to think the 'decent homes standard' is the joke of the decade?

[ladyfirenze]

Has anyone had their council homes 'upgraded' lately? Mine was done over christmas. Me and dc's were strongly advised to de-camp to a property provided by the council. This meant entirely moving house/storing white goods etc. Six weekd later we moved back. During this time we had a new kitchen put in, and new radiators as well as a re-wire.

I knew that I'd have to redecorate the whole place (three bed flat) but was promised help with the cost.

We got £160.

Also, because of the building, we had to use 'trunking' for all of the re-wire.

It looks shite. The trunking is cheap nasty looking crap, badly done. They had to come back over a period of two weeks after I'd returned to do 'snagging' and there are still bits which are sub-standard work.

The kitchen is okay, but wasn't actually done to the agreed plan. They had a huge hoo ha when I asked them to, and due to an exposed meter it couldn't be left. Their customer care is rubbish, and I was accused of being responsible for the kitchen not being correct... wtf??

six weeks on and I'm slowly getting the house sorted. I'm quite cabaple, but there are many who aren't, and will be left in a worse position than before.

um no Fanella, people who live in council housing are entitled to work and buy things you know. The Tories haven't got round to bringing that one in (yet)

CT pays for the central heating as an extra ie they pay £x for rent and £x for central heating

people who live in council houses should only be allowed woodchip wallpaper

So what qualifies you for a council house?

I was a single mum, working part time, I was by no stretch of the imagination well off but they practically laughed at me when I went to enquire about a council house. Like you Reality I was paying £750 for a two bed flat... dreaming of Laura Ashley wallpaper.

I lived in council housing as I grew up. In one place (we moved where we we told, beggars and choosers and all that). They legally had to do work on our properties (all down the street), because the bathroom opened onto the kitchen and this wasn't allowed (or some such). SO an upstairs attic thing with a sloping roof had to be turned nto a bathroom, the bathrm had to be ripped out downstairs and the kitchen refitted to make up for the removal. We did feel thankful! What was not so great is that in order to save time (and money?), they started several houses at the same ime and then did them in staggered lots... so removed the slopping roof off 4 houses start on kitchen in other 4 houses, then rip off another 4 roofs (whle the first lot being built up)... and so on... And then predictably we had bad weather, and unfortunately a LOT of houses now had no roofs... or sufficient covering... so LOTS of houses got flooded... and MORE things needed to be replaced... (i.e hmmm is that water coming through the light fitting... oh yes....). It also backed up the jobs, so people were roofless for longer.... BUT the removers (of roofs), obviously had to keep on going...).

Anyway it was all completed and we were incredibly thankful for it (it was nice to have a proper bathroom upstairs that wasn't really cold). The new windows were good too because it meant we no longer had indoors icicles in winter...
The thing is... the rush to get it done and to comply with THE LAW must have cost the council an awful lot of money. THAT, we (as tenants), we frustrated by.

So as others have said, a bad job is not reasonable. You can be thankful, but still frustrated... That said, we had to stay in the house while the work was carried out...

As an adult I am now a house owner, and I hate my kitchen. but it functions. I have a roof over my head and so much to be thankful for, that even when the envy hits it doesn't last long!

Housing association rents where I live are usually substantially more than CH rents.

I don't subscribe to the theory that buying a house is automatically better than renting a CH. I have lived in 2 cities where I would have really really struggled to buy anything. I would much rather have had a CH where it wasn't a struggle to pay the rent.

I have never been in a position where I would realistically be offered a council property though - was on list for quite a few years. I was paying extortionate amounts to a private landlord. So in the end I did buy, because the only alternative was paying nearly as much for a bedsit.

I know people who have bought ex council houses - like my brother's family - but can't afford any repairs that they can not do themselves. Before council houses were sold off, my brothers family would have got a CH.

And not all houses go up in price and make a profit. When I sold that house I made a loss. It is only over a small number of years that the housing market has boomed.

as a home-owner you can get a loan unavailable to council tenants

Which loan is this then? We have a loan and we're council tenants

£58 per month council property rent ??!! someones having you on!

I wish people would check facts before they spout on about council tenants.

Lots work and pay all of their rent, its only 'free' if you're on full benefits.

Problem is folks there are not nearly enough council houses - Maggie sold em all off in the 80s for peanuts.

Soooo..... when you are all moaning ask yourselves "do I vote Conservative"

No - that bit IS a joke but the problem stands that there is a lack of housing because the Tory Govt which existed in the 80s sold it and wouldn't allow the construction of many replacements. Hence we are in the situation we now have with some being fortunate enough to get a council house and some not.

On the other hand some council housing is shite.......and in shite areas too. Get stuck in a shit council property in a crap area and you will be stuck there. I wrote endless letters to the council once for a family living with the worst damp and mold I'd ever seen - their kids were constantly in and out of hospital and it was still nearly 2 years before they were re-housed.

There are not enough properties to go around. I am fortunate enough to have a HA house (single parent with a disabled child) but my first council place two years ago was in a crap area with neighbours openly dealing drugs and police raids going on. Believe me if I could have afforded to privately rent then I would have done.

I don't like the idea of Council Houses in general.

My theory is that all council houses should be done to a livable standard (including decorating etc), then rented out at normal market rent.

People who might currently qualify for a council house would get very high level of housing benefit to allow them to be able to afford to rent either one of these council-owned properties, or rent privately.

As your income increases, your benefit goes down and you pay more of the rent yourself.

That way there is no massive gap between paying "full" council rent and the price of renting privately or buying a house. And people whose income has gone up considerably would not be being unnecessarily subsidised.

"They then get to keep it regardless of how their income increases, viz my sister's inlaws (£80k household income, £400 a month rent)."

That's absolutely staggering. Perhaps that could explain some of the shortage?!

So let me get this straight.

The council put in a new kitchen, new radiators and rewired your house. All paid for by council tax payers and gratis to yourself.

THEN gave you £160 to redecorate and you are STILL not happy?

Good grief. Talk about never being able to please some people.

Yes op be grateful ..you should have an old tin bath and one cold tap in your kitchen

She's not happy niceguy because they did a shoddy job and nor would I be.

Like she says - SHE is capable of sorting out the mess they left - others would not be.

er I'm a council tax payer....

Me too ladyfirenze - amazing how many people think we don't pay anything isn't it?

What you mean its not all free and paid for solely by the homeowners and private renters

A shoddy job is a shoddy job ..doesn't matter whose house its in

ok nice guy, tips please - how do you propose I re-carpet and re-decorate a three bed room first floor flat including hallway and stairs for £160? (when I'm not running a small business and parenting dc's of course)

i worked on decent homes programme for 5 years. councils/ha employ different subbies to do the work. however there is a standard which every council/ha must meet. your place must be warm, waterproof and have resonably modern facilities. modern means no older than 20 years. of course some ha can afford replacemts a lot earlier and some will wait 20 years to give you new kitchen. standard 2 bed property with new kitchen, bathroom and rewire costs council 15-20k (london prices) in my opinion thats a lot of money. i meet only few grateful ppl (within 5 years 2.500 properties) a lot of tenants expect wooden floors, colour charts to pick the paint and a lot more. (including compensations for empty kitchen!)
sometimes you have to use trunking because walls are very old and would collapse while chasing. agree dont look gr8 but you have new installation costing 5k!! i agree council tenants pay rent, but hey its a lot less than people in private rental!! and trust me no one comes to my place with colour charts for my new kitchen....you getting a lot from them and you are still unhappy....dont get it.. just pls remember you are not the client. council/ha is the client thats why they visit every property to do the 'handover' with subcontractors. if they are happy with the standard they will sign papers and then subbie gets paid. there is a 1 year defect period when subbie must get bk to the property and fix any defects. (we talking about things like leaks not 'dont like the trunking')....really dont get it :((

LMAO - get a grip op.

Yes, you pay tax just like everyone else pays tax but everyone else is not getting a new kitchen and new radiators for free, and somewhere to live while the work is done.