Right to buy - service charge..has anyone had experience of this?

Question

i'm in the middle of buying my property from the council but they want me to pay an annual service charge of £1800. i think this is a ridiculous amount of money to pay every year. i've been told that most first time buyers would do well to buy a property from the council but how can anyone expect to get on the property ladder with a service charge as high as this. Any advice would be welcome

Answer 1

Sorry to say it, but welcome to the world of property ownership! This is the reality of it, it isn't that much cheaper than renting really!

£1800 isn't that bad. When I bought my council place I had a one off refurbishment charge of £10,000 one year.

By buying under the right to buy scheme you are paying substantially less than the market value, so just buy it and put up with the service charges, before moving elsewhere.

Service charges of that level will have an effect on the market value of the property so the effect of it is probably already accounted for in a lower purchase price. Without that annual charge I expect the property would cost maybe £20-£30K more.

Just weigh it all up and make a decision. Personally - I'd go for it because of the "right to buy" reduced price, but you need to work it out for yourself if you can afford to keep paying for it.

Good luck