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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be less outraged that a council tenant built a swimming pool in their garden....

69 replies

superv1xen · 09/03/2011 14:49

....than i am about the fact that it was discovered on google earth by a council employee? Confused

what exactly were they looking for?? are they spying on tenants now, wtf Confused

here

(apols for linking to the sun, have copied it from a link someone posted on fb)

OP posts:
southeastastra · 09/03/2011 14:51

rofl at the gates!

oh come on well dodgy and i look at google earth all the time - lots of swimming pools here too - oooohh

NinkyNonker · 09/03/2011 14:51

Presumeably there were complaints and they were doing their research.

myhouseisnotamess · 09/03/2011 14:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GypsyMoth · 09/03/2011 14:53

its hideous....looks like a pond

bronze · 09/03/2011 14:53

Or the council worker lives on that road and was having a looksee.
I use google earth a lot. I check out where potential houses are and how big their gardens are etc

happyinherts · 09/03/2011 14:55

I would have thought the council would have objected to the extension and the gated wall outside too.

Is it really still a council house or bought under the right to buy scheme. Seems a bit suspect that the extension build went unnoticed.

TobyLerone · 09/03/2011 14:55

"the £80,000 three-bedroom semi"

GypsyMoth · 09/03/2011 14:56

not to new rossington you wouldnt toby......Donny is only good for the races these days!!

curlymama · 09/03/2011 14:57

YABU, what difference does it make how it was discovered. Private ll's have the right to inspect the property they own periodically provided they give notice, council tennants don't have to worry about that very often.

And if the tennant wasn't doing something morally wrong, and something that she would have been denied permission for had she bothered to ask, she would have nothing to fear from Google Earth.

MrsH75 · 09/03/2011 15:00

Not sure if it's morally wrong...it might be legally wrong if they didn't get planning permission/is contrary to the terms of their tenancy. Surely someone who has had a council home for years could actually be quite well off? I know the Tories want to make people give them back if their financial situation gets above a certain level but that isn't in force yet is it?

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 09/03/2011 15:05

I don't think council houses are for people in need - they are for people who can't afford to buy - different thing ...don't see what the problem is myself if they got the right permissions* - they are adding value to the property.

Some people want to get worked up about anything that isn't their business.

*If they didnt' get the right permssions then that's another issue

ZZZenAgain · 09/03/2011 15:05

they'll make her remove it since she didn't get permission first

Seems a wee bit daft to me, I know it is heated but why would you want to sit in a pool under grey skies in the freezing cold, looking at the fences all around you? Rather have a bit of garden myself

GypsyMoth · 09/03/2011 15:06

a hot tub would have been a better option for yorkshire!!

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 09/03/2011 15:06

Exactly, myhouseisnotamess

Services for poor people are poor services (or however it goes). Yes when it comes to allocating housing those with the highest need should get first dibs, but if there isn't enough housing it's not because people who aren't poor are hogging it - it's because some bastard government decided to sell it all off and not allow councils to replace it.

I think it's rather funny though. Nice gates Grin

maypole1 · 09/03/2011 15:14

Yes bot being able to afford to buy is different for being poor my oh is a nurse and will never be able to afford the 50k deposit banks want but were able to soave 3k to get a conseatory built
And do up are council house so because we take pride in our home and don't chafe it up with pealing wallpaper and no carpet should we be made to move out

Tortington · 09/03/2011 15:17

i bet it's nice on a hot day with a can of lager avec umberella

Original poster
superv1xen · 09/03/2011 15:31

arf @ custardo

and i chuckled at the gates too, it deffo is well dodgy, but i do find it disturbing that councils are checking up on people via google earth.

OP posts:
chipmonkey · 09/03/2011 15:32

My thoughts exactly, custy!Grin

tyler80 · 09/03/2011 15:36

Why? Would you prefer they didn't use technology to carry out their business?

Original poster
superv1xen · 09/03/2011 17:03

oh i dunno, i just think them using google earth to look at tenants houses is just a bit....off, somehow.

and i can't find it anywhere in the stories reporting it where it been said WHAT exactly the council "official" was looking for.

i take it everyone else would be perfectly fine with their local council spying on them via the internet?

OP posts:
TrillianAstra · 09/03/2011 17:06

"When will people get it into their heads that council houses arent just full of people who dont work, my university lecturer lives in a council house, he is a dr in his field and head of faculty!"

Unless there are some serious mitigating circumstances then he shouldn't be in a council house, IMO. If you are head of faculty at a university then get out, rent or buy privately, and let the house go to someone who does need it.

happycamel · 09/03/2011 17:53

But once you qualify for a council house you never have to move out, I thought. Even if you inherit loads, or get a great job or win the lottery. In certain circumstances I think they can even be passed down generations when a tenant dies.

That's one of the reasons why it's so hard to get one for people who need one now.

My colleague was given a 4 bed when she had 3 kids at home. Now its just her and she has no plans to move. She told the council she was kicking her kids out so they were listed as "young and homeless" and got moved to the top of the priority list and were given houses too. No sanctions on her for saying she was kicking them out or making her move to a smaller place either.

Given how lax the rules are, and how much cheaper it is than renting privately, why would anyone leave once they'd got one.

HecateTheCrone · 09/03/2011 17:59

What a load of crap that is.

We've got a small above ground pool (10 ft x 16 ft) in the back garden of our HA house. It is our eldest son's therapy pool - daily swimming advised by his ot and physio and was paid for out of his personal injury settlement.

If I had people shooting off their mouths about it just because I live in a HA property so I am supposed to be in sackcloth and ashes, ringing a bell in the street and yelling "unclean, unclean" - they'd get my boot up their arse.

Bogeyface · 09/03/2011 17:59

It looks to me like an above ground pool which isnt a permanent structure therefore may well not need permission.

I dont see the problem, as someone else said, not everyone in council houses are on benefits! If their rent is paid, they look after the property and arent breaking any laws I think they should be left alone.

FabbyChic · 09/03/2011 18:05

I left a two bed council house in Essex to move to Hampshire, as it was the marital home when I moved the house went to my husband who had no children and was technically single. So rather than say no he can have a one bed flat they let him keep the house.