The following are costs that you are likely to incur in the purchase of your property:

• Legal fees
• Survey fees
• Valuation fees and other costs associated with taking out a mortgage.
• Stamp duty (if applicable)

Freeholder

Once you have purchased your property you will become a freeholder if it is a house or a leaseholder if it is a flat or maisonette. The following are some of the on-going costs and responsibilities you need to consider and make sure you have allowed for. You must bear in mind that properties need to be maintained and kept in good repair.

Your costs as a freeholder will include:

• Monthly mortgage payments (if you have taken out a mortgage); you may also wish to take out mortgage payment protection insurance
• Building insurance for the structure of the house (usually a requirement of granting a mortgage from the building society or bank) as well as home contents insurance and possibly life insurance
• Day-to-day repairs within your home and for its structure which can be quite costly, for example; if your boiler breaks down or your roof starts leaking
• Council tax, charges for water, gas and/or electricity supplies, sewerage and other utility services, regular bills if you are on a private sewerage system or cesspool/septic tank (usually in rural areas)

You need to be aware of the risk of repossession of your home if you do not make regular mortgage payments.

Leaseholders

If you are buying a flat or maisonette you will be a leaseholder. Although the Council will remain responsible for the structure of the property you will be required to pay for any work that is carried out to the structure of your home or shared parts, such as communal staircase areas. These costs will be passed on to you annually in a service charge. Your service charge can also include an estimated amount for day-to-day repairs, communal cleaning (if applicable), building insurance and ground rent. You are responsible for any maintenance and improvements carried out within your property and for the annual servicing of your boiler (if applicable).

Your costs as a leaseholder will include:

• Monthly mortgage payments (if you have taken out a mortgage); you may also wish to take out mortgage payment protection insurance
• Home contents insurance, and possibly life insurance
• Day-to-day repairs within your home and its structure, for example if your boiler breaks down
• Council tax, charges for water, gas and/or electricity supplies, sewerage and other utility services
• Service charges to the Council
• The service charge you pay to the Council can include annual charges and one-off charges

Service charges can include:

• Ground rent
• Building Insurance for the structure. This is usually arranged through the council or it is possible to arrange your own insurance with certain conditions
• A proportion of the day-to-day repairs of the communal areas and structure
• A management fee (currently 12.5% of the total annual charge)
• Communal area cleaning/caretaker costs (if applicable)
• Communal area electricity costs (if applicable)
• Maintenance of fire alarms, emergency lighting and fire extinguishers (if applicable)

One off Charges

The Council carries out improvement works on a regular basis to the structure and communal areas, for example; renewing flooring or decorating of communal areas, upgrading of fire alarms, replacing roofs, re-pointing brickwork. You will be responsible for paying for your proportion of these costs.

These costs are limited for approximately five years after purchase to the amounts specified in your Offer Notice but after this time you will be charged your proportion for all costs incurred.

These notes do not cover of everything that is involved in the purchase of a property under the Right to Buy Scheme. They are for guidance only as individual circumstances may vary. You are strongly recommended to obtain your own legal advice once you have decided to proceed with your purchase.

Discounts you may have to repay if you sell

If you are considering selling the property it is important that you note the following information:

• A percentage of the discount based on the resale value is repayable should you sell the property within 5 years from the date of completion.
• The Council has a right of first refusal on the property so, in certain circumstances, if you should wish to sell the property within 10 years from the date of completion of your purchase, you must first offer the property back to the Council.  The Council will then advise you whether it wishes to repurchase the property.  This may save you estate agency fees.