House expansion

[kwicky]

A relative of mine who is in the building trade lives in a council house. His wife is expecting twins. The house is incapable of housing them as they already have a large family. If he approached the council he would require a 4/5 bedroom exchange which are very short on the ground. As he is in the building trade he would be willing to extend his council house himself. Do they offer grants for cases like this?

[yummymum]

I only know that you can make changes to the inside as long as if you moved out things could be put back to how the council had it, I think he would have to buy the house first to do any major work which is a good idea as you get a really good discount, i think you have to live there for 2 years to buy and cant sell it on for a while afterwards

[Pippa68]

My sister extended their council house before they bought it. Whether they informed the council they were going to buy, I don't know!

In any case, permission was granted to extend and two years later they bought the house. I am not sure if grants are available, as my sister & brother in law paid for the extension themsleves.