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.

Not mischievous but very very nasty, insulting and derogatory comments.

What a whinger he is. I used to drive at least an hour and a half to get to work, takes my DH 2 hours on public transport to get to his job. 45 mins - the man is a bit of a wet blanket

You will be taken off the list if you don't accept I take it you only have one more offer to refuse and it could be even worse and even further

And to be honest your very lucky to be offered something so quick in my area there is a 10 year waiting list

Social housing misconceptions again what a surprise

Would you prefer to privately rent at £700 per month
Or council rent at £300 per month????
I know what number I prefer

I don't deny they are subsidised rents if the tennent receives benefits.

Haven't finished reading the last few pages yet, but a CH tenant does receive benefits. They have the benefit of having a long term tennancy, which saves the owner of the property a huge amount of money, which then means the tenant doesn't have to pay towards that as part of their normal running costs.

Will read beyond that comment now!

Hell you're lucky to get it. Decent council housing is very hard to come by.

errm, Id like to point out to arguments that council housing is not massively less than what market rate is!! in fact 80% of council properties available round my area are being offered at 80% market rate.............so not the massive discount you are trying to make a point about!!

Oh. I see this thread has turned into the usual benefit-bashing by ignorant twits whose reading skills are limited to headlines in the Sun.

Anyway.
OP's husband, I've been on my council's list for 6 years and have only been "invited to bid" for ONE property in all that time. It was a rubbish flat outside a village with no facilities and miles from a main road. I thought I'd better bid, so as not to look awkward, and was told I'd been unsuccessful. Six years. That was it. I rent a ramshackle house full of holes, from a miserable private landlord, at just under twice the rent for a council place.

Before this I lived and worked in London, where my 45 minute commute was considered short! You'll never get anywhere in life with your values - go for the house and count your lucky stars!

HTH :)

Whilst good a long term tenancy is not a benefit. At least not in the context the word benefit is being used in this thread.

Council housing was never intended as housing for the unemployed.

No, it was intended as housing owned by, and occupied by, ordinary people so that everyone had a nice place to live.

... What went wrong ... ?

Heavens above op - your dp is living in lala land. 45 mins commute is nowt for a nice house.

Good on you for taking it op. He'll come round.

OP pleased to hear that you have accepted the house - I work for a housing association and commonly see people waiting for 3 - 5 yrs. As for those people who think they are subsiding your housing - they really have no idea. In many areas now housing stock is not even held by the council - I know residents locally still refer to Council housing - 12 years after the transfer. Housing Associations take from the councils waiting list but fund their building by financing against rental income - not tax payers money.

OP pleased to hear that you have accepted the house - I work for a housing association and commonly see people waiting for 3 - 5 yrs. As for those people who think they are subsiding your housing - they really have no idea. In many areas now housing stock is not even held by the council - I know residents locally still refer to Council housing - 12 years after the transfer. Housing Associations take from the councils waiting list but fund their building by financing against rental income - not tax payers money.

It takes me more than 45 mins to get my DC to school. 45 mins is a fairly average commute I think.

Just caught up with this and earlier I googled 'is council housing subsidised', and it seems there is space for debate about it, with valid points on both sides.

I appreciate that many (not all) council or ha tenants may now have paid off the cost of their build and therefore are genuinely only paying for their own running costs, and I'd just like to point out that I have never been under the impression that social housing is for people that don't work! I appreciate it's not a subsidy in the form of money being exchanged in favour of the tenant to pay their rent, and a tenant may be paying out quite a significant chunk of their income on rent.

Private landlords and homeowners have to charge enough to pay the tax they are charged on their rental income, or on buying their property, or paying the bank. These are costs that a social tenant and their landlord do not need to cover, despite those costs being essential to society.

Social and private rents are based on completely different, but equally valid methods of housing. A HA that is a charity will get tax exemption in much the same way that a private school will.

Whether you think that is a subsidy or not depends on your interpretation of the word subsidy.

Personally I think having a social tenancy is enough of an advantage that anyone who holds one should consider themselves one of the lucky few.

I've been on the housing list since 1998.

I will say no more.

As someone said upthread the only good reason for not taking this house would be if the commute is unaffordable.

Before I joined mn I used to think that council houses were free and for people in need (I don't think I thought you had be to be unemployed necessarily but certainly in significant financial difficulty). I think it's a reasonable assumption for people who have no experience of council housing. I also wish in many ways that I had been correct. I was happier in a world of ignorance believing that those in most need would always be looked after first and for nothing. I don't like the idea of perfectly average families with the capacity to manage independently having council houses when people far worse off are in homeless shelters tbh. If there were enough houses then fair enough, I wouldn't care who had them. But as there aren't then allocation should be based on need (maybe it is, I don't know.)

Yes woowoo it is good luck to have a social tenancy. However it's not fair for us to have to face the vitriol we do face from some. It's unfair to call us lazy, scroungers and many of the other insults that have been banded about on this and previous threads.

Yes we were very lucky to get a social tenancy but it came after unemployment (through redundancy) and homelessness. We had a few months of HB (my apologies to the proper people) but we now pay our rent and CT in full. I work hard, even when unemployed I worked hard, constantly searching for work then working up to my current salary and I'm working hard to try and improve it again. We only claimed out of sheer desperation after trying to survive on almost no income. I apologise to everyone for claiming but please don't accuse me of doing it out of an unwillingness to work. Sometimes (especially these days) success with job hunting takes time.

It is based on need.

Homeless people are in need. You can be in a job but have your private landlord want his property back. If you cannot find somewhere else to live then you are homeless.

People living in unsatisfactory housing conditions are in need. You may work full time but have 4 children in a 2 bedroom flat. The council would assess you as overcrowded and agree to add you to their list.

Lots of councils put people in work in a higher category than those out of work.

I accepted a HA flat last year, coming from a private rented house ( unsatisfactory housing conditions NOT homeless applicant) whilst also working full time earning above the national average.

Lots of people were shocked at this, but if you read your council's housing allocations policy, you might find that you can join the list too.

And lo and behold people in private housing can apply for social funding for rent too!

Grumpy, I have no intention of making this discussion personal to anyone, and I haven't accused you of anything.

My sister spent 6 years on the waiting list, was allocated a bedsit, and has been told it will take another 25 years before she is eligible for a 1 bed flat.

Here if you turn down 2 properties and they remove you from the waiting list

Some absolute belters of ignorance on here tonight!

Flipping eck! Where do you live, the land of milk and honey?!

I don't like the idea of perfectly average families with the capacity to manage independently having council houses when people far worse off are in homeless shelters tbh. WTF!?

Thank god themanic is not in charge of housing! Why would any one want to work then!