Not an AIBU but need to get some answers as to WWYD

[TheLadyEvenstar]

I have been moved up a band on the council list so am now a band 2 instead of a 3. Was looking at properties this morning.

There are only 2 available which are suitable.

1 has 33 people in front of me having already bid.

the other has no bids on it at all.

I personally thinks this speaks volumes.

So do I bid on the one with no bids or on the one with 33 bids?

FWIW I think the one without a garden LOOKS nicer! :)

That's my old stomping ground. I used to work for the Council and live near the second one.

Its pretty obvious why 33 people prefer the first one, it has a garden etc. But the fact is 32 people aren't going to get it.

Property 2 is on the third floor - so better security. It is the top floor, isn't it? So not part of a massive high rise. There are parks nearby, which helps when there's no garden.

Unless there's a chance you can leapfrog over the other 32 people and have a real chance of property 1, I think property 2 has some real plus points. Not least you are near family. You can't put a price on that support (or free childcare).

I would definitely visit each property before bidding.

I did this when getting a HA place and the first one had a tiny second bedroom and was very badly built with cheap tatty fittings.

The second one had an internal kitchen and bathroom.

Then I noticed a third one empty opposite the second one and asked what was wrong with it. It was a lot bigger and in a better position. Apparently another person had been allocated it but some fraud thing had been discovered and so it was about to go back on the list. I got in first and managed to snaffle the thing.

All because of a bit of legwork.

The other thing which I noticed was that the one with no bids has 1 double bedroom and 2 single, where the other has 2 double and 1 single, so maybe the other people have more children and need space for some to share?

I've got them the wrong way round. SE17 is the second property, with no garden. SE5 is the one with the garden.

SE17 is a nicer building, but I don't know the area. Is it Kennington/E&C? As long as there is greenspace nearby (Burgess Park?) then you can forfit the garden, IMO.

if you know both areas well, then have a quick look round both areas today and then put in a bit.

i have moved to places where others wouldnt touch with a bargepole, but have never had any problems. and oved to so-call nicer areas and have had issues there.

Property 2 is one double and two singles while Property 1 is two doubles and one single, so I would guess that the rooms in Property 2 are pretty small (given that almost anything gets billed as a "double" these days if you can physically fit a double bed in).

have you looked at both? There is a known bid behaviour on ebay where you get two identical things - one has loads of bids and the other none simply because people all assume that everyone else knows something that they do not. Maybe that has happened here? You are working on the assumption that there "must" be something wrong with house two. Maybe person one bid randomly (or it was next to their paretns or something) and everyone else assumed that there must be a problem with the othe rhouse. The more that bid there worse it would get.

I know both areas very well too and I would go for the SE5 one every time. That area is imho and ime far, far preferable to the SE17 (unless I have got it all wrong and am looking at the wrong properties!).

Bizarre system - but perhaps the one with the garden has attracted more bids because it has a garden! That would make a huge difference to so many families.

Property 1

Occupancy:3 bedrooms Flat
3rd floor
Bedroom sizes:1 double - 2 singles
Heating :Full central heating
Garden:No gardenLift:No
Concierge:No
Warden:No
Personal Assistance Alarm:No

property 2

Occupancy:3 bedrooms Maisonette
Ground floor
Bedroom sizes:2 doubles - 1 single
Heating :Full central heating
Garden:Own gardenLift:No
Concierge:No
Warden:No
Personal Assistance Alarm:No

Also, one is bands 1-3 and the other is 1-4. Maybe there are lots of band 4 people bidding?

vall, you have got it right!

I grew up in SE11/SE17 but things have changed drastially there!!

I do like the SE5 property, I know from the outside it looks ropey but I am sure inside is lovely.

Ok I will bid on the one with the garden simply because thats what the medical team advise

So the SE5 one with the garden?
This has the 33 bids on it?

not sure if its already been suggested, but I'd recommend ringing or popping into the Police stations local to the properties, also environmental health noise patrol.....they will likely give you a good idea of what the general areas are like, any problem neighbours etc, that & looking around the outside

OFFS, yes because I would struggle with the stairs in the other tbh.

OHHHH see now you;ve gone and done it!!

I dont know which to go for.

I know how you feel, the system is crazy.
I was in the same position as you a year ago, and I spent a lot of my time peering thru windows hoping to god that it was the property in question.
Little girl and I finally ended up with a lovely house.
As she was only 4 I was determined to go for a garden, we had a long wait but it was worth it in the end.
Good luck.

The Police aren't allowed to tell you things like that (I know, I've tried in the past!).

Lady, I grew up in SE5... it's all changed, and sadly not for the better, but I miss it dreadfully all the same.

I'd feel far happier (and safer tbh) in the area of SE5 you have on that link than I would in the other postcode area. The only downside that i can see is that you're that bit further out of town and not close to the tube but that said, the buses which serve C. Grn area are as good as ever if not better.

I prefer the SE5 with the garden.

I'd be going for the one with a garden especially with two little ones. Means SO much to have somewhere safe to play outside. Can you go for a walk past the two properties and see what the area feels like now?

vallhala I think it must depend on who you ar e lucky enough to speak with

I did exactly the same & rang up the Battersea area station years ago & got LOADS of info on what looked like a small pleasant Estate, that I'd been offered a flat on.... like I say, they where very helpful & I didn't take the flat on their advice :)

excuse crap English ....think I need a lie down

I have spoken to DS1's YOT worker and he has spoken to his colleagues and police he works with.
He said the SE5 estate is not known to the polie. However the SE17 one used to be a crime hotspot with all the big estates round there, but it may have changed with these estates coming down.

I lived for years in SE17, just round the corner from that flat. I had a friend who lived in that building; it was lovely inside and I like the building better.

Crimewise round there was dreadful while I lived there (I was there for over 10yrs but left in 94). I'm told it's been gentrified but no idea really.