Selling House To The Council, Do They Buy Private Houses?

Selling a property always seems to be a frustrating, tedious and difficult task. The whole process poses issues, especially when you are needing to sell your property within a certain time frame. There is no guarantee that traditional methods such as estate agents can find a buyer on the open market within a timescale that suits you.

This already stressful situation can have added pressure applied if the property you are trying to sell is a council house.
Within this blog, it will discuss whether you can sell your council property and the procedures that you may need to go through to do so.

Can I sell a council house?

Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to this question. Whether or not you can sell a council house depends on personal factors such as location and situation.

The first thing you need to do is to check with your local council’s housing department or your equivalent to this. Your local authority will be able to give you a better answer as to where your property stands.

Currently, it is no secret that councils up and down the UK are low on housing stock. Many are keen to have people renting. On top of this, there has also been cuts in funding for many councils.

Due to these cuts, it is hard to estimate how much funding each authority is given. Additionally, it therefore means that policies on properties in different authorities may be slightly different.

As well as local authority funding and spending, there are other factors that need to be considered. Your local area and the type of property you own will impact on whether or not you are able to sell.

Certain councils often look for properties with criteria. For example, within the Halifax borough, their may be a shortage of two-bed properties for the population.

The council may not let you sell a property if its four-bed due to this criterion. On the other hand, some local councils may be willing to buy your council property back from you.

How much is my council house worth?

You might be wondering whether your council house is worth less than that house across the street that's very similar, but not ex-council.

The reason you might be thinking this is that when purchasing a council house you get a discount on it's market value, this is the councils Right To Buy scheme.

If you've been a tenant of a public sector property for between 3-5 years then you'll get a 35% discount, and 1% more for every extra year after that 5.

If it's a flat however, you'll be able to get an even larger discount, which is still subject to the same duration, but it's set at 50% and then 2% for every extra year over the 5.

Essentially the answer is no, your council house will be worth it's market value, whatever that is determined to be.

The only exception is that you may have to pay back some of your discount if you sell your home within 5 years of buying it from the council under the Right To Buy scheme.

What is the Right To Buy scheme?

This completely depends. If you've bought an ex council property then you might be able to sell it back to your local council.

Councils have no obligation to buy your home back so it depends as to whether they are actively buying property or not, which is usually subject to how much demand they have for housing in the area.

The only way you can check if your local council are buying ex council houses back is by getting in touch with them directly.

If they are, they will likely get an independent valuation done on your property & provide you with an offer based on this.

What if my local authority will not buy my council house?

There are other ways. There are other processes you can go through. However, some may be lengthy and complicated.

Bare in mind also, that some of the other different solutions to selling your home may not give you the full market value.

Councils in general will struggle to pay you the market value for your property as they simply cannot afford to. Plus, you may still find yourself waiting to sell due to delays as the council will not be able to buy your property quickly.

Can You Sell An Ex Council House Back To The Council?

If the property you are trying to sell is ex-council then you may be subjected to a buyback condition. This means that you must first offer it to the council or housing association before you take it to the open market.

If you are selling your ex-council house within 10 years of purchase through either the Right-To-Buy scheme or Right-To-Acquire scheme then it will be subject to the right of first refusal.

What this means is that you offer it back to the local housing association or housing department before selling it on.

If you decide to sell within the first five years of purchasing the property, then you will be required to repay some or all of the discount that was given to you.

How much will the council pay for my ex-council property?

If you decide to sell the property back to the council, then they will usually pay you market value for it.

However, this depends upon the area that you are situated and whether or not the council buys property.

Should your property require any renovation or repair work in order to make it suitable for letting, then you may get below market value for it.

How to sell your council house fast

Here at The Property Buying Company, we can help you sell your ex council home in a timescale to suit you.

We are an alternative to other traditional selling methods. Over our years of trading, we have helped many customers with council houses sell their property in around two to three weeks.

If you sell your property to us, we will help you at every step of the way and as an added bonus we will cover all legal fees for you.

We will only require one quick viewing to make sure that our cash offer is accurate and as we are a genuine cash buyer, once you have accepted our offer that is the amount that you will get in FULL in your bank!

We are also a member of the National Association of Property Buyers and The Property Ombudsman, allowing you to feel safe in our hands.

So, if you are ready to sell your ex-council property, give us a call or fill in our online form for a free, no-obligation CASH offer which we could have in your bank as soon as you choose…