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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be pissed off with being offered a council FLAT instead of a HOUSE?

999 replies

OMFFG · 16/02/2012 10:46

We have 4 DCs, youngest 16 months and they think this is suitable!! The flat is 3 bedrooms and on the 2nd floor of a small tower block and has balconies which I would be pretty worried one of the DCs may fall out of.

This is my worst frigging nightmare. We have been 'homeless' for almost 2 years and the council have housed us in temporary accommodation (private rented) which we have to pay market value for (£875 per month) even though we did not choose it and it's a complete shit hole. We could not leave as we would lose our priority on the council bidding list. We lost our house when DH was made redundant and could not afford to pay £1200+ to privately rent.

Now after all this they have offered us a fucking flat. I am furious because every week until last week, there were only offering 3 bed houses but we would always be 3/4 on the list. Now that a flat was offered, less people have bid on it so we got to the top of the list. I did not even bid on it, the council did. Apparently they can bid on 'our behalf' as we are homeless and if we refuse this flat, we will be taken off the housing list. How the hell will we cope in a flat???

The rent is 'only' £380 a month but a house would only be £20 a month more.

AIBU to tell them to stuff it up their arses?

OP posts:
Kayano · 16/02/2012 11:24

Why can't you move then yourself if you can afford
To pay that much rent?

badtasteflump · 16/02/2012 11:24

Hmm I think some people are being a little bit hard on OP. But I also think that it's not the councils' obligation to offer her a dream home, but a reasonable sized roof over her head - which is what this is.

OP don't refuse the flat and get yourself taken off the list - where would that get you?

Take the flat and (I would) keep the doors leading to the balcony locked; permanently - act as if the flat didn't have a balcony then it's not a problem.

No it's not ideal as you would clearly prefer a garden of your own. But once you are in the flat, have it in mind that it's not forever but it's better than your 'shit hole' private accommodation. Then get yourself on the housing exchange list, and/or work like hell at helping DH get another job, or look for one yourself, so you can privately rent or buy the house you want like everybody else has to

EauDeLaPoisson · 16/02/2012 11:25

The council may not pay your rent but I will bet my bottom dollar you wouldn't be able to get a private rental 3 bedroom flat for £380 a month

Lueji · 16/02/2012 11:25

Well, I should be grateful to live in the place I live (actually a flat) because I can't afford to have a large house with a swimming place.
And I'm not poor.

We should take what we can get.

To be able to buy a house with a garden I had to move much further away from work and pay a lot more for transport. I had to take what I could afford because I was not rich enough to live in central London.

That's life. Get used to it.

sausagesandmarmelade · 16/02/2012 11:25

As someone else said...

Beggars can't be choosers!

Get down from your lofty perch. The world doesn't owe you a living....be grateful for what you've been offered. You have more than a lot of people.

Kayano · 16/02/2012 11:25

She has been bupcakes though Confused hasn't she?

porcamiseria · 16/02/2012 11:25

ugh, be fucking grateful you have anywhere on offer

THERE IS A GLOBAL RECESSION!

look if you dont like it, get somewhere better and pay the market rent for it

sorry you are getting a major pasting eh

TheParan0idAndr0id · 16/02/2012 11:26

Why is it not suitable though, because the OP WANTS a house and not a FLAT? That doesn't make it unsuitable, that makes it undesirable, not the same thing. I grew up in a council flat, and managed to survive, somehow.

And while the price of the rent may be relative, there is no denying that £380 is LESS than £875. Nothing relative about that.

MrsKittyFane · 16/02/2012 11:26

OMFF when was your DH made redundant? Two years ago?

CardyMow · 16/02/2012 11:26

Bup - I AM 'poor'. I still think the OP's idea that she would get a house when so many other families on the housing list have to accept flats is daft. Just because her and her husband PAY their rent (or part of it, I can't quite make out which it is), it DOESN'T give them any 'extra' priority on the housing list to be given a house, rather than whichever suitable property becomes available when THEY are at the top of the waiting list.

It makes NO difference whether ALL your rent is covered by Housing Benefit, part of your rent, or none of you rent covered by Housing Benefit. Social Housing waiting lists are done by NEED. So if the Council deem that you need a 3-bed property, you will get OFFERED a 3-bed property. Makes no mention of whether you get a house or a flat, or whether it is in a shitty area, as long as it has 3 bedrooms.

And it IS having to be grateful for what you have got. I may be in a house that has been too small for me for years (was put in here as a 'temporary' measure 7 YEARS ago), but I still have a roof over my dc's head. I don't expect a massive garden, or huge bedrooms, or en suite bathrooms. Just a property with enough bedrooms for my dc. And that DOESN'T mean a bedroom each - just bedrooms that are big enough to put a full-size bed in for a teenager would be a start.

BupcakesandCunting · 16/02/2012 11:26

"Why is it not suitable? Please tell me why something that isnt what the OP WANTS means it isnt suitable?"

The flat is three-bedroomed. There are two adults and four kids. That's pretty cramped and sharing might be an issue depending on genders/ages of children.

The council have obviously decided after assessing OP and her DH that they are entitled to council accommodation. Whether you or I think that the rent they pay now means that they are not poor is irrelevant. For all we know, they could be eating beans on toast every night to be able to afford the rent.

HappyMummyOfOne · 16/02/2012 11:27

If you are self funding with no benefits then you have the means to live in a private rental, so stop moaning and use the energy to find your own place. You are still in temp accomodation because you expect others to do the work, you could have easily have found a rental and moved out by now.

Yes, life changes but moaning about it doesnt change it back, being proactive gets you back on track. If you are not working, then you have far more time than most adults to look and view at private lettings.

RitaMorgan · 16/02/2012 11:27

So you can and do afford to rent privately. Why not rent somewhere you like then?

You have been given the opportunity to have a secure, low rent flat - it's up to you if you want to take it, or rent a house privately. Do you know how lucky you are to have the option?

WorraLiberty · 16/02/2012 11:27

If the OP falls into the correct criteria to be council-housed then she should be offered the right accommodation for her circumstances.

But she has been offered exactly that Confused

What she hasn't been offered is exactly what she wants

Hence the reason she wants to stick it up their arses.

Original poster
OMFFG · 16/02/2012 11:27

I have never seen any other 3 bed flats up for bidding on until now we are top of the list. They have always been houses, that is why I am irrationally upset I think. The DCs have a fucking trampoline that we will have to get rid of. It's not fucking fair!!!!

OP posts:
TheParan0idAndr0id · 16/02/2012 11:27

Three bedrooms is plenty for 4 kids and 2 adults. Thats not cramped!

usualsuspect · 16/02/2012 11:28

Oh yes beggers can't be choosers ,just about sums up the attitude to council tenants on this site

Kayano · 16/02/2012 11:28

A lot of us can't be choosers either! You can't always get what you want!

MrsKittyFane · 16/02/2012 11:28

How is the £875 currently paid and by who?

Methe · 16/02/2012 11:28

What is your objection to A FLAT?

LilacWaltz · 16/02/2012 11:28

Op..... Most areas allow you 3 refusals

Is this the case? Have you turned other places down?

EauDeLaPoisson · 16/02/2012 11:29

I really dont see the issue at all tbh- if you can afford to pay £875 a month for your current property why not just look for private rentals?

Look we wanted a nice long garden so we could play croquet a summerhouse and a heated indoor pool complete with jacuzzi when we bought our first house. But poor us we couldnt afford it so had to settle for a boring old three bed semi. Which costs us a fortune btw. And if I had another child nobody would offer me a four bed house so my kids would either have to share a room or we'd have to take responsibility and rent/buy somewhere that suits our requirements. Fancy that all not falling in your lap hey?

CardyMow · 16/02/2012 11:29

OP - I lost my lovely HUGE 3-bed house in a lovely area due to being medically retired from my £50k pa job due to my disability. (It ended up getting repossessed).

I am ETERNALLY grateful for the fact that I have social housing. I just CANNOT get my head around the fact that you seemingly think that you are 'more' worthy of a house than anyone else on the housing list, no-one is. You take what is offered to you, and if you don't like it, then you exchange.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, OP. I've had to.

MrsKittyFane · 16/02/2012 11:30

The DCs have a fucking trampoline that we will have to get rid of. It's not fucking fair!!!!

Ok, so this is a wind up!
:o
Not bad OP!

BupcakesandCunting · 16/02/2012 11:30

Hunty I don't like the sound of your situation, either. :(

I really think that councils need to start moving couples out of three-beds when all of their children have left home to sort this shortage of suitable housing for families out. My grandparents were in a three-bed semi for FORTY YEARS after my mum and her brother left home. Just two of them rattling round in a fairly big semi, when there are families with small kids crying out for a house just like it. My grandparents wanted a bungalow or a first-floor flat but were never really helped to get one. It makes no sense.