applying for an affordable home..

V

Vacuum Box

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hi,

has anybody in here applied for an affordable home through there local town council ?
 
Virtually all Affordable Homes were acquired by the respective Local Authorities at the peak of the boom. Even with their discount the prices, across the board, exceed those available outside the scheme.

There is virtually no benefit to applying for an AH unit taking prices, red tape and the restrictions involved.

Buy on the open market instead.
 
Well of course everybody would buy on the open market if it was an option, for those of us not fortunate enough to be in the position the AH scheme is doing just fine thanks very much.
In the process of buying a 2 bed house at the moment, process delayed as the purchase price for me has dropped a further 34k to reflect the current market, started the process in sept and I will have the keys to my new home this month.
 
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The one- and two-bedroom apartments cost €132,000- €180,000, and had been offered to all 1,900 applicants on the affordable housing waiting list
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Director of housing Charles McNamara said every effort had been made by staff to increase sales and fast-track closings. But a number of factors were preventing sales. These included difficulties for potential purchasers in securing sufficient, or any, funding from mortgage lenders. The drop in house prices on the open market had also caused problems and applicants were reluctant to commit to a purchase because of uncertainty of employment or because they were waiting to see if market prices dropped further.

“It is now clear there is no interest from affordable [housing] applicants for these units,” Mr McNamara said.

He said the council could consider four options to deal with the unsold homes, including renting the properties to social housing applicants, selling them to a voluntary housing body on the open market, or offering them to affordable housing applicants on a “let-to-buy” basis.

While conscious that no single solution would be suitable to deal with all the unsold properties, Mr McNamara said he was eager to try the let-to-buy option on a pilot basis with up to 20 units. He cautioned councillors that options open to them now might not be available in the future.
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Do yourself a favor, walk away.
 
All very interesting . Im just saying it worked perfectly for me .... the OP should be aware its not all doom & gloom .......
 
Vacuum box it might mean that there is room to negotiate with the councils. Only take an affordable home if it is realistically about 30% less than what properties are selling for in the area - and the trouble is it's hard to know what properties are selling at, it can be different to the asking price even for new homes.

I bought on affordable housing about 18 months ago and am still happy I did. I got a good discount and my property is probably now worth what they're selling at for new. It was my only option. I wouldn't be able to buy now privately because I'd need at least a 10% deposit. Bank accepted 3% for affordable property.

Just make sure you're very happy with the price, the market value, the property itself and the area. You could get a very good deal from the councils at the moment in my opinion.
 
Renter27; Did you apply through your local town council or city council... ? and were you waiting long for approval ..

thanks all !!..
 
Vacuum Box said:
Renter27; Did you apply through your local town council or city council... ? and were you waiting long for approval ..

thanks all !!..
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Buying house thru AH with Fingal. Mortgage with EBS. No hassles getting the mortgage for AH .

Got Approval for the scheme in sept, within a month I was viewing houses. If u want any more details feel free to PM me .
 
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I would be careful with buying affordable housing at the moment. The open market could offer better priceses, more mortgage flexibility and less burocracy. I bought an affordable house in 2003 in Castlecurragh, Fingal valued the house 270.000 , sold to me for 180.000 with a clawback of 33%(around 60.000). A house similar to mine has been recently sold for less than 200.000. Wilson & Moore , the agency that sold it, wouldn't tell me how much was the final price , but I suspect is close to the 180.000 I paid for. Now the situation is if I want to sell I have a clawback to pay + my mortgage is under full control of the corporation, so if I have money to put against to reduce the years on it, I am handcuffed.
 
blackrose said:
I would be careful with buying affordable housing at the moment. The open market could offer better priceses, more mortgage flexibility and less burocracy. I bought an affordable house in 2003 in Castlecurragh, Fingal valued the house 270.000 , sold to me for 180.000 with a clawback of 33%(around 60.000). A house similar to mine has been recently sold for less than 200.000. Wilson & Moore , the agency that sold it, wouldn't tell me how much was the final price , but I suspect is close to the 180.000 I paid for. Now the situation is if I want to sell I have a clawback to pay + my mortgage is under full control of the corporation, so if I have money to put against to reduce the years on it, I am handcuffed.
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If you sold now for what that similar house sold for you wouldn't have to pay any clawback. If you'd bought on the open market you'd be in serious negative equity. It is a pain that your mortgage is under control of the corpo, but then again many private buyers can't remortgage because they are in negative equity. Sounds like you could have done worse.
 
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