Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be pissed off at my friend who is a council tenant

317 replies

judgejudithjudy · 27/01/2015 11:34

Friends boiler broke down & was fixed for free within 4 days. When mine broke down, I had to apply for a loan to get it fixed & took 4 weeks.

All she's done is moan on Fb it's taken too long.

Felt like adding get a job & try paying for it yourself & then you'd have something to moan about!

Still paying off the sodding loan - how I wish I had a council house ??

OP posts:
JamNan · 27/01/2015 11:53

"we didn't qualify for a council house as was working" well that is pure bollocks too. yep agree with you Sunny

FYI OP, most people who live in council houses housing association accommodation WORK FOR A LIVING!

Biscuit
livsmommy · 27/01/2015 11:54

You don't qualify for a council house because you work? Are you for real?

HighwayDragon · 27/01/2015 11:54

We pay £850 per month privately, our boiler broke and the ll fixed it in 24hours, was I entitled to moan about a cold 24 hours, because I don't own my house, or is it just council tenants you have an issue with?

SunnyBaudelaire · 27/01/2015 11:55

tis true, boiler not working will get most private landlords round in a flash, esp if there are children in the house.
There you go OP, go private rented ! problem solved. lol.

TheChandler · 27/01/2015 11:57

Itsallgoingtobefine Yes YABU. 4 days is a long time to not have hot water/heating especially at this time of year, and ideally a landlord would get onto it faster.

Well, only if they happened to own a central heating parts manufacturing site presumably! Most boilers are made in Italy and heating engineers won't necessarily have all parts in stock at all times.

And YANBU OP. Of course not. But on mumsnet you are not supposed to have a voice.

Birdsgottafly that's awful that your council home is substandard. Where I live, which is a new build estate, part of it was built as social housing to exactly the same standard as the homes for sale, except that the social housing tenants in many cases got to choose their own carpets and kitchens, because they were automatically included. I pay more in a mortgage for my home than the council tenants pay in rent, and I know developers have quite small profit margins so presumably that lower rent is subsidised by the taxpayer, with or without housing benefit. Its almost half of what the privately rented homes cost, and they are all exactly the same.

IAmAllImportant · 27/01/2015 11:58

we didn't qualify for a council house as was working

What a ridiculous statement! I worked and so did now ExH when we got our first council flat. We still worked when we got our two bedroom house.

Then his eldest DD moved in with us and our then 4 year old DD. We were still working when we moved to our 3 bedroom housing association house (the council had sold all housing stock to them).

Having said that, ExH did put in the central heating as we hated the crappy night storage heaters. The HA have maintained it though and service it every year. They have recently put central heating in all the local houses, but I have had mine for 11 years now.

Viviennemary · 27/01/2015 11:59

A lot of Council house tenants don't live in the real world. That is the insecurity of private rental and worrying about repairs to property if you're an owner.

SunnyBaudelaire · 27/01/2015 11:59

oh wait i found a tiny violin for the thread about KP which has been closed.
So OP you can have it instead!

to be pissed off at my friend who is a council tenant
Birdsgottafly · 27/01/2015 11:59

""She also had to put up with council workmen not turning up/ turning up at wrong time/refusing to leave the flat when she had to go out for work, etc.""

Having repairs done by Council workmen is a nightmare and it is never to the standard that you'd pay for.

I wouldn't of dreamt of buying my house, or renting it privately, the condition it was in and the door frames, plastering, still is.

If you get a C/HA house that's to a good standard, you are very lucky.

In the areas that are easier to get housed in (im in Liverpool) the houses are from the 30's-50's and haven't been replastered, new door frames/skirting boards fitted etc.

You still have to invest in your home, to make it "nice". They aren't to the standard of private rents.

EatShitDerek · 27/01/2015 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MidniteScribbler · 27/01/2015 11:59

How bizarre. It might be because I'm not from the UK, but I can't possibly imagine a scenario where a home owner actually aspires to move to housing commission (well, the UK equivalent) property.

McSqueezy · 27/01/2015 11:59

Just focus on your own life, instead of focusing on hers and you won't feel so bitter and jealous.

SunnyBaudelaire · 27/01/2015 12:00

vivienne they do live the 'real world'.
The shit my mate has had to put up with over the years was a bit of a payoff for now realising that actually she hit the jackpot in London.
Personally I couldnt take it and ran off the the sticks.

EatShitDerek · 27/01/2015 12:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tinkerball · 27/01/2015 12:01

You don't really want a council house OP you just want to start up an anti-council house and benefits thread. If you are so desperate to get things fixed for free when they break sell your house and rent, and then it will be your Landlords redpinsibility to fix - councils in this situation are just like every other private landlord in the country - responsible for things they own.

BarbarianMum · 27/01/2015 12:02

4 days is a long time to not have hot water/heating especially at this time of year, and ideally a landlord would get onto it faster.

Most landlords don't do the repairs themselves you know. They call a heating engineer (or 3) schedule the appointment (at convenience of the tennant so a bit of too-ing and fro-ing here) then hope no spare parts are needed. Took me 3 days to get my own boiler fixed last time - they are quite busy at this time of year.

Mrsjayy · 27/01/2015 12:02

You do qualify for a council house just other people might take priority renters get their boilers fixed owners have to pay their own life is shit some times

sticklebrickstickle · 27/01/2015 12:03

If you want a council house quit your job and start claiming benefits.

That is the beauty of our benefit system, they are available to all. If you think her life on benefits in a council house is so much better than yours the lifestyle is yours to choose.

Jackieharris · 27/01/2015 12:03

In 25 years you will own your house outright and will have no further housing costs for the rest of your life.

Meanwhile she will still be paying rent out of her pension.

How is that fair?

donnie · 27/01/2015 12:04

Oh good, another thread where COUNCIL TENANTS ARE SCUM. It's been a while, after all.......

SunnyBaudelaire · 27/01/2015 12:05

"If you want a council house quit your job and start claiming benefits."
LOOK CAN WE JUST STOP THIS SHIT ABOUT HOW COUNCIL TENANTS DO NOT WORK. Please.

donnie · 27/01/2015 12:07

quick Op get your friend on Jeremy Kyle and tell the Daily Fail!!!! and Farage!!!!!

gobbynorthernbird · 27/01/2015 12:07

so presumably that lower rent is subsidised by the taxpayer

Or, maybe social housing landlords aren't looking to make a profit. There are also savings to be made because of the sheer volume of properties (ie, employing full time heating engineers, rather that contracting on the odd occasion, a discount for buying 40 houses instead of 1). Council houses will pay for themselves many times over, and even if tenants claim housing benefit that is surely a smaller amount than if they were renting privately.

SunnyBaudelaire · 27/01/2015 12:07

oh yes I can see the headline now!
'shock horror probe! Council tenant has boiler fixed!'

Dawndonnaagain · 27/01/2015 12:07

Oh ffs. What is it today?

Biscuit