Council house looks like council house

A few years ago we had to rent for 4 months whilst work was being completed on our own house. We had a nightmare trying to find a suitable place and in the end rented from a HA but it was not social housing, it was for private rental at market rates. It was a brand new house, everything was new and lovely, loo downstairs, ensuite, patio, driveway etc. There were income requirements, think you had to earn a min of £29k to rent.

I have no idea why there is such uniformity in making social housing obvious and so basic. A family member moved into one and it was OK but they all had the exact same front door, windows etc and kitchen. I'm sure using different styles, colours etc wouldn't cost too much more?

I think some of it has come from tenant feedback where they requested bright and cheerful instead of the drab old-look of the buildings... I know before cladding became a thing the residents in an area my mum worked in regeneration in would choose bright red brick for everything consulted on because it was a change from the council-done grey brick everywhere from the time they were built.

I'm just glad they're being built.

I used to own an ex council house, it was massive, 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, utility room, big kitchen, the majority had been bought & upgraded. I lived in a council house on a council estate after I got divorced, 5 minuted from where I owned & it was totally different, I'm in a flat now, which is lovely on the inside, but outside looks awful.

Even the early council housing has a distinct look. They all have a flat front. Private developers in the 1930s based the classic 3 bed semi layout on earlier council housing designs (the type that is still sometimes referred to as ‘parlour style’ ie 2 reception rooms) but every privately built semi will have a bay window to differentiate it.

Council housing is wonderful. I wish it were still available to all who need it.

^* agreed I live in a lovey area that would cost twice as much private rent. I'm very fortunate to have social housing. I think everyone should be able to find secure affordable housing.

Council housing is wonderful. I wish it were still available to all who need it.

The village I live in only has 2 council houses now, we are in one of them, the other 2 are bought but look like ours so you can’t tell at all. Lovely and spacious inside compared the new ones built in the next town along they are tiny match box identikit houses

You can always spot social housing where I live. Random little roofs over doorways (often flat) instead of a porch. The edges of the windows often run right to the roof line & lack any decorative trim, even a row of vertical bricks below the sill. Felted roofs. Never ever detached. Often have white signs on walls saying the local authority name or things like "no ball games"

I always think its stupid and completely defeats the point of mixed tenure if the social housing is completely obvious/vaguely inferior in terms of the finish.

I live in a 1950 ex council house. It is really ugly to look at . It was all we could afford as we have bought in an amazing location were prices are v high.
The windows have mean proportions. Ive done it up , as much as can afford ,in the era it was built . Ercol furniture and will do.mid century colour walls when can afford it.

Ive planted the garden like a flowing cottage garden and people stand and stare at that not the house. Things can be done, and personality injected. However, it will never hold my heart like my fantastic victiorian terrace i had to give up to get here.

Pics to show what is meant by council house please? what do you mean with blue cladding? I live in a council flat and only just realised quite a few in the block are bought flats. No difference at all.

Hideous gaudy colours, external stairwells and doorways, useless playgrounds slapped in the middle etc.

I think we all know the kind of thing. They're horrible to look at, let alone have to live in.

I also wonder if some councils genuinely think they are making the 'best' choices on behalf of their tenants; it's just that much of what councils tend to believe is better is frequently at cross-purposes with what most of us ordinary folk would value and prioritise??!

Their thinking processes are also sometimes quite 'pie in the sky' (they would say 'blue sky'!) as well - such as the idea that, if you don't provide drives/adequate parking, everybody will suddenly be able to manage without any cars, rather than just having to clog up unsuitable spaces and effectively render residential roads one-way streets. It's almost as if they think that many people currently have no need at all for a car, but the house they buy happens to have a drive, so they figure they'd better buy something pretty to keep on it

We have a mix of privately owned houses and HA ones here. When new, they look pretty similar, except that the HA ones are terraced, although some of the private ones are too.

Unfortunately, it’s very obvious which is which now, a few years later, because the ones with the overflowing bins, bikes, scooters, chairs and stuff in the front gardens and uncared for gardens, are not the privately owned ones. It’s only a few, but it is apparent.

To be quite honest, I don't really care that my HA property and its surrounding properties scream 'council house'; I'm just really grateful to have somewhere secure for my daughters to grow up in.

Not RTFT, but what is really annoying is when housing estates have to have a % of "affordable" housing and such housing has to look cheap for some reason.

I presume it's 'Goldilocks' pricing on the part of the developers. They could have advertised 'Houses for sale FROM ££', but then, once people turn up, they show them the ones that look much nicer and maybe have better features - and just so happen to cost £££ - to encourage them to buy the dearer ones instead, if they actually have the financial ability to do so. The last thing they would want is for somebody who could have afforded one of the 'normal' premium ones to go for an 'affordable' one.

I suppose it's a bit like the Aldi effect (and most supermarket own-brands, to be fair) - so many people fail to see any real difference between them and the branded versions as 3+ times the price, loads of us see no reason at all to buy the much more expensive ones.

Our HA here made their houses distinctive from others when they took them over from council.
I don't get why the separation.

You couldn't tell which were council on our estate until they started cladding them all about 7 years ago. It has made the house much warmer though

Not sure why they’d put cladding but surely there must be a benefit? Ie an extra course of damp proofing?

At the end of the day, the more money spent on a property, the more aesthetically pleasing it will be (well most of the time) as you can chose nicer bricks, fixtures, fittings etc... private housing is made to looker more appealing because they need to sell them so they need to make them look as nice as possible. Councils don’t....

As a pp points out, you can also tell which are the housing association houses compared to private houses in new estates because they are more basic, but then if someone is paying £400k for a 4 bed luxury detached house then of course it’s going to look ‘nicer’.

I also agree with OP in that generally you can tell whether you’re in a council estate or not, simply by the aesthetics of the houses.

I grew up in a council estate and loved it. I remember my sister always saying that the room dimensions inside are often better than the new build private houses and I’d say that’s true.

Not RTFT, but what is really annoying is when housing estates have to have a % of "affordable" housing and such housing has to look cheap for some reason.

Our last house was a new build and the houses were made to look nice. Except when I was coming home on the train one day and I saw another part of the estate from the train and the houses looked really different and plain. I went out for a walk to look, and realised they were the "affordable" bit. So insulting.

My Grandparents used to live in a council house and I agree with you, OP, at least back then 70’s/80’s they all looked the same. Same front doors and only permitted certain colours (I think).

The same estate is still there but sadly run down but the houses themselves, wonderfully, sturdy built semi detached houses! I would far more prefer one to the newish semi I live in today. My Grandparents had a great plot with room for a car on the drive. Many didn’t. Also two toilets, an ‘outhouse’ and a great garden.

There are affordable homes or are they HA properties being built within new build estates, is it called ‘pepper potting’ having a mixture of those who have bought and those who rent? Only a phrase I’ve heard from a police friend.

That sort of cladding is cheap.

In my area it goes up on social housing, private student accommodation blocks, the Travelodge, the Premier Inn, etc etc.

Meanwhile, the private 'luxury' flats shooting up are covered in 'brick slips' (basically cladding that looks like bricks - may be slices of actual brick, applied in big panels). Also pretty shoddy.

I think some councils like to try to shame people in need, making them feel marked out. Know our place. Not a council house but I was claiming housing benefit in a private rented flat. There's a communal entrance shared with neighbouring flats. The council insist on sending a letter once a month giving that month's housing benefit amount. It comes in a very noticeable obvious envelope. Big bright green stripes and do not redirect across it. I asked for it to stop or for online or email notification and was told they had to send the letters by post. It's a waste of paper as well as embarrassing.

I’ve just moved in to a HA new build and it has a double driveway, a newly laid patio, newly laid turf, big windows that let in lots of light, shrubs and bushes planted on the grass verges of all drives too.
Inside it has a lovely kitchen that is no different to the privately bought homes across the road.
It’s all a bit white and lacking in personality inside but I am loving living here and it doesn’t feel cheap at all.
We have large double patio doors that open on to the garden from the living room and built in storage both up and down stairs, 2 big double bedrooms and a good size single. A large family bathroom and an extra toilet downstairs. Lots of cupboards in the kitchen which is also big enough to hold a dining table and chairs.
We have a long wide hallway and a lovely open staircase.
It doesn’t feel small or cheap. Also no cladding on the outside, it’s just the same brick build as the privately owned homes and the same windows and doors too.