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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

for being annoyed that our tax is paying for people to buy wallpaper.

536 replies

suzexxx · 31/05/2013 07:51

I saw a post from a girl on facebook asking whether the social could help her buy things to do up her home e.g wallpaper and paint. Alot of people commented that she could get some vouchers to use on a certain paint brand and B&Q etc.

AIBU to think this girl should save some money or attempt to get a job for extra luxeries before expecting the social to foot the bill?

I'm moving house next month and the whole house will need decorating. However i am realistic in the fact i won't be able to afford to wallpaper the whole place at once, instead doing a bit at a time as and when i can afford it. My partner earns a moderate income and i'm currently on maternity leave, so money is tighter at the moment, but would never expect someone to pay for something i could manage without like wallpaper.

I completely understand people using the social to buy essential items such as a cooker or fridge, but not non essentials.

OP posts:
TooTabooToBoo · 31/05/2013 08:12
Dahlen · 31/05/2013 08:13

The sort of person who sells a £250 B&Q voucher is probably not going to be agonising over wallpaper.

£250 really will not go far in decorating and carpeting a 3-bed home that needs redoing throughout. Someone selling a voucher meant for that purpose is probably going to be in massive debt, have MH issues or drug/alcohol dependency, in which case I wouldn't bother being jealous if I were you.

Nanny0gg · 31/05/2013 08:14

When someone moves into a new social housing home, they get a voucher for B&Q yes. How much it is depends on the size of the property, so, for example, it's £100 for a 2-bed house. That has to cover everything, including flooring (as it is part of the rules that the exiting tenant has to remove all carpets etc before they leave).

Why do they have to remove the carpets? Surely, if they're in good condition that's really wasteful? And the incoming tenant might like them.

JumpingJackSprat · 31/05/2013 08:14

Maybe you shouldnt have had a baby if you cant afford to do up your house. or bought a smaller house. im sure she absolutely loves living in council accomodation. maybe you should have a look at yourself and why youre jealous of her.

ParsingFancy · 31/05/2013 08:15

See, now I've seen your post about "she shouldn't be given B&Q vouchers cos she'll spend it on something else", I think you're just a common or garden benefit basher.

First you're worried she'll have wallpaper. Now you're worried she won't.

I wonder if she spends as much time worrying about what you spend your maternity pay on, and whether you'll spend your child benefit on smokes and booze?

Dahlen · 31/05/2013 08:16

I agree Nanny. But it's standard around my area. I suspect it's because too many people were leaving behind carpets that weren't in fit condition and then new tenants were complaining about the charge to have them removed.

Ok if the carpet is mouldy/flea-ridden, fair enough, but why they can't let new tenants view the home beforehand and ask them if they'd like the existing carpets is beyond me.

NarkyNamechanger · 31/05/2013 08:16

They gut the place every time someone moves out.

mackerella · 31/05/2013 08:17

When I read the title, I thought we'd gone back 15 years and were talking about Derry Irvine's Pugin wallpaper! Now £59, 000 is a lot to expect taxpayers to pay for someone else's wallpaper, but I can't get very worked up about paying £100 for someone not to live in a shithole. So YABU.

Jemma1111 · 31/05/2013 08:17

So you think that this woman should live surrounded by bare walls because she is at the moment in an unfortunate position ?

Op , one lesson you need to learn is that you should never look down on people because they may claim benefits etc because one day YOU might be in their position !

What would you do if YOU end up a single mum for instance and are given a little help to enable you to make your house liveable ? Would you turn it down ? No I guess not .

You come across as a bit smug that you're life seems sorted but actually you are probably being quite naive if you don't see that this woman could be you one day .

deepfriedsage · 31/05/2013 08:18

Money for MP's second homes seems more unreasonable.

Basic flooring and paint is not being unreasonable, money for wallpaper is being unreasonable.

Ghostsgowoooh · 31/05/2013 08:20

Yabu and you sound jealous. When I moved into my council house 7 years ago I was given 80 pounds to decorate my whole house, it was enough to do three rooms and that was just the paint.

And as for people selling their vouchers. Hardly. I had to take my tenancy agreement with me to homebase to prove they were mine.

And as for the 'get a job' yawn. Tell you what swap places with me. Ill gladly live in your lovely bought house with your nice job etc and you can live in my council house with my four children one of which as autism and ADHD. You can look after him 24/7 if you like whilst you watch your life slide by

I used to own my own house, but due to horrible circs I now don't.

Go back to your daily mail op.

BlackholesAndRevelations · 31/05/2013 08:20

I agree with Parsing- did kind of agree until that comment. When i was little and we moved into a council house, we had criminals people over who were doing community service to decorate it and make it liveable. I think we must have had a voucher of some description for paint, and got the furniture and carpets from community furniture projects/the local church. Sooooo... I think I possibly change my opinion to YABU. I can't imagine she'd want to sell her voucher on. Hmm

CbeebiesIsMyLife · 31/05/2013 08:21

Wow, you think highly of your friend. Why are you friends if you are so judgey of her? You shouldn't ever judge someone until you have walked at least a day in their shoes.

I've lived in houses that need doing up, it had a direct impact on my depression. Maybe painting and wallpapering the house is just what she needs to have the motivation to go and find a job. Maybe she's disabled (there are such things as hidden disabilities where you don't qualify for DLA) or maybe she's a mum and has children to look after. Maybe there are depression or other issues. Maybe she's working towards a qualification to enable her to get a better job. Just because you know her doesn't mean you know the intricate details of her life.

But no, don't worry op, lets round the poor up an shoot the lot of them. Problem solved! No one to waste 'our' tax money [buscuit]

CbeebiesIsMyLife · 31/05/2013 08:21
Biscuit
Belini · 31/05/2013 08:21

'Who's to say they won't sell the voucher and spend it on something else'
Yabu I'm assuming you mean drink/ drugs/fags because everyone on 'the social' is a feckless idiot who wouldn't care less about having a half decent home to live in! Hmm

Meddlinkids · 31/05/2013 08:22

I have no problem with it. If people can choose their own stuff they will probably have more pride and investment in their home so it actually helps the tax payer ( not that it should IYSWIM, just being practical).

TooTabooToBoo · 31/05/2013 08:22

I wish I could hide threads on the app Angry

Basic wallpaper is not an expensive luxury FFS!

When you're in a situation where the walls are painted lime green with pillarbox red, freehand circles, no amount of magnolia is going to cover that!

MyPreciousRing · 31/05/2013 08:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mrsjay · 31/05/2013 08:22

ach suze lovey they get their wall paper at B n M and home bargans unlike Mps and the like who get it hand made I think id rather give tax money to somebody who has probably got a council flat than an MP who gets paid enough to buy their own wall paper, If you are so offended why do you have friends who are 'on the social' on your facebook anyway. and the decorating grant as far as I am aware doesn't go into the 100s , just think yourself lucky that you are not in HEr position ,

PistachioTruffle · 31/05/2013 08:25

Sometimes wallpaper IS essential though. As a child, I moved into a council bungalow with my parents and siblings. The elderly lady who had lived there until she died had not decorated in quite some time, and the walls were papered in heavily textured wallpaper. The council came and removed the carpets and pulled off the paper, and gave a voucher (I believe £100) for redecoration purposes. The walls were in bad repair, with crumbling plaster in places and bits of old lining paper that wouldn't come off. I'm not sure how someone would paint over that.

mrsjay · 31/05/2013 08:25

when we dh was unemployed and we were 'on the social' I got a flat and we got a decorating grant of 50 quid the house had year and years and years of chipwood wall paper and was at least 10 coast deep in GLOSS PAINT Confused the 50 quid didnt go very far

mrsjay · 31/05/2013 08:26

coats*

Original poster
suzexxx · 31/05/2013 08:26

Ok i admitted i was being naive for not realising how poor a condition some houses were left in. And in that situation i completely agree a person should be given some money to help do up their house.

The post i saw on facebook was asking about wallpaper, nothing to do with flooring/getting rid of carpets etc. Wallpaper to me is a luxury.

As for the comments saying i shouldn't have a baby because i can't afford one is disgusting. I'm a nurse and my partner is a HGV driver, not sure if moderate income was the right word, but we can afford to buy a 3 bedroomed house just cannot afford to decorate the whole house within one shopping spree. I'm sure i'm not the only person who will be moving into a house and takes time to do it up.

OP posts:
DogsAreEasierThanChildren · 31/05/2013 08:29

YABU and quite unpleasant. When I was a child, my father walked out and left my mother with three children and no money. Shock horror, she claimed benefits. We already lived in a council house. It had wallpaper, that my grandmother put up for us in slightly happier times. Some of the people on here clearly think we ought to have been left to starve and it's damned upsetting.

Incidentally, we all (including my mother) have decent jobs now and contribute, but we could easily have gone under if the safety net hadn't been there. I'm incredibly anxious that a woman in my mother's position now might not even get the bare minimum needed to keep her family alive.

TooTabooToBoo · 31/05/2013 08:29

Yy, I'd forgotten the finer details.

Vouchers issued with my name on and I had to take proof of tenancy. was all strictly controlled.

I was also a single mum doing qualifications to get a decent job to get off benefits .

I really cherished the day I bought lovely wallpaper (working FT) to redecorate and banish the cream colour theme Grin