motivation.

Thats not right telling an owner, you are interested in buying a property and then having no funds or intentention to buy it.

Goldielocks123 · 14-02-2026 06:51PM

Thanks for all your responses. I've contacted the council but heard nothing back. I've a sense it could take too long to sell with them.

Goldielocks123 · 14-02-2026 06:59PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124234734#Comment_124234734

I think with Approved Housing Bodies you still go through the council

ted1 · 16-02-2026 07:26PM

I did. Very straight forward with Dublin City. The tenant in situ was one of theirs

Has anyone sold their house to the local council?

Answers