Honestly, do you judge people who live in council estates?

[Dotcheck]

So, I live in my own home on a council estate. I’m well educated, and have always worked in a job which requires a degree + a post graduate qualification, but is poorly paid.
I’m grateful I own my own home. I’m divorced, never remarried so moving hasn’t been an option.
After my divorce, I bought my ex husband out, but qualified for a mortgage by the skin of my teeth. I believe I’m really lucky- many people can’t afford to buy their own home, and in many places in the world, people live in awful conditions.
However, I recently changed jobs and I’m now in a place which has more ‘middle class’ people. I hate those sorts of designations but there we are.
I’ve heard so many people make off handed comments about council estates and the people who live there. Although I do feel grateful to have my own home, I’m heartbroken/ furious that my children may be judged for where they come from.
So- do you judge? Or have you had those experiences?

Lol and I bet she has a flat screen TV in each room too. Does she have a settee or old car in the garden?

I find the whole stigma about council housing really strange (is it all called social housing now?). I'm 57 and grew up on a council estate in London (I'm a long way from London now) and living in council housing was totally normal. I'm not sure how it became a thing to look down on?

I own a nice 3 bed ex-council house with large front and rear gardens. It's also in the roughest estate in my city. Less than 5% of the children living in this area go to uni for example.

I love the house itself and the area is pretty grotty but other than a bit of fly tipping, I've had no trouble and my street is friendly. Other roads are a bit more dodgy though. My main complaint is there are zero nice pubs/restaurants within walking distance although its very convenient for amenities. We will move at some point but it will be so we can be closer to decent nightlife and so we can walk to work in the city centre.

I always tell people where I live as its a great arsehole filter. I'm well educated, professional job and fairly well off so don't fit the stereotype of my postcode. Anyone who judges me based on where I choose to live can fuck off.

My own personal experience of council estates (I lived in one for many many years)
Most I’ve had personal contact with have been awful 75% but that was a certain area and type of person think Vicky pollard and a cocklodging asshole type male with low mirals and think that they are gods gift and so wanted by the opposite sex.

However I admit I have a low opinion of certain people from estates as they are very stereotypical it’s the mindset .

Not all are bad you can tell the living there , from the from there if that makes sense.

Im so going to get called a snob but no just being a realist. Having actually lived there. You could remove the person from the area but you can’t remember the area from the person! ( those that have been brought up there) Sorry it’s true. It’s also true to the upbringing of their parents!

I own an ex council house. It's in a safe area and it's in catchment for two of the best state schools in the city. Seems to be a theme, but really generously proportioned garden. Ironically, if I mortgaged myself to the hilt to buy a place in the naice village then my DC would be catchment area for a worse secondary.

That's my experience too. I was raised on a council estate - even now I remember the bags of glue and dogshit. After 30 years of living away I took my kids on a nostalgia tour recently and didn't even feel safe parking my car and walking 50 yards to show them my old house. Council estates are not like Eastenders; everyone pulling together, etc. Mine was a shithole and I'd have done anything to make sure my kids didn't live there.

Yes, same here. East Lancashire.

Nope.

Maybe we all need to migrate south!

Some of them are no-go areas round here, unfortunately. I jogged through one by mistake once and it was an unpleasant experience.

Name changed

My estate is quite safe, and a mix of housing association, rented and private. It’s close to the town centre, the train station, and good schools.
I have lived there for over 20 years, and one day I will move.
I had a friend, years ago who was looking for a house after her divorce, and lamented that she ‘may end up in a place like this’ ( indicating my house)’
A colleague was talking about a student and mentioned the student lived in a ‘shitty council estate’. All she knew what that the student lived on one, no idea which one or if it was a crap one.
My daughter’s roommate ( university) said she’d rather die than live on an estate. All the room mates rounded on her though.

I do think that people who judge aren’t worth my time.

The only reason I don't like estates is the "sameness" of them and for me that also applies to new build developments of executive homes! So it's really nothing to do with it being council. Nowadays there's a lot of estates where a certain proportion will be to buy and the others SH so how would people even know who owns and who doesn't.

Likewise housing associations can and do buy individual houses that aren't on estates. Mine is one of them.

The only time I ever came across the stereotypical garden full of rubbish, old mattresses and music blaring day and night, was when the house next door to me became a student house! They're the worst neighbours to have and they probably came from "nice" homes.

Yep Its the reason they all think tenants can be home all day every day at the drop of a hat

I live in SH on what was originally a council estate and is now a mix of bungalows for over 55, SH, privately owned and then owned and rented out.
It's a village and we don't even have a shop (unless you count the farm shop which doesn't stock essentials except milk and bread) we do have a pub though 😁. It's really quiet, there's a couple of families that can cause issues, mostly parking like idiots so everyone can't get in, loud arguments or their feral kids playing in the road, kicking footballs at walls, cars & Windows and climbing on fences etc. But the problems aren't that often, not nice when it does happen but not frequent.
By contrast I privately rented in a nearby village, mostly bought or privately rented and was paying roughly what I am now, for a smaller place, 10 years ago and you daren't go out after dark. Drug dealers dragging people out of houses and kicking the crap out of them in the street, police most nights, windows (not mine but neighbours houses) smashed, drug and stolen property raids, all night parties and one fire caused by petrol through a letterbox.
I was stuck with it for about 2 years and it was terrifying.
Where I am now is much safer but people would expect it to be the other way around.

I've always worked full time, and I have a better standard of living in SH in that I'm not getting into debt, I can afford my bills, I can't go wild but we're not living in one room wearing 4 layers in the depth of winter because I can't afford the heating on at all.

I do agree with @JenniferBooth though, I have experienced more judgement from the HA than anywhere else, disbelief if you can't make an appointment because you're at work, appointments made for you and workmen just turning up without notice and then you get accused of 'refusing entry' and threatened with your tenancy. I want my home to be safe too but I kinda need to know about an appointment to keep it! I used to work in social care and regularly did 14 hour shifts that went over that as well and was once told that "No one works 14 hour shifts so there is no excuse".

But to be honest, I'm just grateful to have a home I can afford and that is secure and without the threat of having to move on in 2 months time again as was in private rent. People can judge me all they like because it doesn't matter compared to that.

I grew up in Blackbird Leys (if you know, you know). My first flat was an ex local authority in a deprived area. As soon as I could, I moved away. People do judge, I could see it on their faces when I said where I lived.

I don’t feel
like there’s even such a thing as ‘council estates’ anymore? Certainly not near me anyway. The big council estate that did exist is mainly owned now with only a handful of council properties that are occupied by elderly residents.

We own a house on a small, relatively new build estate.

Either end of our road has council properties. A few houses, a few flats.

Initially we were a little unsure about buying here/living here.

Honestly had no trouble. It's a great place to live, real sense of community in the street etc.

Everyone who lives here be it owners/private renters/council smile and say hi etc.

Having loved it now I think mixing in is the way to go.

But having seen some very scary big council estates I'd certainly not want to live on those. But wouldn't judge. I couldn't afford this house without DH's wage too.

And so if I was alone or he couldn't earn then my situation would be very different and I wholly appreciate everyone's circumstances are different.

There's an estate with an appalling reputation not too far from where I live. The bonfire night rioting there was worse this year than it has been for over a decade. Firefighters assaulted, objects thrown etc. It made our national news. Utterly dispiriting for the ordinary people there who just want to feel safe in their homes.

No, everyone has to live somewhere.
You can get nasty and scruffy people / families in expensive private properties as you can in council properties.
I used to have a job which involved going into all manner of properties from bedsits to mansions and there was no difference in the cleanliness and attitude between one and the other.
Good and bad in both.

No, but I do feel jealous when we’re spending huge amounts on heating and mortgage etc and someone else is getting it all for free. Don’t even get me started on ‘right to buy’. But I wouldn’t judge someone who grew up on a council estate, no.

My mil lives in a small council flat in a big block, it's nicely maintained I must say. She gets a new kitchen and bathroom every ten years, and she's involved in choosing what suits her so it's not just one utilitarian design for everyone.

She doesn't own it though so I don't envy her.

I would love to buy an ex council house. Massive rooms, big gardens. Unfortunately they go more in my area than a new build.

did you ask your last question with your head tipped sligntly to one side ?

I grew up in a London tower block and I lived most of my life as an adult on another council estate. People definitely judge - even those who are in council houses judge against flats in large estates (won't consider a mutual exchange even if they'd get more bedrooms).

Our council homes had their problems and most tenants had some kind of social or health issue (I got my council flat at age 19 as a single parent fleeing DV and having MH problems). It does make for a bit of a depressing environment, everyone feels a bit dragged down by their problems.

I rarely mentioned the estate I lived on or the fact it was council - as a PP mentioned, you get very expensive houses right next to very deprived estates in London. When I'd chat in general conversation about where I lived/grew up, I just mentioned the area/nearest tube and people would assume I lived in the expensive houses (because I'm educated with several postgrad qualifications and don't speak with a Cockney accent). And many people would be surprised or envious that I could afford to live in my own flat near a zone 1 tube (which massively gentrified during the 2 decades I lived there) while they were on salaries 2x or 3x mine but were stuck in houseshares in zone 4.

I wonder how you know that most people will judge

I don't