When you complete your Right to Buy purchase, you stop paying rent to the local authority but there are a number of on-going costs associated with home ownership. When considering whether you can afford to buy through the scheme, bear in mind that you will have to make the following payments:-
- Mortgage Payments – This will occur if you have taken a mortgage to finance your purchase and if you have done so you must make your regular mortgage payments (usually each month). If you do not keep up your payments, you run the risk of losing your home and becoming homeless.
- Service Charges – if you buy a flat or maisonette, you have to pay service charges. These are charges that pay for the cost of the services provided to the block, e.g. repairs to the communal parts, caretaking, grass-cutting, the building insurance premium, the electricity supplied to the communal hallway, staircase etc. If the authority carries out major repairs to the block, e.g. putting on a new roof, you have to contribute a percentage of the costs, which may amount to several thousand pounds.
- Charges for Sewerage services and the supply of Water, Gas and Electricity – you are no doubt paying directly for some of these services while a tenant of the authority. When you buy your home, you become responsible for paying for all of them. It is advisable to contact each supplier to discuss the most appropriate payment method for you.
- Council Tax – you remain responsible for paying your council tax to the appropriate authority
- Insurance – as well as the buildings insurance premium, which you pay to the authority as part of your service charge, you need insurance to protect you in case you are unable to make your mortgage payments because of illness, unemployment, redundancy etc. This kind of insurance policy is often called a “mortgage protection policy”.
Please call us on 0207 183 0084 or email us on property@olaleslie.com for a fixed fee conveyancing quotation and to ask us any questions that you have; we are always happy to assist.
We are Right to Buy, Residential & Commercial Conveyancing Specialists !
Ola Kupoluyi, Partner
Ola Leslie Solicitors
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