Offered council house in a not very good area?

@Lavender14 Unfortunately not as we would be deemed to be able to afford to find another private rental. Of which there are none suitable in our surrounding area (my mum does all school runs so I can work and she lives in same village). We'd be scuppered.

Lots of people in social housing have mortgages on those homes which they will one day own. Also legacy tenancies exist within social housing where tenancy could be passed to an adult child or a child in trust to still ensure them secure accommodation. Can't get that with a rental.

If you were served eviction through no fault of your own you'd be entitled to social housing.

This depends on the intentions of the intruder. Lots of disillusioned teens will look for older cars with less advanced alarm systems if its just for a joy ride as opposed to more organised crime. Its 6 of 1 really.

"just to avoid having the responsibility & cost of private renting?"

You're conflating two separate issues.

For lots of people (as op has demonstrated in her post) the cost of social and private housing are on a par. So the issue of finance is a non issue. Because in theory anyone who can afford to accept social housing would also be able to afford reasonably priced rentals.

The issue social housing addresses is SUSTAINABLE tenancies, where people have more security, can properly embed into a community and take ownership of their community and for people with added vulnerability or trauma or displacement (which we know op has experienced) they can feel safer knowing they are secure tenants. The responsibility for social housing and rental are the exact same- contracts are very similar around maintenance, payment and behaviour.

We also have many homeless who would not be ready for social housing as they have other complex needs that would mean they would struggle to maintain and sustain a tenancy so it's not as simple as just offering any homeless person a roof. Op obviously has points and will be offered based on points merit.

There's a lot of misconceptions on this thread about the purpose of social housing and tenants.

@rhinnq Burglars will often go for affluent areas. When I was married to my ex we lived in a wealthy area and there were nice cars on drives. We were broken in to one night whilst we were asleep in bed - they were looking for car keys. It was incredibly traumatising as my sons were tiny.
I now live in a less affluent area, have a shitty car on the drive, and feel so much safer.

My husband and I don't qualify for social housing - on a good month we earn about £3.5k between us but well over 1k of that goes on our private rent. The only other
income we receive is CB.
We've been privately renting for over a decade now as we simply have no choice - we need a minimum of a 3-bed and we simply could not get a suitable mortgage.
We are not protected by the new legislation re rentals as that only applies to SH, and we could be served notice at any minute. Always a worry with a 5 year-old.
I love my house and our village, but I always worry we could lose it all at any point.

I saw OP's update. People are getting burgled. You can't fix that yourself.

I agree with this post….also because people are buying in what we’re once less than desirable areas

Me? …..l own my own home ( mortgage paid off) and another that I Airbnb? Why would I want a council house? …where did I say I lived in a council house ??
but I stand by my opinion…..what ‘system to abuse’ are you talking about ? Council houses are homes for life or as long as you want them..,,always have been 🤷‍♀️…. Get to the top of the list and you have a home as long as you want it…… that’s the way it works

Please check that the new Renters Rights Bill does not outlaw paying rent up front as I have a feeling that it does.

Have you double checked with the council that turning this property down would definitely mean you getting taken off the list? I wonder if there might be an exception where the rent is so high - if it’s at market rates, surely they can’t expect everybody to be able to afford this unless they receive full housing benefit. If not, then you’d be better off accepting it and then applying for a transfer if you can’t manage the rent or if the area turns out to be really dodgy - if you’re classified as vulnerable then they’d have to take that into account.

Good luck OP, I was in a similar position many years ago and it was unbelievably stressful, but I now have a lovely flat that I’m very grateful for. Hope it works out for you xx

Booking a flight asap.

Just take it

@rhinnq We've been privately renting for over a decade in a very well sought after village and have had no problems being accepted - I work pt, husband works ft so a similar situation to yourself? Three kids (two shared care with ex-h) and one cat. May I ask roughly how much your income is pm and how much rentals in your area are because if you can cover it on your wages you should be fine.

If this is your one shot. I’d move in and really try.
Whats the worst that happens? You end up back in private rental?

I believe the new renters bill may prevent you paying up front. It’s also risky if the landlords unscrupulous

You are comparing your current house with a council house. The council house is unlikely to win.

I moved in to social housing several years ago. When I first saw the house, it didn’t exactly bowl me over. I’d asked around and was told it wasn’t a great area. The person showing me the flat was actually surprised I agreed as so many people had said no to it.

I didn’t have much choice but moved in. I had a toddler and a dog and been turned down for other private places.

I’ve been here several years and it’s nothing like people told me it is. I have lovely neighbours . It’s pretty quiet most of the time. You get a bit of rubbish about on bin days but that’s it.

As someone who had to move around a lot as a kid due to private rentals , this is the first time I actually felt safe and could put down roots. I’ve decorated the house, got another dog and go to bed knowing I won’t be asked to move in six months.

Id take the house. Nothing is forever . Keep yourself to yourself . Make it a home. This will always be far better than having to do a last minute eviction and put in temporary housing.

Do what some people do.. Sign up for the tenancy. Pretend to move in. pPay a month's rent then sublet it at 3 times the rent you paid to a load of illegals who working in mail bars vape shops and takeaways.
etc.

This sort of thing is rife near me. The Housing Associations know full well about it. But as long as they get the rent they couldn't care less.

Why can't you rent privately OP? It is do-able if you are both working. That way you can choose your area?

Isn't this part of the problem. Anyone wirh drug issues or anti social behaviour should lose all rights to government subsidies.

I see you originally applied for it, and someone else got it, and that you have now been offered it as a previous applicant. Could you say your financial situation has now worsened and that you can no longer afford that rent - that should be a valid reason and one that should keep you on the register?
We were once in same position were offered one that someone turned down, and which we had previously biddef on, but when I mentioned we would need a grab rail in the shower for a physicsl disability they said permission would not be granted for a screw in one and that meant we could not take it (it was a new build, and my dd's OT said was blatantly discriminative, and a stick on one was not safe, but they wouldn't budge and immediately offered it to someone else. I've also seen seen and heard that street is full of ferals and drugs, so I'm glad now. But we DID stay on the register as council said it was HA's choice and rules (!!)and not therefore our fault)

I’m torn on this. I took the first property offered to me as I was homeless, I was a young (19 year old) female and I got offered a studio flat in a ROUGH area. I took it because a home was a home in my eyes. The area had stigma as the roughest area in the entire county, the shop apparently had multiple stabbings and apparently the people were in gangs etc. fortunately that was NOT my experience. My experience there was not what the ‘reputation’ deemed it as. It had a lovely community feel with neighbours helping eachother out. I ended up in an abusive relationship and my neighbour would come to check up on me, I didn’t even know his name but he would ensure I was safe. People kept themselves to themselves and just went about their lives like in ‘posh’ areas. I’m now in a rich area and I miss the community feel from the ‘rough estate’ as they were so much nicer than the snobs that live here.

Though I would say, if kids are involved it changes everything. Especially if the schools are not great in the catchment area. Especially if it’s going to be a forever home, I do think you’re allowed to be choosy