Valuations & clawback: Affordable Initiative Only


Well done on this swordshead! I'm having a similar problem with a 2-bed apt I've been offered in the new Marrsfield development D13. They set the market value at 378k, which is way over the top. I was told by the council they can't do anything about the valuation. AHP told me that I should wait until the Bank's valuation has been done. Will AHP just change their valuation to this valuation, or is there more to it? How thorough are valuations done by the Bank's valuers, especially seeing as the apt is in plans? Any help would be great guys.
 
I went through a broker for my mortgage so they got an independent valuer out to look at the apt. They valued it at €320k whereas the AHP were selling it for €345k. After meeting with some neighbours we agreed that they were chancing there arm and decided to ask them for another valuation. After many weeks they came back with a figure of €328k, a reduction of €17k and hence a reduction in clawback of 4% (i am buying it for €245k). The valuations of some of my neighbours seemed to vary wildly and the ahp stated that valuers were giving figures based on second hand homes in the area..this was just an excuse though! If you feel your property is overvalued i would definitely write to them outlining your concerns! I would also try and find some of your neighbours in the same position to compare notes with. The ahp will obviously try and get away with selling at the higher price but the more people who complain the better. I know of one neighbour who wouldve paid the higher price only for we were all talking with each other and knew what was going on. They will warn you not be communicating information with other people (honestly), myself and another guy got warned about forwarding emails between each other, so just be careful that you try and stay under the radar if you know what i mean..i was careful to keep personal details anonymous when posting on this forum as they do monitor this site (out of the mouth of an ahp employee). I know im makin this sound a bit dodgy, its just to ensure that you do get a fair deal without p*ssin them off at the sametime. Good luck!
 
I seriously can't believe a Shane Ross/Eddie Hobbs consumer champion type person hasn't picked up this. The Affordable Housing scheme seems to be so unregulated and open to abuse that it's embarressing.
 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.
 
Howitzer said:
I seriously can't believe a Shane Ross/Eddie Hobbs consumer champion type person hasn't picked up this. The Affordable Housing scheme seems to be so unregulated and open to abuse that it's embarressing.
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Eddie ~Hobbs is no longer the social warrior he was! sure he's selling properties in Turkey now ! rem his skit on paddy buying in Turkey?? the irony of money
 
Hi Folks,

I was wondering if anyone has had dealings with KCC specifically with regard to the AH and getting their valuation reduced. I signed for a place in April this year with the valuation by KCC at 320K and my banks valuation at 285K. At the time I didnt question it because I was happy to be getting a place and ~11% in a difference would be made back in possibly a year of good growth.

However I have recently discovered that similar apartments in the same area are being sold under AH for 245K now if my apartment is in line with this its dropped 80K in 6months putting me at a serious disadvantage. I would have no problem battling this one out with KCC but the problem is that I got a notification of closure last week so its the 11th hour. Any suggestions on what I should do?

Im due to snag the place this week and I was thinking of getting the apartment valued independently at the same time (as I dont have ready access to it) but is there any point in shelling out this money, once the sale is closed is it game over or can I still get the valuation reduced?

I would think that the County Councils would be on top of this as in the end its money coming of of their pockets (well the taxpayers really) or is it a anyother case of blatant cronyism?

Dave
 
I've said this before, but surely the relevant market value is the one at the time you signed the contracts not completion. This is how the open market operates, and such purchasers cannot (in most cases) negotiate the price downwards after signing contracts. If the market value was inflated at the time of signing the contracts then you may have an argument, but I can;t see how you can successfully seek to have them marked down post contract signing.
 
@Card - I suppose in one sense yes you are correct and that is the nature of the beast. If I was purchasing the property privately then I along with everyone else acknowledge and take on that risk. However the fact remains that this is not a straight forward sale on the open market this is a scheme put in place by the government with the intent of making housing "affordable" for those who cannot afford to purchase on the open market. The basic premise of the scheme being that the government/local council absorbs some of the financial strain of purchasing a property. It is fundamentally flawed that the same scheme exasperates the risk of purchasing for a group that by definition is not able to mitigate that risk.

Apart from my own personal opinion that the implementation of the scheme and management of the scheme is a shambles you cannot draw direct parallels with a sale on the open market due to the restraints with the scheme which remove the normal leverage and options afforded to a purchaser in a private sale from an individual who is purchasing affordable housing. The biggest of which being that you do not have the same flexibility as you do with a private purchase. If I had the freedom associated with my purchase on the open market I could pull out at this stage and walk away or at least threaten to as a means manipulate the price or expedite the sale. As it is affordable housing who cares if I pull out there’s someone else to take my place and I go back on a list and have to wait all over again (which was nearly two years due to a clerical error)

If I was purchasing this property on the open market I would have pulled out a long time ago due to delays alone. The property has been ready for nearly 6-months now (when I put down the deposit) with other properties in the block being inhabited more than 4 months ago.

Finally the fact still remains that the initial valuation was way above market value in my case there was a difference in 35K in the space of two weeks which cannot be attributed to a "dip" in the market. Last time I checked the This post will be deleted if not edited to remove bad language had not fallen out of the property market as a whole or in the area where the apartment is.


Dave
 
You state "If I had the freedom associated with my purchase on the open market I could pull out at this stage and walk away or at least threaten to as a means manipulate the price or expedite the sale." (Sorry don't know how to quote). On the open market you could stand to lose your deposit and/or be sued for the balance, (I know someone is going to come back and say this doesn't happen all the time, but it is a real threat but to not at least forfeit your deposit you are really relying on the goodwill of the developer) and I don't think it's fair to say that there is freedom associated with this stage of the process in the open market,

Have a look at a few of the threads which are on here by people who's property which they are purchasing on the open market has fallen in value since signing contracts.

I myself am applying for affordable housing, so am interested in the process and am not totally negative about the whole process,(like many I have come across especially those who have purchased on the open market and believe the system to be totally inequitable) but I don't believe that those of us applying for affordable housing should have the balance totally tilted in our favour or get added protections which are not available to those purchasing on the open market. A friend of mine is on the same waiting list as me, she's is currently examining the market value of the property which is being offered to her as in the estate the affordable housing are smaller than the open market value ones so obviously she doesn;t believe it should carry the same value. She has yet to sign contracts so is a step before you and still I believe in a position to negotiate.

At the end of the day I don't think, we can't have it everyway, I believe the system is there to provide affordable housing not to provide additional protections to buyers of affordable houses which are not there for buyers on the open market, I don't believe that the law of contract should be suspended for those of us seeking affordable housing
 
Interviewees needed for article on Affordable Housing

Hi All,
I am a freelance journalist but I have a full-time 'day' job also, anyway I have been asked by a bi-monthly magazine to write an article profiling women who have successfully obtained and live in an affordable housing apartment or house. I am looking for example for a couple, a working professional mum, a live at home mum, single girl etc, all living happily in their 'home sweet affordable home'. If anyone is interested pls do e-mail me on aoifemacm@gmail.com, many thanks Aoife
 
Re: Interviewees needed for article on Affordable Housing

 
im in the same situation, its bugging me cause i dont know where to turn next,
on the letter from coucil it said the market value was 315k but when i rang the auctioneers enquiring about the selling price of this property it was actuall 285k?!!
i rang the council and the girl on the phone couldnt understand what i was talking about when i tried to explain that i would be paying a higher % clawback than i should be , she kept telling me youll be paying the same price anyway so ignore that and then when i mentioned clawback she said shes just get her supervisor to ring me back because she didnt know.
i never got any phone call back. i tried ringing them again a few days later and keep gettin an answering machine
what am i supposed to do!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:
 
happy123 said:
what am i supposed to do!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:
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Have you done any of the things i did in this thread??

I found i got a quicker response by emailing the ahp compared to phoning. Email them your concerns and ask them to outline the reasoning behind their valuation. Contact your new neighbours if possible as it sounds like there'll be more than just you in this situation. Contact your solicitor and ask him/her to write to the ahp/council. Unfortunately you have to bite the bullet and stand up for yourself...dont wait for someone else to do it!
 
thanks swordhead, ive been onto council a number of times with no joy.
just off the phone from one guy and he said theres no way the market price is open to negotiation because thats the price it was at the time of offer. i doubt that very much as its worth 285k now and i doubt it would have dropped from 315 in a matter of months.
i also emailed my solictor because find it very hard to catch her on the phone shes always with clients. havent heard from her yet.
its not looking like its going to be easy.
hopefully my solicitor will be able to do something.
im also ringing the auctioneers to ask them was the property ever actually selling at 315k
 
My Two Cent

1. Forget what the Councils say.
2. check the legislation governing the clawback.
3. Find out what exactly Market Value means under the legislation.
4. If the legislation supports the view market value is the value on the open market i.e not what the county council say the clawback % is in the contract
5. Find out from a solicitor if terms of the contract are void as they contradict the legislation.
 
I bought my apt back off the council and paid the claw back. The claw back % was the initial % we got of a discount when we bought the property. Eg. Property was worth 260k we paid 220k so discount was 12%. I then had to pay 12% of a claw back on the price the property was valued at the time i wanted to buy it off them. So my property was valued at 310k, i had to pay 38,000k back to them, on top of the 220,000, which worked out at me having to go to the bank and look for a mortgage of 258,000. any other questions, fire ahead. I know this inside out and back to front at this stage.
 
Clongriffin said:
I bought my apt back off the council and paid the claw back. .
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Just curious why you bought them out in the year? Why didnt you just buy it outright in the first place or did your financial circumstances change significantly?
 
Hi, you can not buy them out the moment you get onto the affordable housing. You have to wait for a minimum of 1 year, yet due to an error in what they told me, i was able to buy them out before the year was up, please note though it was only 1 month short of the year. The reason i did shared ownership at the start and not affordable housing was because i bought the property on my own and was not ellligable for affordable housing. then my Boyfriend wished to own the property with me, so between the two of us, we coudl afford a full mortgage with the bank and buy them out of the claw back, thus we now own the property privately and if we wish to sell now, it is our property and the council are no longer involved.
 
does you claw back reduce over time though?

I know if your their 20 years the property is fully yours but after 5 years is your clawback reduced by a quarter?
 
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