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AIBU?

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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:
BMW6 · 06/05/2016 19:40

kidleypea is speaking the truth IME.
I was born in and brought up in council home on council estate. I now own a modest home surrounded by privately rented and council housing. In my street it is only us and one NDN who is owner occupied.
I am 58 and over the years I can assure you that there is most definatley a decline in Social behaviour. The minority are now the norm in my experience.
Mattresess in front yards - check
Broken windows and doors (repaired then broken again days later) - check
Empty lager cans thrown around - check
Bottles smashed in childrens park - check
Drugs dealt openly in the street AND in the kids park.........check.

And mine is the "best" street in the area..........

HelenaDove · 06/05/2016 19:45

Buckinbronco In that case why are tenants being pressured to remove bad reviews from online.

Buckin i had Liberty Gas. There was several no shows, no phone call to explain why and on the phone they had a go at me for the no show.

Then there is the old back dated slip trick. The only times ive had my gas safety done first visit is when they were using Carillion for 4 years. EVERY other time has been no shows or me chasing them up. Last year after Liberty Gas sent me an appintment they had no intention of keeping , I rang them up when i recieved the letter they said all was ok , I rang them on the day ........oh no thats been cancelled we dont do that contract any more. When i asked why they hadnt rung to let me know she said "not my job"

So my HA did the check themselves but didnt turn up till 6.30pm and only after i used social media. He admitted to me that it would have been the second failed appoitment and no one was planning to come that day.

If someone treated bullied and controlled their partner like this it would be classed as domestic abuse.

Its not entitlement Bronco Tenants pay SERVICE charges Did you see the link i put on this thread where they have gone up 1000% for an elderly tenant?

Ive had many many instances of being treated poorly over these gas safety checks and it would take too long to list them here.

Im also in contact with someone who used to work in this field and he says tenants are treated with disdain because they are seen as scum.

Buckinbronco · 06/05/2016 19:55

My point is that non social housing tenants pay rent also but generally complain less, certainly less of these extremes where it seems to take over their life for a bit

HelenaDove · 06/05/2016 20:01

Buckin its not taking over my life The way things are done it really concerns me that there is going to be a tragedy one day

Still its not the first time that warning signs are being dismissed and ignored and it wont be the last.

Buckinbronco · 06/05/2016 20:04

It certainly isn't and won't. Nothing in life is perfect

x2boys · 06/05/2016 20:09

Maybe FancyMakingMeABrew Grin

chilipepper20 · 06/05/2016 20:31

the guardian article posted by helena paints a dire picture for UK housing.

It says that the majority of people in social housing are the elderly. of course, this means that the young are increasingly locked out of secure tenancy as the only secure tenancy in this country is social housing.

that's what needs fixing. Why are only social tenants protected from huge rent rises? In London we have people living on a shoestring budget in private housing that really have no such protection.

HelenaDove · 06/05/2016 20:35

chili older social tenants are not protected at all For the umpteenth time i have posted a link in here where an elderly tenants service charge is up 1000%.

Many HAs are hiking service charges to cover the 1% rent reduction.

chilipepper20 · 06/05/2016 20:36

Its not entitlement Bronco Tenants pay SERVICE charges

Do those charges actually cover the cost of the services? perhaps they are too low.

HelenaDove · 06/05/2016 20:36

Social tenants are not as protected as the propaganda would have people believe.

chilipepper20 · 06/05/2016 20:40

where an elderly tenants service charge is up 1000%

I didn't see the article, but how meaningful is that? how many elderly tenants had this problem? also the base price matters as well.

The difference is that they are much less likely to get to turfed out because of a rent rise. Tenancies are much more secure, and rents are subsidised. That needs to be recognized or you will continue to hear this backlash.

Buckinbronco · 06/05/2016 20:56

The 1000% increase means nothing. That's just one situation: it doesn't represent what is going on in HAs generally.

Service charges cover the money spent on estates. They aren't made up. If they've increased that's because the service to the estate has. They are heavily audited and there are many ways for residents to challenge them. They can't be increased to make more profit.
HAs can put a 15% management fee on to cover staffing offices overheads etc but aside from that, service charges are recharging the direct costs spent on the estate.

HelenaDove · 06/05/2016 22:48

So why are ppl paying more service charges but are losing estate caretakers and the sheltered housing wardens.

Buckinbronco · 07/05/2016 06:39

I don't know why some specific people are- unless we saw their service charge account we couldn't. But losing a caretaker doesn't means costs haven't increased elsewhere

It's a direct recharge of costs. Nothing more. It's illegal to increase them to make money

Alfieisnoisy · 07/05/2016 07:11

Alfieisnoisy your experience of 2 isn't representative either- as I said up thread the data shows social housing tenants cause disruption as a rule. That doesn't mean individuals are awful, but that your chances of experiencing this kind of behaviour is much higher in social housing

I know my example wasn't representative and I didn't say it was. My point is that you take a risk on neighbours wherever you are and whoever you are.. Your "data" showing "that HA tenants cause disruption as a rule" is laughable...God alone knows where you work but you wouldn't find that here. I am an area with masses of social housing and the vast majority live quietly and peacefully without abusing their tenancy or neighbours. We cut our lawns, we plant pretty flowers, we talk to each other and we work...yes that's right, virtually ALL of my neighbour's have at least one working person. I am the exception as a Carer in my road.

I am not denying problem tenants or that these are more likely to be in social housing. I have lived next door to a problem family, I was living on a slum estate at the time and the only problems I had were with ONE family who unfortunately happened to be next door. The rest of my neighbours were fine and equally as pissed off with my neighbour as I was.

My own HA gives all tenants an initial 12 months temporary trial tenancy. Cause problems and they can and do evict people. I got my house because the previous tenant did not appreciate the lovely house she had been offered. When I moved in there was graffiti on the internal walls, holes in walls and the electricity meter had been fiddled with to supply free electric. So yes people like this exist....my HA evicted her.

Buckinbronco · 07/05/2016 07:19

So we're agreeing then? Grin

chilipepper20 · 07/05/2016 13:36

So why are ppl paying more service charges but are losing estate caretakers and the sheltered housing wardens.

likely to cover costs

HelenaDove · 07/05/2016 16:14

Alfie its ridiculous isnt it. There was one bad apple in your area so that must mean that most tenants are like that. I had a neighbours pet snake get into my flat last summer so that must mean a lot of tenants are snake charmers Hmm

Ok lets apply that same logic elsewhere and see how it flies. Dr Harold Shipman Dr Crippen were murderers Does that mean most doctors are? Fred West and Stephen Wright both drivers who were serial killers Does that mean most lorry drivers are serial killers? John Worboys and a SHITLOAD of taxi drivers in Rochdale and Rotherham were rapists and abusers. And in these cases there were loads of them committing these despicable crimes and yet no one says that a lot of taxi drivers are like this.

And yet Alfie points out one case in her road and that is used as vindication that a lot of social tenants are like this. Its classism and snobbery at play here!

HelenaDove · 07/05/2016 16:19
LittleRedRiding · 07/05/2016 20:47

I think it's the behaviour of a minority who taint the average persons view of social housing. Where I live there are lots of new buildings of flats. It's obvious when one is a social block as some (a minority) of the flat have old sofas/rubbish strewn on the balconies. Also the front door seems to get smashed quite regularly, then repaired again (I walk past daily so I notice). I feel really sorry for the decent tenants in social housing as it must be awful living with this minority of antisocial neighbours. Someone upthread mentioned the council should evict them, I agree, if they are treating these homes with disrespect then they should be given to a more appreciative tenant, the waiting lists are long enough...

x2boys · 07/05/2016 21:51

I thought the whole point of the introductory 12 month tenancy before being offered a secure tenancy was too make it easier for councils/housing associations to be able to evict problem tenants ? I did have a washing machine in my garden for two hours on bank holiday Monday as I was getting a new one delivered and the old one taken away but it was only two hours I promise I live in a council house btwGrin

Alfieisnoisy · 07/05/2016 22:04

Yes it was one case out of many and remember this was a slum estate. I was in the kind of flat nobody wants after my marriage broke down and I ended up moving 170 miles back to my family. I was grateful for it.. Once I moved in there it was peaceful calm and quiet until the neighbours from hell moved in.

So a block of slum flats and ONE difficult and anti-social family who spoils things for others. The rest of the tenants were fine, kept to themselves and many worked.

I still live in social housing and it's very calm and peaceful here. No antisocial behaviour at all and the properties are kept nicely by tenants.

There are a variety of families here all allocated housing for specific reasons. The elderly lady up the road has a daughter living with her who is an alcoholic and seriously ill. She no longer drinks but the impact upon her health has been awful. I got my property because DS has autism and needed safe access to a garden of his own. The woman across the road got hers when her ex husband walked out and left her so she was untie to continue paying a huge private rent...she works.

This is a nice area and my neighbours are great.

HelenaDove · 08/05/2016 17:25

As responsibility is the order of the day how about this HA and its subcontractor take some. They have said they will pay up but did they provide /have they provided practical physical help with the clean up considering they caused it? Absolutely unbelievable If a private landlord did it he would be in court.

www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/14320910.Tower_block_flats_flooded_after_workmen_fit_new_boilers/