Offered council property in terrible area

You can earn quite a lot and be eligible for council housing in my area. They tend to like a bit of diversity.

It's not actually the council tenants that are an issue here but one of the shitty private LL who rents out housing he really shouldn't as its not fit to be lived in and that can cause problems

The majority of the people in council housing near me work, as do the ones in private renting and then there's also plenty of owned properties as well

It is much cheaper than surrounding areas so has plenty of working, low income families who just can't afford to rent or buy anywhere else

It's totally different to when I lived here 20 odd years ago and while we still have the odd fight and drug dealers hanging about its not a bad area to live like I thought it would be

I didn't say ALL people in council housing were bad or had adverse lives. I was simply making a point that the occupants of council housing are very VERY diverse and a great deal of people would be shocked. It's not all " down and outs" by a country mile and in fact the make up a very small % of occupants. You do get a few bad eggs that give us a bad name but my neighbours really are lovely people from all walks of life.

Take it. If it’s really really bad you can always move back in with your mom.

Take it op.

Or don't, and stay living in your mums lounge 🙄

Many years ago, I used to deliver to homes

The people that lived in the "poorest, worst areas" always gave the biggest tips

These type of people are known as "salt of the earth"

You won't know the people or the area, unless you try

You can always move in the future

if I decline this flat, then I'm booted off the list..

Then you have nothing to lose by accepting it.
You may find that people who live in poor run down areas are just like you; there because they have no choice, but that doesn't make them bad people.

FWIW, IME working in Glasgow's east end, people who look undesirable are often good hearted and good company. Looking tough and hard is their defence mechanism.

The few dangerous people I've encountered were not instantly identifiable by looks ( passing unnoticed is how they get away with it).

@glasshole I don't even think its that tbh. There's loads of people living in council properties for all types of reasons. Growing up as a kid my next door neighbours both had good job. Mum worked in probation for years... they only had 1 child too. Not sure why they didn't move. Perhaps they were happy? Perhaps they just didn't want to move who knows.

I don't think its fair to imply though that if you live in a council property you must of had some type of unfair card debt in life. Ffs some estates are horrendous yes but not all.

Also I've just seen your comment about working part time and doing an OU course. Of course you deserve better accommodation than the u desirable crank heads. A palace do you will it?

I wonder when I'll get moved from my council estate with my BA and MA? Off and my sister too, she's got THREE degrees so positively elite in teens of what she's entitled to!

Op. Council estates aren't filled with just smack heads , illiterates and wasters. Some people can read. Some of them have really high up levels of study. Overwhelmingly, they are mostly there in council housing as something has happened in life that's unfairly affected them. For my sister she had two kids born with disabilities. I got diagnosed with several several immune diseases ( but I'm also an ex coke addict and rape survivor with bipolar). One of my neighbours is from Syria, she was a professor of biology there. Next door is a very young family with 4 kids under 4. Their dad died when the mum was pregnant with the last one and she had to seek her house as she couldn't pay the bills. Then there is smack head ste who wheels and deals to earn a few quid to pay for god drugs and rides a black bmx that's older than me. My dad lives across the road too, he's a retired musician and another retired musician lives in the flat above him. They jam in the garden occasionally. The local teens love it.

It's really not all doom and gloom. We've got an active "free" page on fb that people volunteer stuff on . We have a bartering page too. Local cafes and restaurants do special offers etc. It's actually really nice in a lot of ways and WAY less judgemental than you would believe.

Lol at not being able to know who a crackhead is by looking 🤣🤣

Take it. Honestly, you think people that reliant on council housing don't all want to be in a "nice" area? Even the roughest estates will look after their own and once you have moved in and become a known resident you will be surprised by how incredibly normal it is. Reputations aren't always accurate. I live in one of the poorest towns in the uk, totally forgotten and criminally underfunded. I live in one of the " worst " council estates and what that means in reality is that I don't go out after dark on my own, the summer means people often have music playing loudly in every other garden, then post bbq drink/drug fuelled arguments happen and you get to watch out the windows while they call each other fit to burn. But the people are just people. Some have issues but most are no different to you.

Take it. Council flats are golden tickets.

What do you expect? It’s a council flat. Private renting and claiming LHA IS an option for you and you’ll get a say in where you live.

you want a cheap council place, you take what you’re given and if you keep turning it down they might take you off the register.

How long can your Mum have you stay in her lounge, OP?

I think Xenia is confusing having adult kids at home in her massive house with being overcrowded in a small house and having that adult child using the living room as a bedroom. 6 years of the latter (plus however long it takes to get a job and earn enough to pay private rent) is not comparable to the former.

Or, with a 2 year old, she could buy a buggy that folds up small. This isn’t a reason to reject a social housing property leaving you with no other way to house yourself than staying in your mum’s lounge with your toddler. Is it?

Those are some very silly suggestions. An OU course takes six years. And working a year or two after that? There are plenty of people who work and still want council flats.

Maybe the OP's mother doesn't want to wait almost a decade to have her lounge back?

And selling a council flat to make a profit. That's a pretty stupid - if not immoral - idea.

I am very sorry the baby's father died. It sounds a very difficult situation. If there is an end in sight with the open university course and possibly a route in a year or two to full time work then it might be easier to stay in mother's lounge. I think I am the only person on here suggesting that! However your mother may not want you living at home (I have two adult children living at home and know how that can be - good and bad bits)

If there is no timescale/plan that you will get the qualification and better job and be able privately to rent and then buy then perhaps don't move , unless if you do move you can buy the council flat and sell it at a profit I suppose!

Thank you. You put into words what I was trying to express. It seems a bit ungrateful to be offered a council flat and then to look down one's nose at the other inhabitants.

This is very true. Wouldn't it be great if we all did have this option. Most of us live where we can afford and thats not always the nicest area. You seem very ungrateful OP

Take it !

Some councils have a waiting list of 30,000+ people

Take it, it sounds like there isn't really space at your mum's. Even lovely middle class suburbs or beautiful villages have neighbours from hell alas - I had weed smoking with a vicious dog next to me for 8 months before the council acted on my complaints. You are always swop, bid for a different area etc later

@ShouldITakeIt one practical question - does your DS still need a buggy? If yes, where can you store it in your flat and is there a lift that's reliable? If you're a corner top floor flat you might be able to leave your buggy outside the door as it's not going to block anyone's way. If you have a balcony, you'll be able to dry washing quicker being higher up.

I think you should take the flat. I live in a "rough" area; I have been here for 10 years and I've had no issues, personally. For anyone not familiar with the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, postcodes here are ranked from 1 (most deprived) to 10 (least deprived). My street is a 3 but is surrounded as far as the eye can see by 1s and 2s, and I'm just a few minutes walk away from an area that is in the top 5% of deprivation in the country.

It's good that you acknowledge the estate's reputation might be outdated. By all accounts, where I live now was an absolute hell hole in years gone by. I mean gang violence, organised crime, drugs, stabbings - horrendous. I've encountered people from elsewhere who still think it's a shithole but it's really not. The people are (on the whole) nice, there's lovely green spaces, and it just needs a bit of money and attention put into it.

You say that the area surrounding the estate is nice, so that's something. How is the infrastructure to get out and about - local train station, regular buses? That makes a big difference.

Unless you are willing, or able to pay for a flat in an area you like, surely you have to take the flat or be taken off the list ? Most of us cannot choose to live in the area we would like to.

Take the flat. My DD bought her house and paid 500k for it, new neighbours have just moved and there are as rough as hell, no matter where you live there will always be rough folk.