Has anybody bought a house privately on a council estate?

[Varenne]

We're close to buying a house on an estate which has a lot of housing association tenants. We're paying a lot of money for it (as in our whole life savings and more) because despite the estate location it's in a really convenient and expensive part of Berkshire and is a large 3 bed.

We're very tolerant and accepting people and realise that the majority (and hopefully all) of our neighbours will be lovely and things should go smoothly. I know most housing association tenants are no more likely to be trouble than those who aren't.

I suppose we do have a few reservations because we worry that the property wont appreciate in value because of the unemployment etc in the area and we may end up stuck.

Most of the houses on the street are wonderfully maintained and the people obviously really care, but there is a neighbour whose house looks very run down with a lot of beer cans/litter in the front garden, curtains mostly all drawn all day and windows covered with mattresses. We can see all this from the windows of the potential house. It is definitely occupied because we see their TV on and cigarette smoke. I feel judgemental and horrible for even pointing this out, but we've been back at all hours, day and night, weekends and weekdays, and the house always looks the same.

Are we being enormous snobs for worrying about this? Please be brutally honest if we are, I can handle it. We just want a nice quiet future for our future family and want to make a sensible financial investment too.

If anybody has direct experience of buying/living on an estate I'd love to know how it's worked out.

We could afford a more "desirable" area but would lose a room or two!

 

[lilyd]

You are not a snob at all. Buying a house is a major investment and so it makes perfect sense to look at all aspects of both the house and its surroundings.

My first home was an ex housing association home, as was the majority of the surrounding area, although it wasn't as estate. I never had any problems and enjoyed living there.

Looking out on an eyesore isn't pleasant, but it doesn't necessarily mean they will be problem neighbours and if they are tenants then they may be forced to tidy the property at some point.

In your shoes, I would probably knock on a couple of neighbours doors, tell them you are thinking of buying and have a chat with them about the area. If they are nice people, I'm sure they won't mind!

Good luck x

 

[Varenne]

Thank you so much for the non-judgemental reply, it's useful to get another perspective...I was worried people would think I was being snooty, because we're honestly not that kind of person.

We did knock on a couple of doors and got positive feedback on the area. One lady said it was family-friendly and people knew eachother, that kids could play on the street together etc. Another talked about how it's good for dog owners as there are lots around and walking space. Neither really addressed our concerns because we didn't know how to word them differently without sounding rude! Kids and dogs could be great (safe family area) or could be a nuisance depending on how long they're out, whether they bark a lot or are loud etc.

We have walked around at different times of day. It's mostly quiet with occasional barking dogs. Saturday night had a couple of loud parties down the road, but it looked like 18th birthdays. There are teenagers walking the streets sometimes but I take it they're just walking to and from their houses rather than loitering!

I think we're going to take the plunge and put up some trellis to block out the view of the littered house.

 

[LoraLoo]

Our first home was also ex council although most houses in the area had already been bought. The house itself was very well built and sturdy, we found the neighbours friendly and had 4 happy years there. We also made a £70 k profit on the house do it is possible x

 

[special_kala]

Honestly i think you do sound a bit snobby. Even if you lived in estate with only private houses you will still have that one dodgy house.

In my area every new estate has to have some council housing too.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

I would tell them to tidy it up haha.. my neighbour always says to me " u can borrow my tree loppers if you want" cheeky cow haha although she usually has a point

Honestly you get your good and bad with council estates... you can walk through some areas and they are lovely well maintained houses, and sometimes you can walk through an ENTIRE street with beer cans in the gardens and loud yobs screaming in the street.

If it is just the one house I would ignore it they might not even be there forever x

 

[highhopes19]

I don't think you sound snobby at all and I grew up on a council estate .

Buying a home is such an important investment it would be silly not to look at it from every angle!

From a different perspective also I grew up in the roughest council estate (well was known as the roughest) in my town everyone avoided it like the plague! Have no idea why we loved it there and had 15 happy years there no trouble at all everyone looked out for everyone it was a real community feel and a few people owned their own houses their Aswell.

We moved in 2008 to one of the most poshest areas in the town so we went from one end to the other.... This was a housing assosiation hosue that was adapted for my disabled dad.... Beautiful house beautiful to the outside people who come and visit think its posh BUT there is nothing but trouble car jacking, breakins, criminal damage . Majority of the neighbours are rude and unfriendly

Not all council estates are as bad as they seem

 

[whistle]

Our house is ex council and the neighbours both sides are still council. I love our house and our neighbourhood. We have a similar feeling with lots of kids/dog walkers and I think it adds to a community feeling. We know so many people in the area by face and all the older residents get on the bus in the morning for a natter. All the council owned houses in our neighbourhood get regularly maintained - fronts painted etc so our street always looks fresh and presentable. A lot of the private properties are owned by first time buyer/young families like us.

 

[sarahchops86]

I dont think its snobby at all to worry about who your neighbours are?? I live on a council estate atm altho we are moving out into the country next month. My husband is looking at purchasing a buy to let investment property- and thats the first thing I look at- the neighbours houses and upkeep and I'm not even going to be living there! If there was a house like that it would absolutely make me wonder! I know even if you have lovely neighbours and a well kept street anyone could move in but I think OP is just being sensible

 

[Varenne]

Thanks so much everyone for your kind and honest replies I can understand you thinking we sound snobby kala. There's no way we'd have been this concerned if we were just renting again, but this is the big one we've been saving up every penny for for the past few years and we want it to be a real home like we dreamt of. I forgot to mention a few other things that concerned us, like a patrolling police car (despite it being cul-de-sacs, no through road) a couple of loud parties etc, but again, could probably happen anywhere.

After all the advice we've decided to go ahead with the deal. It's a shame that we have a view of the unkempt house, but I don't think there's much we can do about it, and as the property we're buying had so much interest I doubt it's lowered its value too much. Anyway, who are we to be snobby about it? It's what we can afford in Berks.

I grew up in a council area with high unemployment rates, but since becoming an adult I have always lived in more affluent areas. Unfortunately my memories of childhood involve neighbour nuisance and disputes (loud music, swearing over the fence etc) and while I understand that it's not because it was a council area it has made me cautious when it comes to neighbours, so the state of the neighbouring house bothered us. We're renting in a very "posh" area at the moment surrounded by professional couples who work long hours and you don't hear a peep from them. They're so uppity and proud they'll make subtle comments if your lawn hasn't been mown in a couple of weeks. Looking around the new estate, it'll be a change from that!

It's reassuring to hear everyone's positive experiences and we're becoming far more excited than worried. We've never done this before so we've got ourselves into a bit of a flap. Being sensible, if it didn't work out we could always sell up and move in a few years, and at least our feet are on the ladder now.

Thanks again ladies, I'll update you on how it is once we've moved and probably feel silly that I even worried.

 

[Varenne]

I would tell them to tidy it up haha.. my neighbour always says to me " u can borrow my tree loppers if you want" cheeky cow haha although she usually has a point

This is our current neighbours. One even mowed our lawn for us.

 

[summer rain]

Yes we did in the past, sadly we couldn't keep up with the cost of the mortgage payments and the house so we sold it but that's a whole other story. Where we lived the housing was roughly 60% bought via RTB houses and 40% still council owned. You'd get the odd scruffy house and garden but most of the houses out ours to shame as both the council tenants and owne occupiers were very house proud and being a true traditional working class area, a lot of them were builders, handymen, electricians and so on so all you'd see going out at a weekend was people doing some serious DIY on their houses. The area was lovely and calm as well. There was one anti social family but they lived in one of the better kept privately owned houses xx

 

[Button#]

I live in an ex council flat with most of the surrounding properties are still council owned including next door. The neighbours here are lovely and it's a very quiet estate.

Our last flat was on a private road full of couples and it was awful. We had people above us stomping around and playing music all night then other people getting up at 5am and putting on their music and there always seemed to be people moving in and out of properties at midnight. I was so happy when we left.

 

[Tasha]

I dont think you sounded snobby. You would of still been concerned about the unkempt house whether it was a council estate or not.

My brother lives on a part housing association and part of private estate in Bagshot (so Surrey but not far from the borders of Berkshire) and they love it, it's a real little community. I've seen police patrolling it a few times but I don't get the impression it is because there is trouble there, but rather taking policing back to how it use to be. Everyone knows the local policeman's name and therefore that helps if there is any trouble (people more likely to turn to someone they feel they know) but again promotes that community feeling.

I hope you go ahead and it is everything you dreamed of and more x

 

[Varenne]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It's really helped to put our minds at rest so we can start enjoying this!

We're definitely going ahead as we paid for the survey today

 

[Indi84]

I'm so intrigued to where this is, I'm a Berkshire girl too. We want to upsize but sally can't afford to move back into Wokingham or even get bigger where we are, so might be doing the same thing as you soon, with same reservations.