Why do people look down on council houses

[Easystuff]

Just that really why do others look down on council/social houses. I don't understand. There's no special treatment. It's not unusual, it's been about for many years. It's now pretty hard to get social housing. There are thousands of family waiting lists, being made homeless. Through no fault of their own. It's pretty awful out there.

Well I know people living in them that haven’t worked in bloody years … they pay rent out of their benefits… so yes I guess it’s free to them as none of the money is earned by them. They sit at home claim benefit then pay rent with their benefit.

Social housing is not paid for unless you are out of work. You will have to pay your rent in social housing if you are working. I know plenty that do pay who work and in social housing

There are a couple of notorious council estates in my town, they are rough to put it bluntly. I work as a subcontractor for the HA, and you wouldn’t believe the money spent on repairs because someone has yet again punched a door through. We have refused to work on so many properties because of the mountains of dogshit piled up amongst the kids toys. We have people scream at us for opening a cupboard because that’s where their drugs are kept. The list goes on an on. Those estates have a bad rep for a reason.

Obviously not all estates are the same, but my own experience throughout London, Swindon, Bristol, Somerset and South Wales has been of a lot of anti- social behaviour. I can see why people get a bad impression of them from the things I see so often.

Because people with money do not like people without money.

Its ingrained in them from years of being judged on your social class.

When you watch films like titanic it shows how the poor people weren’t even allowed to come into contact with the rich people and were seen as less than.

We are less like that now but it is still ingrained in some people, especially those who’ve always had wealth or have recently become wealthy and are trying to keep up with their new class.

Poorer people will always been seen as beneath richer people and a council home is a symbol of that.

Thats why all social housing estates are not built anymore and social housing is mixed in with new builds.

See @FlamMabel I'm diverting some of the heat off you already ✊

Agree. Even in general conversation people make a point of saying "council house" rather than house. I think the days have gone though where just because someone lives in a council house it's "free". Also perhaps there's an element of jealousy and bitterness that eventually home owners will have to sell their home and they will be sitting next to "Fred" who didn't have to pay a penny for his care ..... but both are end up in the same nursing home!

53% of households in the UK receive benefits so I would guess most council housing is heavily subsidised even if some tenants are paying rent. I think council housing is necessary but it is hardly surprising people resent it a bit.

I’ve seen people saying they get it for free, it’s not is a rental that you pay rent for so not free unless you are on benefits.

What if the person pays a portion of the rent?

There are also lots of people living in private rent homes that don’t work and get their rent paid.

There is just a cap of how much housing benefit you can receive depending on where you, how many people in your home, income etc which means private landlords cannot charge as much as they would to someone who does not receive housing benefit.
So less and less landlords are accepting people on benefits.

My friend hasn’t worked for years as she’s her DH’s carer and they’ve always privately rented as they didn’t want the stigma of council homes but they’re still not working and getting their rent paid by benefits.

I was raised in council homes and live in one now and I work FT and pay rent.

My rent is only £450 a month which I know is very cheap but my old council home was almost £800 a month.
Social housing rent has definitely gone up, especially in new builds.

What’s annoying is when I was paying almost £800 rent I could afford a mortgage and not be looked down on by other people but I just didn’t have the money for a deposit and wouldn’t get a mortgage.

This is true on some levels.
However a lot of it relates to poverty stricken estates, uneducated and unemployed leads to anti social behaviour and crime, drugs - people done like that I mean who would like living near that.
Some of the La estates in a region I used to live were disgusting and you’d fear walking down the street. A couple of the houses were well maintained and looked after by whoever lived there , but most had old abandoned furniture outside , dogshit, young kids running around dirty in nappies, people hanging outside smoking fags all day, vandalism- you can’t choose to live like this then moan when people look down on you.

Is it cheaper renting from the council than privately? I've never had a council place so just curious.

@SquashPenguin that's an interesting take. Didn't a lot of HA introduce a policy where they check the properties? I don't know anybody living like you have described but then again you will obviously see a lot more than I do. In my experience it's the council houses that tend to be run down due to the council doing very little to shoddy repairs. Even when you get a house the condition of them is a disgrace. I think houses should all be painted white before a new person's moves in.

My mum lives in an extremely well to do area in a village you wouldn't know it was council as the rest are bought. An elderly couple lived there prior to her and the house was a complete state my mum had to get solicitors involved and the council paid her out in the end.

Well I think this is the other side of the coin.

Lots of people will grudge them it.

If they've got a "great income" and get to live in such a good property for only £400, I can see why people would be pissed off.

I find it hard to reconcile this with the massive lists of people desperately in need of housing.

Is they've got such a good income, how come they're not buying or renting privately, and leaving that property available for a family who really need it?

Presumably they are at the top of their councils list....but I'm not sure I understand how.

Yes of course it is, have you been living under a rock 😂

Yes it is cheaper to rent from the council. This is because this social/affordable housing is meant to be exactly that, housing associations set their rents at a fraction of what the local market rent would be.

Whereas private rentals, essentially a landlord can charge what they want and it’s a business to them at the end of the day so they want to make a profit, hence higher prices x

Yes usually.

Council homes are there for people on lower incomes.

You can’t apply for one if you earn over a certain amount.

Although some council homes charge a lot now and are the same as private rent (apparently it is actually private landlords but they just advertise through the council).

But you cannot usually have spare bedrooms or be too picky about the home.
If I privately rented then I could go and rent a 6 bed home if I wanted to buy with council they’re more strict on how many bedrooms you can have (and rightly so).

Haha. I must have been. I genuinely had no idea 🤣

I knew it used to be but thought prices had gone up.

I don't think you have a clue what DLA is @CupOfCoffeePlease Apart from anything else, it mostly no longer exists for the over 16s.

@Chippy4me
@Mrsttcno1

Thankyou, I get it now. It's such an obvious question on reflection (I'll pretend it's the heats fault) 😆

Problem families.
Poverty.
Sofas and other rubbish abandoned in the front garden.
Abandoned cars.
Antisocial behaviour.
Drug busts.

I live in a beautiful village. This is a brief summary of our social housing. I feel very sorry for the people within the estate who keep their homes and gardens looking lovely.

I wouldn’t want either though to be honest !
Some their only option is social housing , it’s cheaper and secure.
Private rent is high and unsecure.

Sorry I was not clear I meant people pay rent weather they are in private rent or social rent. Neither are free

Because they are still mostly in unsafe areas . I don’t look down on people living in council houses , l just wouldn’t want to live in that area .