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.

@VeronicaSawyer89 of course I do and I know a lot of people pay .

I'm merely pointing out that some people don't pay .

So for some it is free ..

Just like privately renting is free for some who are on benefits.

I grew up in a council house. On a grotty estate in a shithole ex-mining town in Derbyshire. It was awful. The house was small, cramped, damp & ugly. Most of the people on the estate were feral scumbags who didn’t want to work & believed that ‘the social’ owed them a living. They trashed their homes, neglected their children, pissed their money up the wall and abused their neighbours.
Naive, patronising middle class do-gooders who idealise & romanticise ‘social housing’ are fucking clueless about the reality of growing up in that environment. The only aspiration I ever had was to get an education, get out of that estate and never go back.

I think it's a pretty safe assumption

Do people really look down on council housing in general or some of the people who live in them who might not be very nice.

I know someone in London zone 1 council housing who got their flat (more than two decades ago) because they had friends in that councils housing department when they themselves lived in another borough. A few years ago their household income was more than 80k. They were building a home in their home country. That might get a few people's backs up when the rent for that home was around £600. What would that get you privately in zone 1?

I believe in social housing for those that need it but there are those who were fortunate to get it without being low income or not being able to work etc who live near to people with similar incomes but their main expense rent is three times as much. The difference in quality of life it gives is huge. That's bound to cause resentment. Council housing is secure and lifelong and can be assigned to children and grandchildren whatever their income, private renting has none of that.

That's not technically correct. The homeowner owns the house. The mortgage is a liability secured on the house.

And to be clear, I didn't say it's a problem. It's the inequality in the housing market I have an issue with.

You saying that is completely unhelpful.
I pay £800 pcm for a tiny one-bed flat with the constant fear of being kicked out if landlord wants to sell. And at the mercy of rocketing 'market rents'.

Which has happened to me before.

So it's not free but to me, you could are extremely fortunate.

That's the point. To a lot of people you have extremely cheap rent at the same time as having secure housing.

It's not free but it's an extremely cheap , a good deal and security which eradicates a lot of anxiety.

It's more 'council estates as a whole in my experience. That's because of the anti social behaviour and high crime rate in those here. You can't even drive through safely - I had my lightweight 4X4 almost tipped as a teen, while stationary at the lights. That's might sound funny 😀 but I was shaken up at the time.

Mixed council estate/private rented/owned not so much. Anybody who's snobbish about that betrays their own lowly origins and the fact that they're an insecure social climber.

Doesn't it depend on where in the country you live too though? I don't know where you live (I'm assuming in the south), but in my city, NW £800pcm would get you a 3 bedroom house in a not too bad area. Couldn't it be said that those living in private rentals in more affluent areas are extremely lucky too?

And not being funny but I only got my HA house because the private rental I was living in that funnily enough had several holes in the roof, leaked everytime it rained, was so riddled with damp and mould my baby dd was hospitalised. Not to mention the rats, soggy walls, clothes and bedding that was ruined by the damp. And constant chest infections we all repeatedly had...Was put under compulsory purchase order by the council. I'd still be living in a shitty private rental if the council hadn't decided to knock down the whole area!

I think its the anti social behaviour. Most in social housing are decent people, but when I walk through a social housing area near me there are usually trolleys and furniture dumped by some tenants, litter over the verges etc.

Sadly some of the residents don't care about their neighbours/community. It also happens in other areas, but less so.

@Oliotya you evidently have a issue going around judging and stereotyping everyone. Like I said we will probably end up in the same care home only you likely will have to sell your home and fund your care. I'm laughing because opinions like this are so lame. I'm a HA tenant and I'm not what your implying..... I'm a single parent, I holiday twice a year abroad and I pay my rent. If you want to assume otherwise based on very little other than you know people live in a council I don't think you have enough to do that's forfilling

I wish i had a hope in chance of having one

What's free???

Its absolutely not free. Nor just for those on benefits.

Im so glad you got that house and kept yourself and kids safe. Sounds like a lifeline amd exactly why we need social housing.

This happend to me twice in private rent . I had 2 evictions. First time I was in temporary accommodation for several months. Managed to find another private rent . Then a year later I was evicted again . This time I spent years in temporary accommodation. I'm now in social housing and that worry has gone.

There has to be some cost to cheaper rent and safe tenancy... It's the stigma.

yes, I took it the same way. But people are incredibly literal on here. I've seen posters get incredibly offended due to taking literally posts which were so obviously sarcasm.

Plus, while obviously not everyone gets it for free, it's still subsidised compared to private renting, and because it's usually allocated on a needs basis, there are going to be a lot of people who don't pay anything. Even if only 10% of people in social housing get their rent completely paid for, that's going to be 10% more than people who get their mortgages paid for them by the council.

So no idea why people are getting offended about it - if you pay rent then obviously complaints about other tenants getting it for free aren't aimed at you. Same as I don't get annoyed when I see comments about people getting their deposits from 'the bank of mum and dad.' I didn't so it's not aimed at me, why would I take umbrage at it?

You can join the council list if you earn under a certain amount - my counsel is about £90k salary. If you earn 90k, you can easily get a mortgage and won't need a 'free property'

Very interesting and enlightening thread. I admit that I thought Council Houses were free! From some responses on this thread, it seems that council houses can be lovely and so much cheaper than private rented. And you can be working and still get one! Can just anybody put their name on the application list then? If so, I wonder why more people aren't applying? It sounds like a good (and cheap) way to get a nice house inexpensively. I know tons of young people who are still building their careers and would appreciate this opportunity, rather than paying massive private rents for terrible houses.

Because the list is years long and priority is given to those most in need.

I waited 3 years for mine almost 20 years ago.

In our area now the waiting time is more like 8 to 10 years.

Council housing is certainly not subsidised. In fact, the profits made were supposed to go to the council for use in local services, but are now redirected instead to the treasury, which has derived councils of income. However, it still means council tenants actually pay extra towards the public purse, compared to private tenants or homeowners. Far from getting free housing, they pay to support the rest of us

Those who receive housing benefit would receive more housing benefit in private rented housing and the housing benefit would go to private landlords instead of to the local council to pay for local services, so no one loses out through council housing (except private landlords).

Because the waiting lists are around 6-12 years

Do you not understand the use of quotation marks in this context?