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Original poster

How much to move into a council house?

23 replies

Mamamooligans · 31/08/2019 10:12

Just want to start by saying I know people can be a bit iffy about living in council housing, I have a good reason for needing one but I'd rather keep to myself.
How much did it cost you to live in 2 bed council house? No idea how much carpets etc cost. Will be happy to purchase furniture and bits secondhand. We haven't been offered anywhere yet but want to start saving.

OP posts:
HeadintheiClouds · 31/08/2019 10:14

Do you mean how much it costs to furnish a house? Confused

NoBaggyPants · 31/08/2019 10:18

Carpets can be anything from a few hundred to many thousands. The key is to get several quotes (once you've got the property!) and ask each one to quote for a low end carpet and a better quality one. If you can afford it you'll be better to pay a bit more for one that will last you so much longer (assuming you're planning to stay there a long time).

Same for furniture. Find out if you have a furniture project in your area. They'll offer things for little or no cost. I've donated all sorts to ours as I'd rather see things go to people in need than overpriced in a charity shop, in which case people that really need them can't afford them.

raspberryk · 31/08/2019 10:24

Don't expect to get everything in one go. You could buy second hand carpet and lat it down without fitting. You could paint the floor and floor boards. Use rugs.
Lino/vinyl are often a good option. I'm actually sorting laminate at the moment and it's working out cheaper as we can fit it ourselves.

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InsertFunnyUsername · 31/08/2019 10:32

How much do you want it to cost? You dont have to get it all in one go I would try and save for the stuff I would need to use daily. Oven/washing machine/fridge etc.

Anything else you can live without for a while or find cheap alternatives. Like a PP said Laminate flooring is good if you can fit it. Runners to cover hallways aswell.

TeamUnicorn · 31/08/2019 11:19

Will you need everything? As in not just a bed but the bedding to go with it too? If it is the latter keep an eye out on the free sites etc.

Whilst you won't need a bond/deposit many now ask for some rent up front so be aware of that too.

4cats2kids · 31/08/2019 12:14

Have you been offered one? There’s often a long wait.

TheQueef · 31/08/2019 12:18

It costs the same as setting up any house.
SH doesn't make a difference, or are you comparing it to rented furnished?

1FineDane · 31/08/2019 12:24

When I moved in, there was no flooring. I got lino (think around the £350 mark). I needed to buy a fridge/freezer, cooker and washing machine.

The council have some sort of charity who will give you £500 (in my borough). They generally buy from the second hand shop, but they had nothing in at the time, so they bought from Argos. They got me a wardrobe/chest of drawers/locker/curtain poles/curtains x 2/sofa/table & chairs.
TBH I slept on a blow up mattress with no flooring for about 2 months.

I've since got a bed/mattress/coffee table etc. But they might have a small fund to start you off - note - they'll expect you to go for cheapest of cheap.

White goods/bed/flooring most expensive things. You'll need to repaint as ours doesn't come painted anyway.

£2.5k would have it looking nice.

1FineDane · 31/08/2019 12:27

PS, while I don't believe in looking a gift horse in the mouth, note that it can be very fucking depressing at the start. The state of this flat when I moved in, coupled with the location had me crying inconsolably for 2 weeks. I'm more settled now (though have to clean it up right now!).

1FineDane · 31/08/2019 12:30

Btw - I wouldn't be getting your hopes up about being offered one too soon.

CremeEggThief · 31/08/2019 12:36

Both times I've moved into housing association houses I've paid about £1000 to have new flooring fitted before I've moved in. IMO, it makes the biggest difference. I also had to buy a cooker (I went for a basic gas one, as there's not much that can go wrong) when I moved into the first HA house. Luckily, I had everything else.

duebaby2 · 31/08/2019 12:39

We aren't in council but a HA house and when we moved in, it had no floors except kitchen and bathroom. For the hall and living room we got spongy vinyl and then landing, stairs and both bedrooms carpeted it was £700 in total. Luckily we had family to help otherwise we could have been in a horrible situation. It's really sad that now two years later when we are due to move we have to rip up the flooring, feels like a waste of £700 really as the flooring we put down is still in really good condition and the next tenant would get decent use out of it. I would suggest shopping around and seeing where its cheapest.

You can sometimes get a whites good discount or help from the council themselves.

We got our whites good from AO which were a decent price for new items.

Hollywhiskey · 31/08/2019 13:05

@duebaby2 why do they make you rip it up? When we left private rented and didn't want our oven anymore we just left it for the next tenant, I think it had to be gifted to them so the landlord wasn't responsible.

duebaby2 · 31/08/2019 13:44

@Hollywhiskey I've no idea but it says any carpets and flooring we've laid, it has to be taken up before we leave, we messaged an old neighbour and they said they had to take there's up as well. Standard practice I think.

I may ring the ha and see if they would charge us or not for leaving it as they seem to charge to for everything else, we have a list of all the things they want doing before we leave and if there not done they charge.

Private rented is much more lenient than HA housing.

fedup21 · 31/08/2019 13:48

If it’s a rented house-are you expected to spend your own money putting down carpet?

What happens when you move?

I’ve only ever rented as a student and the house came with carpets/lino. Just like when we’ve bought any of our own houses.

Are council houses different?

longtimelurkerhelen · 31/08/2019 14:26

@fedup21

Are council houses different?

Yes they are. You have to provide everything yourself. Carpets/curtains/white goods/lightshades. Everything. If you are lucky the bathroom will have a shower attachment already installed but not often.

Some Councils allow previous tenants to leave good quality carpets etc but they will usually rip out everything as the council cannot be responsible for replacing it.

On the plus side you do get a secure tenancy which is worth it's weight in gold.

Sweetpeach3 · 31/08/2019 14:55

Can't do much until you get the property. Best bet is to buy your essentials second hand until your on your feet. You usually pay a weeks rent up front £100) depending on area, then your rent will be around the 100 mark depending on where you live! I paid 400 for all my hall stairs and landing to me carpeted and 3 bedrooms. Then I paid 150 for my wood floor downstairs. I was lucky as my brother fits it an got it at trade price. It all depends but you'll get their just save as much as you can

elliejjtiny · 31/08/2019 15:04

Local facebook selling groups often have cheap furniture and white goods. We got off cuts when we needed to recarpet the bedrooms.

sjb2102 · 31/08/2019 15:46

I'd start by not worry about the flooring. Look up vans etc in your area for physically moving in. I carpeted an entire 3 bed town house for £700. Didn't last long tho and over the last 5 years we've spend £1000 on the ground floor, £270 on recarpeting each bedroom. The stairs really need doing too but I'm tempted to put it up and paint them purely cuz hoovering is killing me.
I don't think the type of house you're considering is relevant at all. The biggest costs with moving for us have been the physically moving and the over lapping rent while getting the new place ready.

helpmum2003 · 31/08/2019 17:37

Join your local Freecycle or Freegle group.

1FineDane · 01/09/2019 17:05

When I moved, they waive the first weeks rent (good job as I was sobbing for a week). It's supposed to give you a week to get the place ready to move into. As it was, my now ex painted the walls. I moved into a hovel. It was horrendous (I suffer from depression). I will never forget it. The walls were painted, but the floors were a combination of some sort of black stuff and bits of carpet stuck to it. I had a table and chairs (outdoor), from my last place, so I sat in a corner of this hovel for about 2 months in a state of depression. Just drinking. This woman came from the council about a month in and the floor was covered in empty cider bottles. She told me that if I didn't put them in the recycling bin, I could be evicted. It was fucking horrendous lol. Everyone thinks it's the answer to your problems, half the time it's not. But I'm stuck here now giving out about pigeon feeding woman downstairs. You get used to it.

The other thing to note is that if you don't take where you're offered, that's it, you're off their list!

It can be hard.

Foslady · 01/09/2019 18:46

The flooring has to be removed because firstly tenements have been known to insist that as it was originally down then it wasn’t gifted to them and is the HA’s responsibility, and secondly they can harbour fleas from the previous tenant

Foslady · 01/09/2019 18:48

Sorry - to clarify, previous tenants animals

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