Buy a house for a pound...

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Buy a house for a pound...

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sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 11:26 am Post subject: Buy a house for a pound...
BBC Linky. Seems like a good idea to me.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 11:29 am Post subject:
I saw that. Couldn't spot the downside, but there's bound to be one. Seems daft that the council have this redundant stock that they can't find a better way of releasing. Wonder if they're banned from spending the pounds on new houses...

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 11:34 am Post subject:

Nick wrote:

I saw that. Couldn't spot the downside, but there's bound to be one.

You have to live in Stoke on Trent for a further five years?

zigs

Joined: 02 Sep 2005
Posts: 524
Location: Somerset

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 11:40 am Post subject:
We had to price for major works on a house that the Daily Mail gave away for a �. It was just on the point of collapse.

vegplot

Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21301
Location: Bethesda, Gwynedd

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 11:50 am Post subject:
I reckon you could double your investment in a year.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 12:04 pm Post subject:
But, you'd get land, with planning permission implicit, regardless. I take the point about Stoke, tho.

oldish chris

Joined: 14 Jun 2006
Posts: 4148
Location: Comfortably Wet Southport

Posted: Tue Apr 23, 13 3:23 pm Post subject:

didn't they once do something similar in Newcastle Upon Tyne many years back? Saved an area from dereliction IIRC.

The thing about towns like Stoke is, that if you have a half decent job you can enjoy a reasonable standard of living (as long as you don't get the sack that is). A young couple, in work and having a bit of spine could do well with one of these houses.

I think I came across a similar idea being proposed for one or two boarded up streets in Liverpool.

sean
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42219
Location: North Devon

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 10:46 am Post subject:
Keys handed over in Liverpool

earthyvirgo

Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 7972
Location: creating prints in the loft, Gerlan

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 11:01 am Post subject:

Rob R wrote:

Nick wrote:

I saw that. Couldn't spot the downside, but there's bound to be one.

You have to live in Stoke on Trent for a further five years?

OK, Stoke itself might not be idyllic but it's a spit from some lovely countryside.

EV

Toffer

Joined: 01 Nov 2009
Posts: 247
Location: Sutton St Edmund, Lincs

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 2:09 pm Post subject:
Stoke overall is not as bad as people think, Cobridge however (which is the bit where these houses are) has only a Machine Mart and a particularly rough red light district.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 2:40 pm Post subject:
Fair enough. But is there a downside as well?

sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 4:57 pm Post subject:
why only people earning over �18k? Lots of decent people working full time and earning far less The are essentially saying 'no self employed'

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 6:48 pm Post subject:
It's a joint income of �18,000. They must have picked it for a reason. Would it be a level of benefit, or something, that would preclude ownership, or whatever? Or maybe they have assumed that would mean the people couldn't afford to do the renovations? Write, and ask. It's a council so they'd have to tell you if you made a FOI request.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Wed Oct 09, 13 6:58 pm Post subject:

sally_in_wales wrote:

why only people earning over �18k? Lots of decent people working full time and earning far less

The are essentially saying 'no self employed'

its probsbly down to the fact that the referb on each house is expected to cost over �35,000 and if they didnt take steps to ensure the people given the house had a fair chance of repaying or even qualifyimg t borrow that much on the first place they would be slated for giving someone a hpise and forcimg them into a debt they couldnt afford.
There is a limit to the number of properties they can give away so they can afford to set some fairly strict conditions i would of thoight.

DorsetScott

Joined: 23 Oct 2011
Posts: 500
Location: Bournemouth

Posted: Thu Oct 10, 13 12:55 pm Post subject:

Pilsbury wrote:

sally_in_wales wrote:

why only people earning over �18k? Lots of decent people working full time and earning far less

The are essentially saying 'no self employed'

its probsbly down to the fact that the referb on each house is expected to cost over �35,000

That was my thoughts. Whilst it excluded a lot of people from being able to apply, the entire point of the exercise was regeneration of the area. If a person couldn't afford to repay the loan to renovate the property then the regeneration would surely fail?

Also, how does it exclude self employed people any more than full time employees? If a self employed person earnt the wage range that was specified then surely they could apply?

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