Council tenants complaining about their 'fixtures'

[Delilah21D00LoT]

I know I'm being unreasonable, but I just want to get this off my chest. Please feel free to ignore or have 'your say' too.

I joined a facebook page/forum: www.facebook.com/groups/diyonabudgetofficial/
about 4 weeks ago so that I could follow and get ideas.

There are stacks of people who've been painting their kitchens - as they cannot afford a new one (this includes me) and a heck of a lot of them are Council Tenants complaining about their "shitty, crappy, cheap shit, typical Council Kitchens" when they've posted a picture of these so called "shite kitchens" they look pretty decent - basic - but decent.

One person was complaining that she didn't like the 'beech kitchen' that the council had put in when she moved in the year before and she'd complained to them that she wanted 'white gloss units', but also complained when the council said 'No, we will not change it just because you don't like it"

Others have been complaining of their "shitty, non-flat or wonky walls, wood chipped walls and so on" what do people want? They've got a Council House or Flat - do they expect it to be done up like some brand new property?

We bought our house some 12 years ago - it still requires work. None of our walls are flat, straight or smooth, there are chips and cracks everywhere.

The kitchen is now over 20 years old and has been repaired repeatedly over the years and I painted all the units at the beginning of the year to brighten it up - and it actually looks pretty good.
I come from Council myself and have several friends who are still in Council properties, but they are the older generation (30's, 40's and 50's) and seem incredibly grateful for their home.

I think I'll just leave the group as I can no longer tolerate the selfish people who seem to expect everything to be handed to them.

I need to shut up, I know.

Sorry if I or this has offended anyone.

~ Delilah ~

[GooseLose]

If you have seen these attitudes you are definitely not being unreasonable!

[uokhunni]

I hear you Op, I've just seen over the last few weeks a running update of someone's new kitchen being fitted and all the associated moans on Facebook.

When it's all being paid for by a HA.

[greendale17]

YANBU- some people don’t realise how lucky they are to get a council house

[MinervaSaidThat]

YANBU. White gloss units!

I've just requested to change the group and got asked questions about sticky back plastic and d c fix.

[MinervaSaidThat]

• join the group

[CheshireChat]

Some people are entitled and some councils are absolutely appalling. Just because you have a council house doesn't mean you're not allowed to complain about anything, ever, admittedly the people on the Facebook page sound bad.

[Witsender]

I don't need to point out the difference between an owned house that is yours, you have security in etc and a council home...but you're not wrong to find that irritating.

What are the rules on changing this sort of thing? I mean, could they take the doors off the units and put new ones on? I don't know how the boundaries work there.

[formerbabe]

I don't need to point out the difference between an owned house that is yours, you have security

To a degree, but if you can't pay your mortgage, you can lose your home.

[Rebeccaslicker]

And if you need a new kitchen or bathroom, that's your problem - unless you are one of the few who gets a grant, nobody will come and fit a new one for you at the taxpayers' expense, even if you could never afford to do it yourself.

[Usernamegone]

My parents put a new kitchen in our council house when I was a kid. I think you just had to ask the council for permission (and not put nothing too outlandish in!) My dad fitted it so they only paid for the kitchen. My parent were intending on staying in the house for the rest of their life and you can quite easily get 20/30 years out of a good kitchen

[Frouby]

Is it bash council/ha tenants day today or something?

Just wondering.

[RunningOutOfCharge]

they only need to change the doors.....whitegloss is as common as beech!

[Believeitornot]

Well I can see both sides.

First of, they are entitled to have a decent home. Everyone is.

But if they’re being fussy about decor then they’re ungrateful, I agree.

It’s all about rights and responsibilities in my opinion.

[Delilah21D00LoT]

@ Frouby huh? Why?

[MammaTJ]

We paid for gas to be brought into our HA house 15 years ago and ExH (he was H then) put in gas central heating. All my neighbours got it put in for them by the HA last year.

I have been promised a new kitchen-finally, after living in his house for 18 years. For the majority of that time I have paid full rent. The HA have done very little for me in all that time.

They expect the kitchen to last 25 years. TBH, my kitchen was on its last legs when I moved in. A drawer fell apart and they could not replace it, so they just joined the drawer front to the cupboard front, to make a bigger cupboard.

They expect these kitchens to last, yet have a history of putting in the cheapest nastiest kitchens they can buy.

I am told that has changed and they are buying better kitchens and I really do hope that's the case.

I will have an element of choice, work top colour, door colour, floor colour. They are even painting it, as the do the whole kitchen and I will be able to choose the wall colour too. Just not the quality and I am the one who will have to live with it if it does not last. I think I am entitled to moan if it does not look as though it will!

[unlimiteddilutingjuice]

I think YABU.
Just because you have a council house doesn't mean you have to spend your life tugging your forlock and being grateful.
People are allowed to have a moan.
And presumably, if they are on a DIY group, they are taking the initiative to improve the decor rather than expecting the council to change it for them.

I had a bit of a culture shock moving from London (where social housing is very scarce) to Glasgow (where its commonplace) and hearing the weegies complain about social housing that I would have considered palacial by London standards.
People have asked me why I would leave London to move into "this dump" and I have laughed at them and then shown them photographs of my bedsit in Finsbury Park.

Sometimes its not the housing itself though, its the sense of being stuck, or of being stigmatised for living somewhere visibly working class. Peoples attitudes can be quite complex.

[SaucyJack]

Our council are in the middle of a long overdue kitchen refurb programme, and one of the standard choices offered is..... white gloss.

You wouldn't get a new one tho if the previous tenant had had the "new" one and chosen a colour you didn't like. You're quite reasonable on that

[Katyazamo]

Yabu to join diyoab and this is the only thing that outrages you!

What about the applying glitter to ever available surface?? Smashing up cds and attaching that to everything in sight? The obsession with the colour grey?

[ThisLittleKitty]

Yeh in on the group you mentioned.nthere was someone complaining about the size of their council kitchen the other day. Like it wasn't even small! Mines smaller (and I'm council) but I'm not complaining.

[t3rr3gl35]

And yet....The idea that some of the poorest in society might, you know, have aspiration and want reasonably decent fixtures and fittings shouldn't be an alien concept.

I've worked in the social housing sector and seen what passes as acceptable housing quality standards - no bank would lend without retentions on some of them if they were privately owned. Let's not council house bash - many of us on MN are privileged enough to be able to choose how we live and we have no right to begrudge others from wishing to have some choice over the appearance of their homes.

[Delilah21D00LoT]

@ Believeitornot
I completely agree with you - everyone is entitled to a decent home, but they do not come for free and building the inside of your home is about working at it, not expecting it all to be done/supplied for you.

Many people are not bashing or 'entitled' - or if they do they're just getting on and sorting it themselves.

It was just a general moan to get off my chest

[NewBrian]

My council kitchen is old and does look horrible. On the other hand I’ve got a secure tenancy and my rents about 250 a month cheaper than I’d pay privately....

[Delilah21D00LoT]

@ katyazamo that could be a whole other thread. You forgot to mention the wallpapered floors.

[kinkajoukid]

Its a real shame when people have no sense of proportion or of where money comes from.

After years of private renting with virtually no say over decor or fittings, I would LOVE to be able to choose my own interior for once! And couldn't help but be a be bit miffed at looking at beech units again. I would be itching to change them - but I wouldn't expect someone else to pay for it.

The simplest thing would be for councils to use wooden unit doors so that tenants can paint them. Or allow people to change the doors. Old doors can be sold second hand so its not a complete waste.

I agree with SaucyJack sometimes its being stuck with or 'get what your given' attitude that can grate if you already don't have many choices on life. But being given permission to make sensible changes (paying for it yourself) is enough really.

[PencilsInSpace]

Anything you do to improve your home will increase its value.