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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be fed up with the bad association people see to have with social housing?

233 replies

NoahVale · 25/04/2016 22:17

PEOPLE at work criticizing the new builds which, shock horror, also contain Social Housing
tales of people complaining that they are buying houses the same as those in social housing

and others putting down social housing residents. of which I am

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 25/04/2016 23:21

YY Worra Bit like that where my parents live and they are all privately owned.

WorraLiberty · 25/04/2016 23:24

A lot of the private landlords in my dad's area don't spend much time in the UK and the agencies always claim they can't locate them to do the repairs.

One 3 bed house was condemned and was found to have 17 people in it, including children Sad

LunaLoveg00d · 25/04/2016 23:25

We lived on a new build development of 16 houses, about 6 were owner occupied, 10 were a mix of social and private letting. We had nothing but problems with the social housing tenants - noise, antisocial behaviour, moonlight flits, subletting the garage to poor Polish students and the final straw was a drugs raid.

Not all social housing tenants are like this I'm sure. Perhaps we were just unlucky. But my experience was not good.

HelenaDove · 25/04/2016 23:27

I dont currently work myself as DH is ill with emphysema and hes over 65 but he and i both have a routine.....he goes to a day centre and i have other things like my slimming class

I once cancelled a hair appointment for a gas safety check and they didnt show and there was no apology or explanation Ive had many other no shows but i refuse to cancel other appointments for them. No common courtesy at all so they now have to come when its convenient for us. Ive had FOURTEEN years of being fucked about which i remind them of whenever they try to argue about it.

HelenaDove · 25/04/2016 23:30

Making Miracles..........£300.

These gas checks arent about safety They are a money lake

makingmiracles · 25/04/2016 23:32

Erm think your missing my point, I not saying all those on HB are dossers, just those who don't pay rent are more likely to be the ones who are and don't give a shit about their house/garden etc because they're not paying for it. There are plenty near where I live. We pay rent and have done loads to improve our flat and garden. Those who don't seem to be less inclined. Some of my immediate neighbours don't pay rent but I don't see them as dossers as they are out tending to their gardens etc

AndNowItsSeven · 25/04/2016 23:33

Makingmiracles so people who have money can live where they choose. However people who rely on social housing have to prove they aren't scum?

HelenaDove · 25/04/2016 23:35

Fair enough. .........i havent seen anything like that round here since the 1990s. Round here it has got better.

makingmiracles · 25/04/2016 23:45

As such yes. Makes me a bit mad thinking of some lovely terraces in our town that were bought by HA and renovated-they even supplied each house with its own garden shed, 5yrs later they look trashed. Yes as such you should have to prove yourself to be in with a chance of getting a new build, can't see why not and if your a law abiding tenant who pays rent on time and doesn't cause antisocial behaviour there shouldn't be a problem!

charlestonchaplin · 25/04/2016 23:47

It's not just social housing tenants that are victims of capricious tradesmen. Owner-occupiers also have no-show tradesmen and bad ones who charge high sums for poor or mediocre work. At least you have someone with muscle to complain to if that happens to you. Anyway, that's going off on a tangent, HelenaDove.

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:03

Yep. Thought this would come up again.Charles the difference is as an owner occupier you can choose not to have the same company back again Or not to have the same engineer back again. Social housing tenants cant do that Often tenants are forced to have not only the same company that have fucked up before but the same engineer who fucked up before There are lots of examples in my linked thread.

At the beginning of last year Liberty Gas took 4 and a half months to put in a boiler and six rads for a tenant. This took over TWENTY appointments including several no shows a massive leak in the tenants bedroom engineers just turning up to take photos

Now by rights when they make this many fuck ups the tenant has a right to ask for a different engineer or company to do the job. The HA promised her she could have someone else if LG fucked up another appointment. LG fucked up another appointment.

So the tenant asked the HA if she could have a diff engineer from a diff company HA said yes but you will have to wait 28 more days

28 more days with her floor pulled up and the furniture all pulled out of the upstairs rooms. She reluctantly had to agree to LG finishing the job. Its obvious to me that the 28 day wait was a punishment for her asserting her rights.

So no Charles there is no comparison because owner occupiers arent forced or bullied to have the same dodgy workmen back again and again and again.

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:04

Oh and they tried to insist the bedroom carpet was already wet before the leak.

Baconyum · 26/04/2016 00:08

Wow benefit bashing in full force on here I see by some posters. Not all sh tenants are lazy and careless and not all private working tenants aren't! I'm on HB and in a private let. Previously my landlord was against HB tenants, until her last lot (private, professional) wrecked the place!

Baconyum · 26/04/2016 00:09

And yes I've been in sh too and yes the cheapest contractors get the work even if they're shit!

Jobseekernightmare · 26/04/2016 00:26

Whilst canvassing for labour party I was on a recently built estate and it was bloody obvious when I got to the social housing bit.

LOADS of kids everywhere, and both parents there in the day in the week. As a labour canvasser it was annoying. They all said they were better under labour and didn't want the Tories in, but when I asked if they were voting they said 'no, they [politicians] are all the same' Hmm

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:26

Exactly Bacon And part of the reason they get away with that is BECAUSE of the attitudes to social housing tenants.

I used to go on the Inside Housing website before it went subscription only when you could read the comments usually posted by people who work in the sector Most of the attitudes towards tenants were appalling. How tenants must be "cannabis growers with something to hide" just because they want a convenient time and/or day for the gas safety appointment.

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:29

Well Jobseeker THIS happened under a Labour council.

salfordstar.com/article.asp?id=2390

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:30

Oh and Jobseeker Im not the only social housing tenant on this estate who is childfree by choice.

CantWaitForWarmWeather · 26/04/2016 00:31

PEOPLE at work criticizing the new builds which, shock horror, also contain Social Housing
tales of people complaining that they are buying houses the same as those in social housing

Oh boo fucking hoo. They can always apply for a council house.

Why on earth shouldn't people on lower incomes or who have a crap credit score have the opportunity to live in a lovely home?

Some people are so bitter it's unbelievable.

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:32

And there was a thread on the Chat board last year where a night worker got turfed out of bed by a housing officer during an HA flat inspection.

GiddyOnZackHunt · 26/04/2016 00:45

Thatcherite economics. Divide and conquer :(
Ensuring ordinary people can afford a roof over their head, be it public or private, should be a basic tenet with healthcare and education. Treating all people with respect should be a KPI when assessing contracts rather than focussing on headline costs.

Baconyum · 26/04/2016 00:52

Agreed helena

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:56

Making Miracles that wont work A lot of ppl involved are willing to lie to cover their own arses. Liberty Gas did exactly this. Lied about a tenant not giving them access when it was them who didnt show and this was the result.

Well Liberty Gas you've surpassed yourself this time! 8.30am I was awoken to bailiffs hammering the door down as we'd allegedly denied access to you on several occasions. WTF!?! Bailiffs and Council retreated apologetically when CCTV proved you had NOT been when you claimed. I even have emails as proof! I am a disabled tenant with a young child. Can you imagine how frightening this situation was when still half asleep? How dare you! I've lived here for 20yr and only had problems for the last five....ever since LG won the contract. Do not label me as a POS just because I live in social housing. How are you guys still in business? LOOK AT YOUR REVIEWS!! Leicester County Council/Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council WAKE UP to the clowns you are employing. Roll on 11am when Liberty Gas are meant to be turning up to service the 25yr old fire & back boiler (Watch this space for an update people!). Believe me when I say this as I mean it 100% ~ HEADS WILL ROLL FOR THIS INCOMPETENCE!!

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 00:59

So you see Miracle Its all too easy to tell lies about a tenant and automatically they are believed and the tenant isnt.

Which is why your idea wont work

Why on earth has a tenant got to prove themselves for five years and yet these sub contractors fuck up AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN and keep getting contracts.

HelenaDove · 26/04/2016 01:01

Notice how the tenant STILL has to have the SAME fuckers in to do the boiler service even though they are the ones who lied about her in the first place!!!

See what i mean Charles!