What do you think about council housing and people who live there?

[Borntolurk]

Genuinely curious about this. We finally received a council tenancy four years ago, after privately renting for upwards of 11 years. We are very grateful that we have the house we do, and treat it well. The security felt and ability to feel like we have an actual home (as opposed to house sitting), is immense.

However, I’ve had people I know suddenly become less interested in being friends, when they found out that our property was rented from the council. Others let slip accidentally/without realising what they were saying, that we should accept whatever happened to our house (shoddy contractor’s work for example) as it was ‘free’. Sigh.

So I guess I’ve been wondering whether this is the general consensus these days, and why do folk feel this way? Experience? Lack of other affordable housing? I can understand that!

Thanks for your thoughts.

There should be more social housing, that is a given. But a mum and her kid in a B&B is not the problem of someone hogging a 2 bed house when they live alone.
Private renting is shit. You always have the threat of eviction over your head, even if you are the perfect tenant. I was without heating for over a year as I was more scared of getting a Sec21 for causing a fuss than staying warm.
If someone has low cost housing (and it is not really low cost.. it is actual cost... private landlords charge too much), and as long as they are respectful and pay on time, they can stay forever, can you actually blame them for wanting to stay put?

Well building more is the solution then, not booting people out of their homes if they manage to get ahead in life. There's a housing emergency in the UK, we should build quick, prefabricated homes for people just like they did after ww2.

I think council houses look awful and do t understand why they can't be built to be a bit more aesthetically pleasing for the people who have to live in them.

The people I've known to live in them have been scrounger, lazy types and I associate them with "rough" people.

This. ^ The ridiculous comments on here (from some,) MANY which are inaccurate, and the comments suggesting people should vacate their house when their life gets a bit better are ludicrous.

The jealousy is strong on here (from some.) NO-ONE is going to leave their social housing because they earn a bit more money than they did say, 5 to 10 years ago, no matter how much the haters and beraters want them to.

Some very bitter people on here. Can't bear to see others secure and happy and comfortable (which many people are in social housing.) How incredibly depressing.

AMEN to this! ^

I know a few people right now in social housing - around half a dozen. ALL WORKING. All but one pay full rent. They have had a 5 to 7% rise in their rent this Spring, and are paying £100 to £120 a week. It's not fucking peanuts. But it is a decent affordable rent. A similar property private let is around £170 to £200 a week. Virtually DOUBLE, with no security of tenure. As IF people are going to give up the social housing for private let. LMFAO. Don't make me laugh! 😆

People who own their homes having to upgrade or refurbish either maintain or increase the value of their homes. Private tenants also don't have to pay for repairs or upgrades.

I've lived in my council house for 10 years and paid more than £40 000 in rent. I got a new heating system a year ago to replace the obsolete system that I had before. I got a new shower a few weeks ago after the pipe behind the shower burst. I get my gas serviced yearly and the electrics got checked last year. Apart from that I have had very few repairs, a leaking toilet fixed, a new lock in my front door and probably a few bits I don't remember.

I am very grateful that I have a safe and secure roof over my head. My street is a mix of council and privavtely owned and is nice and quiet, all but one of the gardens is well kept. There was some antisocial behaviour from teens but that also happens in nicer areas.

Another street less than half a mile away seems to house all of the problem tenants and there is a lot of drugs with a few going to the chemist daily for their methadone. There is no way I would want to live there.

I'll add that I'm in Scotland where they stopped right to buy years ago and they are also building new council houses. They built about 20 disabled bungalows in my village a few years ago.

In my area the biggest shortages are in 1 bed houses so a single adult/ couple would normally get a 2 bed and it would be impossible to downsize to a 1 bed.

I totally agree with you, we need to build so many council houses and soon. I would love to see the private rental sector nosedive.

There needs to be a private rental sector too. If anything, for people who move around a lot for work, and for people who maybe live alone but don't want to be limited to a 1 bed place.

Definitely not saying you shout up with a moudly house but that is verrrry cheap rent! Average rent in UK is over £1000k a month.

I’d think how lucky and happy they must feel. And I’d feel happy for them.

I grew up in a council house which is one of the many reasons I’m not a raging arsehole snob.

@BritishDesiGirl

Lots of assumptions here. Social housing rent is put towards housing repairs. Housing rent also go up 4.7 % every year. Sick to the back teeth of people making people feel bad of living in council houses getting free repairs. There not fucking free!!

This. ^

@JackieDaws

I live in a council flat and there's no way I'm moving out. It's on the south bank with a great view of the Thames. I don't tell anyone in rl that it's council as I had a now ex friend who was really angry and bitter that my rent is only £420 a month.

Wow, some friend. You're well rid!

As I said earlier, there is so much anger towards people in social housing, from sore and bitter people, who seem to be very offended and butthurt, because someone is happy, secure, and comfortable. Why can't people be happy for them, instead of wishing misery, poverty, and insecurity on them?

I would congratulate anyone who secured a council house, as they are generally good secure housing at reasonable rents.
The right to buy your council house was only a good idea if they replaced the housing stock, but of course they didn't, contributing to a massive housing shortage. Relying on private landlords and HAs is not the answer.
I’d like to see LAs taking over some empty high street, commercial and industrial properties and converting them into much needed homes.

This is MN. There is often a feeling of a race to the bottom, or punching down.
MN hates anyone in council property, or anyone on benefits.

Seems that way @XenoBitch

I'm lucky enough to own my house, so I would simply feel glad for you. But I know how insecure private rentals are -not knowing whether the LL might sell up and leave you without a roof over your head (and mean your kid has to leave their school) put up the rent, or simply want you out for a random reason. Not being able to do so much as knock a picture hook in the wall to put a picture up without permission (refused in my friend's case, unbelieveably) never mind paint the wall a colour you like. So I can understand the envy from someone in that situation.

Have to admit this makes me bloody green with envy - had to move out of London a couple of years ago as I just couldn't survive there financially anymore. Could never have afforded the South Bank in a million years. But good for you and the view sounds amazing! I don't think you shouldn't have it, I think more of us should get the chance to have a secure council tenancy.

It's clear that RTB was a fucking disaster and government needs to build way more new council housing as a matter of urgency. It's a huge social good and generates revenue for the council. Housing in the UK is broken. I'm nearly 34 and still haven't managed to buy a property despite having good jobs because of the crippling cost of renting.

I now rent from a Housing Association as a private tenant which is thankfully more affordable, but only somewhat.

This.
It wouldn't even occur to me to care.
They're snobby twats and you're best off without them.
Find friends who care about you

Have you tried applying for a Discretionary Housing Payment from your council to make up the shortfall between your LHA and your rent? Apologies if you have already done so and/or been unsuccessful - just thought I'd mention it as might be worth a shot.

We live in a council house . I moved out at 19 and privately rented for years. At the end of my maternity leave with my eldest, my landlord suddenly decided to sell up. We had exhausted what savings we had at that time, on supplementing my maternity pay. So we went to my mums and it just did not work- at the time there was a lot of issues in my mums house and it was very chaotic and not suitable for us to keep our child there. We tried to ride it out but ultimately it all ended with me in tears in the local housing office. Honestly, I remember being embarrassed by this as we are both professionals but we had no option other than going homeless at that point.

We were initially given a flat which was fine but in an estate that was rough and had a bit of a reputation. I was pregnant then and we spent back on the list for something bigger if it came up. Long story short, we have since then ended up with a much nicer council house in a very quiet street. Our family is bigger now so we have a 4 bedroom/2 bathroom house with back and front garden which costs £535 a month. It suits our needs at the moment but ultimately we will buy longterm as we would rather pay off a mortgage and be payment free when we retire, than continue to pay rent in our retirement.
People assume that everyone in council houses don’t work but my neighbours all work. I think there is also an assumption that the houses are poor quality, in terrible areas etc. although that can be the case it’s really not for us with our current house.

My my aren't you a delight, talk about dealing in stereotypes, I live in a council flat it's a block of private and council. Our flat is nicely decorated and furnished at our own expense (in case you think the council provide that for free) and is every bit as nice as the private flats.

Personally I've benefited from council housing so think it can be a fantastic thing when used right. My family members were in the first wave of people in the country to live in a council house - 2 adult siblings in a one bed flat - and it gave them secure housing for life that allowed them to do things like house another family member for a period, and support siblings and nieces/nephews financially to enable them to be in a better situation. They'd started life in a workhouse so said it made a world of difference to their lives. Without that council flat my family would almost certainly still be in poverty instead of, one generation later, being firmly middle class and earning enough to pay back in to the system. Interestingly when right to buy came up they didn't buy it because they didn't want to take it out the system and prevent it giving someone else the lifeline it gave them.

So no I wouldn't judge someone living in a council house if they were treating it properly. I think we should have more council houses and better tenant security anyway. But I certainly wouldn't respect them if they were treating it as a right and acting in a way that denied someone else the chances it had given them. That includes abusing the system, antisocial behaviour, and not at least attempting to downsize when the time came that it was too big for them. I wouldn't respect that behaviour in a home owner either.

@BeesonLavender

Have you tried to get anything done out of hours or even quickly these days. If the trades people aren't there or the part isn't in stock you can demand all you like. I was flushing a bloody toilet with a bucket of water because the part couldn't be obtained for a week. The boiler - nothing for 7 days with showers round a family members house every day. It's life and I find many have no understanding of that and just demand.

I think you are lucky and i think there should be more council housing.

My HA house is a new build in a small estate in a very sought after village. You can't tell it apart from the expensive private new build estates in the area. Mine is a 4 bed detached, two bathrooms and a utility for £650 a month. My previous tiny run down private rent was significantly more expensive. People are stunned when they realise my gorgeous home is social housing.
Everyone who isn't retired on this estate has at least one working adult in the household.
There has been a little bit of bother with one couple who have brought a bit of anti social behaviour but the HA and police have nipped that in the bud.
It's comparable to anywhere else I've lived for hassle in fact less than a naice town I lived in elsewhere in the country when the middle class entitled youth roamed around like they owned the place.
I absolutely feel my HA home is head and shoulders above the private rent in my area and beyond.
The added bonus to the location of this estate was a shot in the eye to the local 'business man' who owns half the rentals round here and doesn't undertake repairs. His portfolio took a bit of a hit for a while which I was pleased about!