Council demands extra £360,000 following Right-to-Buy blunder

Right-to-Buy which many will see as a completely out of date, unfair and a drain to the UK housing stock hits the headlines again with Islington Council, who gave away at a discount one of their flats on Islington street, now demanding at extra £360,000 following a blunder on ‘bedrooms’.

Two years later the council saw the flat as being a two bedroom property over a one and so that means they want some extra cash from the owner who got it cheap off of them, a Mr Antony Zomparelli. Having originally purchased it at a discount (wouldn’t we all love to do that when we are searching for a property to buy) at £340,000 he now is facing an additional bill of £360,000 as the council sees the values being actually £700,000 – The courts will decide the outcome.

Sorry, but as a council you messed up and charged your ex tenant a set fee which he accepted and purchased at – It was your property and surely you should know the amount of bedrooms unless of course we are going down the route I recently wrote about and they are seeing rooms like a bathroom / kitchen / uncoverted loft space as an additional bedroom.

“Antony Zomparelli, 54, bought his two-bed flat from Islington Borough Council for £340,000 in 2014, under the Right to Buy scheme which allows council tenants to purchase their homes.” Full story on the Daily Mail website.

Antony Zomparelli said: “I would never have bought the property if I knew it was going to cost £700,000. It would never have crossed my mind.”

 

Christopher Walkey

Founder of Estate Agent Networking. Internationally invited speaker on how to build online target audiences using Social Media. Writes about UK property prices, housing, politics and affordable homes.

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