I live in a council flat - do not judge me!

[WhatABloodyMess]

DS2 had a friend round for tea yesterday (I brought them from school). When his mum picked him up she seemed rather perturbed that we live in a 3rd floor council flat in a shitty area of town. She was very red faced and flustered (maybe from the walk up the stairs which I have to do with a toddler and shopping at least 3 times a day?) and rather short with me saying 'How on earth did you end up living here'.

Now my DS has been attending his school for 5 years (now in Yr6) in a fairly affluent area as we used to live in this affluent area ourselves! We have never had this lad round before but DS has always played with him and I have always said 'hi' to his mum.

It took a lot of courage to invite a school friend of the DCs round as I am already very upset about living here so this has just made me feel 10 times worse.

This morning the mum completely blanked me and DS said his friend has said he can't come to his house.

AIBU to think that she must think I am scum now or something? The flat is very clean btw and DSs friend was quite happy.

Weirdo!!

Marking spot for Mellow the Lost..

Hmmmm

We buy our Council houses round here. they are nice!

Some are horrid but so are some private houses ime.

indeed Mellow..our we own our crumbling heap, it covers our head, and actually looks very striking from the outside, but OMG the hell on the inside! Not just my sluttish housekeeping, electrical issue dating back to Titantic disaster, plumbing that some contractors are reluctant to repair, holes in our attic floor..ghosts in the staircase...all there..

Oh you are posh.

See I am clever, I did not buy mine .... I knew the council were firstly fitting new bathroom and kitchens. Very nice indeed!! I will still not buy it as it has one bedroom short, had it not I would buy it.

I have a tiny tiny flat I bought in my younger days. It's great as its already about 10 percent into negative equity and the roof leaks.

And it's in a salubrious location, I opened the door for eg one sunny morning to a man screaming happy Easter you cunt.

So now I rents!

preens I KNEW I was posh!
Forgot to mention our luffly crackhead neighbours. I am certain OPs school mum would have a bloody cow upon viewing the skeevy joes living next door to us..

Happy Easter you Cunts is def going on my next Easter greeting..

OP - you definitely don't deserve to be judged. The mother of your son's friend was extremely thoughtless & rude to make that comment. Try to forget about it - that woman needs to wake up to reality!

You are lucky to have a council flat & your son is lucky to have you as a decent mother who loves him & cares well for him & his education.

Here on the South Coast of England there are long housing lists as lots of social housing has been sold off & not replaced - it's very difficult for anyone to get a council flat. Even single mothers can end up in a hostel for months, even years now!
People with physical disabilities & mental health problems also struggle to get housed.

My cousin got a HA flat last year after 2 years of living in a tiny bedroom with her lively 2.6 year old daughter at her parents' house. The room fitted only a single bed in it.

For those who believe that immigrant status or race makes a difference - my cousin's mother (my Auntie) is Romany, & my cousin's daughter has a Jamaican immigrant father who left her to return to Jamaica just before her daughter was born.

Also her parents' house was a council house in the same area that my cousin applied for a home.
My cousin also worked part time at Tesco when her parents came home from work - there was no point working full time because she couldn't afford childcare; & a minimum wage job would barely pay for private rent on a room similar to the bedroom at her parents' house!

The housing situation here is terrible - there are so many houses here that are 2nd homes owned by Londoners & empty most of the year too!

although being Jewish does present some problems with the whole Easter greeting thing..nonetheless, I shall find some way to insert phrase..

cynner - ghosts on the staircase - eek nooo!

It was quite funny actually as I was letting some visitors out. Fnar!

I think I just said im not a cunt and scurried back inside.

As for the Easter greeting - ''Happy Springtime neighbouring C*s!!'' should do it.

(Sorry i hate the 'C' word, can't even type it... although i had no trouble shouting ''get the fuck out of the fucking way'' to a man blocking the estate road with his van yesterday (cringe) - i need to go & apologise at some point, just working up the courage..).

Ohhhh..Pickles, you are the least Cuntish person here!
Latara, we have a long narrow staircase that becomes active on some nights...my husband stomps around saying it is just an old house settling..me and my children know better..

I'd much rather live in a rented council flat than own a house with a huge amount of negative equity. Or a house that needed quite a bit spending on it to make it half decent and you know you will never ever get that money back. I wouldn't even give this horrible woman another thought. She's a stupid ignorant unpleasant creature who you would do well to avoid in future. And warn everyone else about her. Most people would think she was a disgrace.

My son has a friend who lives on the estate where we used to live. I do not want him playing out there, but he does visit. I tend to have him round to ours rather than vice versa but I am very, VERY tactful about this.

I now live on another estate, although we've bought. I don't have a prejudice against HA/council estates, seeing as I live on one, but I do get where Freddoes is coming from.

The woman in the OP however is an almighty arse. A twunt. A revolting, nasty, cowfaced idiot of epic proportions.

Our council have fecked right up here, they have only gone and built 3 set of flats in amongst the private houses.

People are people... people in private houses also do bad things, I am sure of it. Why am I arguing with myself, the same reason I talk to myself possibly?

Anyone that judges you isn't worth it. She sounds a total cow. Most people are not like that and only care if you are a nice person and a good parent.

I'm lucky to have bought my home when it was easier to get a mortgage, also i was until recently earning a good wage from my job.
Now i work part time & claim (quite low) benefits due to having health problems that may not improve; i'm struggling to pay the mortgage so i may get a lodger soon (i know i was lucky not to need a lodger before).

I'd never look down on other people due to where they live!
Because even before buying my home - i've know so many people (friends, relatives, colleagues) in difficult circumstances with accommodation. Even people who ended up sleeping on the streets.

So i'm very aware of how easy it is to end up in difficulties.
My own (divorced) parents have always struggled to afford decent homes - when i lived with my dad & sister we had the same kitchen & bathroom since the house was built in the 70s! (But always clean & freshly painted thanks to dad the DIY expert).
My mum often lived in studio flats; now she has a 1 bedroom over 60s flat.

I flatshared for years with up to 6 people - some flats were damp & infested with flies / ants etc. lovely!
I then rented my own flat in a nice block - only to realise i was living above the local dealers who were total thugs :(

So i really appreciate my house although the money problems are very worrying.
I live in a Square of 2 bedroom terraced & semi-detached houses - they are a mixture of privatedly owned like mine; also private rented & HA rented.
None of us judge each other - most people here (families, single people, couples of all ages) are friendly enough but not nosy or gossipy.

The noisiest neighbour is elderly Cyril (bless him) who's a home owner - he's recently gone quite deaf, & goes out dancing with other elderly people most evenings :)
So during the day he often has his back door open with loud music (inc. deep bass) practising his dance steps... i can hear it from my house across the road! Easy Listening versions of 'classics' such as 'Kung Fu fighting' at top volume - luckily his next door neighbour is a lad who is too nice to complain :)

she's an arse

the end

hang out with non-arses

Worra you must be on the same estate as me. Was once (not sure if still is) the biggest council estate in Europe

I live in a council flat as well

Although my dd goes to local primary which is in a very mixed area so no snobbiness yet!!!

ooh the knollies are out tonite!

I thought the biggest one was in Merthyr?