Offered a council house but partner doesn't want to accept as it's 40 mins commute from work

[Zeta123]

I applied for council housing in the middle of November. I was offered a horrid house first and refused and was yesterday offered the most beautiful council house I have ever seen. It's 2 bedroom but in a lovely area and it's huge with a big garden. It's perfect, it even meets my partners very high standards. But he wants to refuse it as it's 45 mins from his work place and also isn't in the exact area that he wants. I'm trying to explain to him that it's not like buying a house. Although we have been offered two houses in the space of a few weeks this isn't the norm and it's actually hard to get a council house. I have wrote this thread in the hope that the replies will make him realise some people wait a long time for a house and are in much worse situation than us. We should be grateful to not only be offered a house but a beautiful one at that. So do you think he is being unreasonable and unrealistic to refuse a lovely house because of a 45 minute commute? How long did u wait for a house/ is there a long waiting list In your area? Also explain to him that in many areas we wouldn't even be housed at all as we only have one child and he works on quite a good job. We've accepted the house but he's not happy about it.

take it tell him they will put you all down to the bottom of the list if you refuse again if it is a good area nice house good area he would be a fool to refuse it and a bit bloody selfish tbh,

oh i missed your last bit you did accept good he can lump it and get up a bit earlier for work

hes a twat

If he works why are you in a council house anyway?

We bought a house with a further commute than that. You would be mad to turn such a nice place down. Nice council houses in good areas are hard to come by.

I'm not sure what the rules are where you are, but here you get put to the bottom of the list if you refuse 3 houses.

You would be very foolish to let the house go.

My husband commutes just over an hour to work everyday. We cannot afford to sell up and move closer even if I did want to pull the kids out of the schools they love.. Can he afford to put a roof over your heads instead of receiving assistance? If not then he needs to either suck it up or get a new job.

40 minutes is nothing compared to what a lot of people commute.

Tell him to get over it.

He may even be able to utilise the time if he travels by train.

45 minutes to work isn't very long, that's what I drive, taking the buses would take me around 2 hours

Why would him working make a difference Alaska?

Accept the house OP, tell your partner he can live somewhere else if he wants.

Lots of people who work live in council houses. Why wouldn't they?

My DH has a 90 minute commute to work. 45 minutes is nothing.

You have literally been hit with the lucky stuck.

He's an idiot and I bet your relationship with the house lasts longer than your relationship with him.

45 minutes is really not that much of a commute.

dont want to judge someone I dont know, but on the face of it, he sounds very ungrateful.. A 45 min commute is pretty do-able... I manage a 90 min commute ew. its surprising how quickly you get used to it..
I dont have experience of housing waiting lists, but I bet there would be people chewing their arm off to get a decent house! How many houses met his 'exact requirements' ?? -can he afford to be so choosy??

i would have presumed that council houses were for those on benefits through illness or whatever

Tell him to get a bike!

DH lives one and a half hours hour commute away from work because it is what we can afford.

Most people who live in council houses work don't they I rent privately on a council estate and can't think of one person on my street who doesn't work.

OP your dp us being very u, 40 minutes isn't that long if the house is perfect in other ways.

oh - I stand corrected.

A lot of homeowners have to commute that far, not always by choice either (eg they lost their job and had to take one further away in order to keep the roof over their head). So YANBU, but he is.

5-10y minimum wait here. Not a nice area. Housing stock is mostly poor quality. Overcrowding is the norm (ie couple with 1 child might get a 1 bed flat, might get a studio, flats are often high up without a lift). You lose your place on the list if you turn down 2 or more properties without good reason (commute time under 1-1.5h is not considered a good reason).

45mins is a pretty standard commute ime. I live in London and don't commute, technically, yet it still takes me 45mins to get to work.

My understanding is that, once you have turned down 3 houses, you go back to the bottom of the list. I would take the house - he'll get used to it !

OMG alaska are you for real ??

Yes all the scummy poor people live in council houses rotting away together , scrounging benefits.

We are defo accepting. There is no question of that as there's no way I would let the house go. We've already agreed to take it but I can't believe he's being so ungrateful. I believe it's because we have been offered the house so quickly, without having to wait so he has this idea that council house is something you're simply given. He needs to understand this isn't the case and that we have been very, very lucky!

Your partner is being a dick. I'd give my right leg for a 45 minute commute, frankly.

He is being very unreasonable.

Sounds like a fab house.