Buy your own 'Cinderella' home for just £35k: Two-bedroom flat is cheapest former council house on first property site of its kind (but the most expensive comes in at just under £1MILLION)
- Former local authority homes once shunned by prospective buyers are now growing in popularity in Britain
- Ex-Council.com puts buyers in contact with estate agents which have former council houses on their books
- Most expensive is a three-bedroom end of terrace in Hampstead, north London, which is valued at £950,000
- Meanwhile, cheapest option is a two-bed, first-floor flat in Girvan, south Ayrshire, available for just £35,000
Britain's first property website specialising in selling ex-council houses has been created to meet the rising demand for 'Cinderella' homes.
While former local authority homes were once shunned by prospective buyers they are now growing in popularity.
Now the portal Ex-Council.com has been launched to put buyers in contact with estate agents which have former council houses on their books.
The most expensive on the website is a three-bedroom end of terrace in Hampstead, north London, which is valued at £950,000, while the cheapest is a two-bedroom first floor flat in Girvan, south Ayrshire for just £35,000.
The website's research shows there are 2.7 million ex-council properties in the UK - equating to more than one in ten homes.
The cheapest property available on Ex-Council.com is a two-bedroom first floor flat Girvan, south Ayrshire, yours to buy for just £35,000
The home lives up to its price tag when you venture inside, with cheap furniture and a filthy mattress among the decor found within the master bedroom
The home's budget bathroom is low on features, with no bath available and limited shelving. An asking price of just £35,000 makes it more than twice as cheap as the average deposit needed to buy a house in London
The site's research found that ex-council properties houses are better priced than other properties with many selling for up to 15 per cent cheaper
The website's research shows there are 2.7 million ex-council properties in the UK - equating to more than one in ten homes
The company's research has also shown that Harlow in Essex is the ex-council house heartland, with 29 per cent of available former local authority property in its stock.
Meanwhile, Crawley in West Sussex has a total of 5,296 ex-council homes - the highest number in the country.
Mal McCallion, business development manager of Ex-Council.com, said they got the idea of the portal after they realised the ex-council house sector was being ignored.
Keen to tap into this market, the team spent 12 months building up information and contacts which have now come together.
Mr McCallion said: 'Former local authority homes have spent years being unloved and under-valued. From our point of view however, ex-council housing is actually the "Cinderella Sector" of the property market.
'There is something for everyone from our £1million houses to are very cheapest ones. We sell three and four bed houses and we sell small apartments.
'About a year ago we looked at what types of properties were not getting the attention they deserved and were pretty shocked at how much ex-council properties were slipping under the radar.
'Since then we've been really kind to utilise that and have been stealth mode really. We've got a tight team and we've been working really hard doing our research on the sector.
At a cost price close to £1million, there is no doubt that this home in Hampstead is among the most luxurious former council properties on the UK market
This three-bedroom, end of terrace home in leafy Hampstead, north London,has been valued at £950,000 -making it the most expensive former council-owned property available on Ex-Council.com
It will come at no surprise that this home is on the market for nearly £1million, considering its large garden that has been landscaped to include generous decking area and pristine hedges
Inside the £950,000 home there is laminate flooring and large French doors connecting the sitting and dining area with the property's generously-sized garden
The stunning house's kitchen comes with lots of surface space for preparing meals, with views out onto the garden's decking area, which would allow any potential owner to indulge in some al-fresco dining
'We've been focusing our research down to really localised levels so we can even know how prevalent these properties are in specific postcode areas.
'We've had a lot of interest from estate agents who are interested in getting involved and that is because it is a really wide market.
The site's research found that ex-council properties houses are better priced than other properties with many selling for up to 15 per cent cheaper.
Mr McCallion said: 'Prices vary depending on where in the country you are but if you're buying a two or three bed family home the savings could be huge.
'The homes are usually larger than their non-council counterparts because they were built in the 1960s and 1970s when land wasn't the priority it is today and investors like them because they return high-yields.
'They can sell for between 10 per cent and 15 per cent less than other homes - which means that they are an affordable alternative for first-time buyers, and for some people, their only way into a desirable area.'
The portal Ex-Council.com has been launched to put buyers in contact with estate agents with former council houses on their books
Council homes in Britain selling for seven-figure sums
A number of former council homes in Britain have been put on the market and sold for seven-figure sums in the last few years.
A pair of two-bedroom former council flats went on the market for more than £1million each in London - directly above Stella McCartney's boutique.
The neighbouring third-floor apartments, which were once owned by the borough of Kensington and Chelsea, were sold off to a developer two years ago and underwent an identical refurbishment.
Interior designer Patrick Dougherty is selling the properties in the 1960s block for £1million and £1.15million after paying £720,000 and £660,000 respectively for them.
The flats in Brompton Cross, South Kensington, featured two shower rooms, mood lighting, a fully integrated kitchen and wine fridge and hand-crafted chevron flooring throughout.
A pair of two-bedroom former council flats (pictured) went on the market for more than £1million each in London - directly above Stella McCartney's boutique
In 2015, Britain's most expensive council houses were revamped by a property developer - who put them on the market for £3million each.
The sale of the derelict neighbouring houses in Borough, south London, was billed as the priciest ex-local authority sell-off ever.
And almost two years after they were bought for a total of £2.96million, the first of the homes went on the market for £3.35million.
The Grade II-listed properties were taken over by squatters in 2013 who protested at the housing shortage in the borough of Southwark.
But the council insisted the money raised from the sell-off would fund the building of about 20 new council homes in the borough.
Planning permission for the properties' refurbishment came with clearance for building new conservatories and ‘winter garden’ balconies.
In 2015, Britain's most expensive council houses in Southwark, London (pictured) were revamped by a property developer - who put them on the market for £3million each
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