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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

256 replies

Zeta123 · 23/12/2013 20:27

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.

OP posts:
mrsjay · 23/12/2013 22:02

free houses housing benefit i want a free house paid for

where the hell do people get the idea about free bloody houses tory voters probably

Roisin · 23/12/2013 22:02

Where are you living now, OP?

Xmasbaby11 · 23/12/2013 22:04

He is being unreasonable. 45mins is fine!

Hope you enjoy your new home!

ArgumentsatChristmas · 23/12/2013 22:04

I rent out a couple of properties so I have a little understanding of the property market.

As you say, beamme, council rents are substantially lower than market rents. This is because the build and financing costs have been paid by the taxpayer. Not to mention the fact that the council itself is paid for by the taxpayer. So council houses are subsidised houses. That's fine, but don't run away with the idea that just because you pay a peppercorn rent that you are actually paying a market rent. Council houses are subsidised houses and they are subsidised by taxpayers.

LST · 23/12/2013 22:05

Ahhh arguments. You seem to have changed your story. Subsidising is not the same as cheaper rent. Not my fault market rates are so high now is it.

CuttedUpPear · 23/12/2013 22:07

I live in a council house.

I work.
VERY HARD.

ArgumentsatChristmas · 23/12/2013 22:07

Are you following this discussion or are you just tipsy or summat LST? Subsidising council houses is just the same as cheaper rent.

QuintessentialShadows · 23/12/2013 22:08

I think it is fair enough. With the way house prices are so high, and private rent is so high, a home has become quite unaffordable in some areas. The government has to address this, and the only way I think is more council housing. There is no way they can change the mess we are in otherwise.

MammaTJ · 23/12/2013 22:09

Peppercorn rent Ha ha bloody HA!

That is all!

ArgumentsatChristmas · 23/12/2013 22:14

In a way, I really think this mass-migration in the EU accession states is a bloody good thing. It's a wake-up call.

Take the OP's DP. He is turning up his nose at the subsidy offered to him. Good. A Bulgarian family takes the home. The Bulgarian family is hard working and energetic. They take the home. And they commute to the OP's DP's workplace. They work hard. They get promoted. The OP's DH faces redundancy. He is made redundant. The Bulgarians get promoted. The economy wins. It absolutely wins. Do you not see that? Do you not see how instead of taking life for granted, we have to work hard?

PenguinsDontEatStollen · 23/12/2013 22:15

He thinks he can get a nice house in a 20 minute commute?

He's living in another world. People with significant (i.e. pretty massive!) budgets buying their own homes struggle to find something with a commute that tiny. So do people who are renting privately and have thier pick of the housing stock. Regardless of the fact that it is a council home, his views on commute as just unrealistic these days.

My commute was over an hour the whole 10 years I worked after uni (currently a SAHM).

I didn't know the three houses rule, but what if the next house was both not as nice and further away? You'd be stuffed and you'd have to take it to avoid being bumped.

The only reason I would turn it down is if commuting costs made it economically utterly unviable.

raisah · 23/12/2013 22:18

I have a 1:5 hour commute each way so your dp is being unreasonable to want to turn it down. Congrats on the house and hopefully he will come round to the idea of a fan house in a good area.

PedantMarina · 23/12/2013 22:22

channeling the Monty Python Yorkshire millionaires<

"45 Minutes?!!? Looxureee! Ye soft wee nellie..."

I have a 1.5 hr commute, sometimes it's closer to 2. Thank the gods of housing on both knees for this.

MrsDeVere · 23/12/2013 22:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheDoctrineOfSanta · 23/12/2013 22:25

Another one with over an hour to commute each way...

Lasvegas · 23/12/2013 22:26

There and back on a normal day I commute 3 hours in total. This is to and from a house I own.

RedLondonBus · 23/12/2013 22:26

Lol at arguments you've mentioned 'the Bulgarians* in 3 posts now and nobody is biting! Goady goady

QuintessentialShadows · 23/12/2013 22:26

My dad paid a peppercorn rent on a boathouse, the princely sum of £1 per year, for a couple of decades. Owner wanted to ensure that he never legally acquired ownership through common use (or whatever it is called in English)

Peppercorn rent has however increased to £500 per year, by the late owners son in law, so is no longer really "peppercorn" so much....

defineme · 23/12/2013 22:26

I drive 40-45 minutes to work every day. I work in a school and the PE teachers, that live near me, cycle the 20 odd miles there and back every day! The cover supervisors, teaching assistants and the librarian , all of whom earn around the same as your dh, have similar commutes.

ArgumentsatChristmas · 23/12/2013 22:27

I do know what a peppercorn rent means Mrs DV and I will confess to being slightly mischievous in using the term.

But still there is a confusion on this thread between the rents on council houses and the market rate. And there is a big difference between the two.

I personally do not let to anyone on housing benefit, They cannot afford the rents. I am as supportive a landlord as it is possible to be (and i do have the costs to bear witness) but frankly - who would go there unless they had to?

RosebudTheCat · 23/12/2013 22:28

OP I am glad you are taking the house. Like you we were lucky and got a two-bedroom when we had one young child (now have two).

I live in a housing association flat and pay my rent in its entirety. The rent is half of my take-home salary each month, so not really 'peppercorn'. Also, the housing association is a charity which has owned the building for over a hundred years. I think it would be incorrect to say I live in 'subsidised housing'.

mercibucket · 23/12/2013 22:29

if you got offered 2 houses straight away, it does sound like it is easy to get a council house near you. why are you sure this is not the case?

what are the rent savings vs travel costs? if it costs more, then I see his point

CranberrySaucyJack · 23/12/2013 22:33

But still there is a confusion on this thread between the rents on council houses and the market rate. And there is a big difference between the two.

Yes there is. But the confusion is yours. HTH Grin

You need to learn the difference between subsidized and not-for-profit.

QuintessentialShadows · 23/12/2013 22:36

Not mischievous Arguments, goady and insulting, i'd say.

grumpyoldbat · 23/12/2013 22:36

So fucking sick of having to justify my existence.

Housing is only free if 100% of the rent is paid by housing benefit. This is not the case with the OP as her DH is earning 20K. Although I do agree he's deluded re the commute.

Council house rent is based on management costs plus paying off a percentage of the build costs. It is calculated to be revenue neutral overall (barring housing benefit cases). My house. Was built over 60 years ago so the build costs have been covered. The new council houses they're building are going to have higher rents (according to the newsletter) they money to build them is in some ways treated like a loan to the housing department. Private rents are determined by mortgage and or profit plus running costs and are therefore higher. Especially as some LL will be stuck with high mortgage rates taken out a while ago. Please note I said and or profit as I realise not everyone makes a profit.

I really angry at the suggestion that people in council houses don't work hard and get a free house. A large proportion of tenants pay full rent, another large group pay at least a proportion of their rent as they are low paid. I work very hard thank you very much. I will apologise though that I only worked 44hrs in the past week and I have a couple of days off. In my defence I'll be working from boxing day through to the 4th. Then I have another day off, sorry. I pay my rent and I pay council tax just like everyone else.

Op my commute can be anything between 40min and 1.5hrs depending on which site I'm at. You really do get used to it and depending on mode of transport can find ways to make the most of the journey.