Aff housing - 1 bedroom

Hi there,

Anyone have any advice for me on my situation? I've been offered an affordable housing 1 bed in SDCC region.

How do 1 beds fare in holding their value - I've heard that they've become less attractive to prospective buyers.

Also, I think the valuation I have been given is over-priced - I've seen similar 1 beds in the same estate (in fact one comes furnished) being sold for €5-10,000 less than my valuation.

Do I have any comeback with the authorities on the valuation and who is responsible for making it - the council or the estate agent (or both)?

I'm worried that the clawback % is too high given the over-valuation of the property.

Any advice, please!

I don't quite understand what you mean by "the valuation I have been given". Do you mean the price of the 1 bed unit offered to you? Are you saying that it's possible to buy a similar appartment second hand (and therefore not part of the affordable housing scheme) for less than the price for an affordable unit?

He means the market value that the Council will use to determine any future clawback.

I would have thought that if you're only going to stay there for a few years that there's really no point going down the affordable route, since you're not gaining anything from the discounted price. If it helps, there's no way you can actually lose money on the property, you will always at least get back what you've put into it, since the council will absorb any losses.

I obviously need to go back to the council - they told me that they would take their clawback even if the price depreciated.

shanegl said:

If it helps, there's no way you can actually lose money on the property, you will always at least get back what you've put into it, since the council will absorb any losses.

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Not true. The council will waive all or part of the clawback to prevent the original buyer losing money when they sell. However, if the value of the property goes below the mortgage that the buyer owes on it, then they could still end up losing money.

You're right I forgot about that.

Shanegl - that seems to be like the most likely scenario! If prices continue as they have been for the last couple of months that will be an 10%+ decrease in values this year. My hunch is that 1 bed apts might be harder to shift than larger properties in a slow market and few people will want to stay in a 1 bed for longer than 5 years.