To be annoyed at council waiting times

you seem to think that all property owners live in detached house. Owners of flats have many restrictions too (and rightly so, the leases are there to protect everybody). (pets, windows, flooring, gatherings etc.)

You might prefer to be a home owner, no problem with that. There is a freedom in renting that you don't have when you own your home (or part of your home when you pay a mortgage). The repairs have nothing to do with you, you don't have to budget to fix urgent roof, leaks, windows, plumbing issues. You don't care about the property market in times of uncertainty, if it crashes, you are safe. Nuisance neighbours are merely an inconvenience, you can always move, it doesn't matter if they are hellish or devalue your property. You have no risk of being stuck in a property which does not sell. You don't have to budget a fortune in stamp duty when you do move. Until you pay off your mortgage, the house belongs to the bank, too many people seem to forget that.

There's positives and negatives in every situation, I just don't think that being a tenant is that bad or that being a homeowner is trouble free if you have a limited budget. I am in the South East, so of course I admit that it's much cheaper to buy a home around here at the moment! That might change.

Agree with this by @coddiwomple.

However, I would say this only applies to social housing...

These days, renting social housing has a lot of advantages over buying. Not private renting though. Many disadvantages to that.

Doobree - there is a difference in being jealous of someone having a landlord to approach to sort out problems (or however I worded it) and being jealous of one random person who has decided to latch on to one little thing you've written and try to pick a fight with you.

I reiterate I am not jealous OF YOU. I am not jealous of all renters. It took me 18 months to replace the shower, why would I be jealous if the other situation takes more than 18 months to replace the shower.

I'm sorry you somehow took my comment personally. Please leave me alone. I've done nothing to you.

A lot of people make a lot of assumptions on these kinds of forums. Chirpy assumes I'm the picture of health and couldn't possibly understand how much life sucks.

And you assume that everything is about you. I said "I miss having a landlord to ask to repair things". I didn't say "I'm jealous of dobree".

I don't want your sympathy, I don't want OP's sympathy, or anyone else's sympathy. What I was trying to do was to say, with an example, that even in different situations things aren't always repaired instantly. I even ended the post by saying that I hoped they found themselves able to squeeze in her repair earlier (or word to that effect). I apologise if that it was misinterpreted or badly worded. I certainly didn't expect it to be picked apart to this degree.

And with the tone of most of the messages, I'm not surprised the OP hasnt come back.

Saucy lights are electrical. And you (and others) have no idea what kind of fitting it is so how do you know what does or doesn't need doing to it?

I have known lights to be non-standard and require an electrician. Not just from being tamper-proof on the outside but some other issue.

As chasing says, the council wouldn't send anyone if it was something the OP could and should do herself. And if it was her responsibility, they'd be the first to make her pay for the work, not come out for free.

These things: great for plugging your fairy lights into your living room light fitting, but also capable of running a heater or hairdryer and starting a fire.

Floggingmolly because idiot tenants have used bulb converters that allow you to plug in a cable for a hairdryer or similar into your light fitting. Which is incredibly dangerous. The tamper-proff units make this impossible.

It's safe when a workman does it because they will be a qualified electrician.

If the council are sending someone out eventually,then they must be responsible for changing it.Or they would have told her to do it herself.

They wouldn't come out to change a standard light bulb

Why does changing a bulb yourself constitute a fire risk, but when a workman does it it's perfectly safe?
I'm not suggesting at all that op does it; just remarking that it's an alternative to waiting three weeks which seems to be causing her a lot of consternation.
And claiming that it's physically impossible is obviously bollocks.

There's nothing in the OP's posts to suggest she needs to perform electrical work Doobree.

If it's a standard DD bathroom lightbulb (which she has so far refused to deny or confirm) then they don't take any more specialism to change than any other bulb.

Or you could comply with the fire regulations.and not put everyone else in your tower block at risk.

Dear gods, all you need is a set of anti-tamper heads for your screw-driver, a ladder/sturdy chair and a £4.00 bulb from B&Q. If the council ask, you gave the unit a thump and it started working again.

Or you could spend three weeks moaning in the dark

I cant believe people are still advocating that a tenant should break their teanncy agreement and do electrical work themselves based on the say-so of some random people on the internet.

As I said before and as umpteen PPs have said, there are some rules that you just don't break.

The posts at 19.59, 20.34 and 20.47 at a cursory glance, seem to suggest it's quite simple to do.

lostinasea you said I'm not envious of you. I'm not envious of everyone who rents. I do find the responsibility involved in being a homeowner hard sometimes. I don't expect people who aren't me to sympathise

but your first post said:

Must admit I'm slightly jealous though. I miss being a tenant and having someone I can ask to repair stuff. We went without a working shower for 18 months because we couldn't afford to get it fixed

So in fact you were slightly jealous (I said envious) and it definitely sounds like you do want some sympathy/ empathy for your shower situation else why mention it?

I said you had rose tinted spectacles and to me, you came across as a flippant because quite clearly you would not go back to renting no matter the costs of owning because you know perfectly well you are better off as an owner in so many ways. To repsond in that way to people having issues with LLs who clearly aren't enjoying the wonderful repairing service that you had, is insensitive at the least.

I have little hope that you will see why you got my goat though.

THANK YOU to chirpy today has been a particularly horrible day and being on MN does not help sometimes

Have they? Point them out please.

Like i said, i tried, it was impossible, i called the council for instructions and was told not to touch it.

Again - are you telling me i should ignore fire regs and risk 139 other flats because twats on mumsnet think i'm entitled?
And it would be ok because the council wouldn't know?

Several posters have confirmed that it's perfectly possible to access the units yourself. And have indeed done so.
Asking how the hell the Council would know you'd done it (or give a toss that you had) is a reasonable question??

Do the Council do spot checks to make sure nobody has lost the run of themselves and changed a lightbulb, then?! How in the name of God would they find out

Is that the best you've got molly?

You can't get in to the fitting in the first place. I tried. Then i gave up and phoned the council who said not to touch it and they'd send someone out.

Are you seriously suggesting we should ignore fire regs in a high rise after recent events.

Fuck off.

That's how capitalism works

And?

the poorest and most vulnerable are blamed for societies problems and thought of as entitled. I didn't realise how deep that feeling is until i read this thread.

Very true. It starts with dehumanisation. Media portrayals of people on benefits, all these 'benefitporn' programmes. Once you have dehumanised a whole section of society, have made them somehow 'other' then it is much much easier to remove any empathy for them because, well, it's probably their fault anyway. Bad choices, bad moral character. And then you can do what you want with them, ship them out, get rid of them. I always remember an estate agent telling me that no landlord would touch me as they would think I would simply drink the rent money away because I was 'DSS'. Despite the fact that I didn't drink, had a perfect credit score, a guarantor, had paid my rent on time for all the time I had been renting and could afford all the rent in advance and fees due to being very good with money.

I'm sorry that you've made some very hard decisions that you're unhappy with. Things can truly suck sometimes.

I think the point is many of these decisions were forced on her by a system that disempowers the long term ill and vulnerable rather than enables them to make choices that other people take for granted when they have their health. And that when you are in that position things don't 'truly suck' sometimes as they do for most people in the ordinary scheme of life, but are very difficult day in day out often for a lifetime. I think until you have had your health taken from you it is very hard to imagine this.

And even if OP was allowed to change it herself, it looks very difficult. It is not a standard light bulb, it is a light fixture shaped like a disc that exposes he wires underneath when removed.

As someone who was told I might have to wait longer than a week for a flushing toilet, and told it was a routine repair and not essential, I know that councils try and put work off where possible and you need to be persistent if you want things done.

Some replies on here are shocking. People in council houses are still paying rent and if this had been a private landlord I bet the op would be getting totally different responses!

Ok the op may be able to cope, but what about others in social housing waiting that long. Disabled people who can't use their wet room in the darker months, the elderly, parents trying to shower or bath a child who's been sick during the night etc. The council at the very least should swap the bulb to a generic one the op can swap herself, then she is less reliant

How would they know though? Presumably there are inspections when council Tennant's move out- would they know that the lightbulb was fitted by Op and not one of their own?

By law housing associations need to repeat bathroom lights within 24 hours! To stop people putting lamps in bathrooms