To ask is your council house or flat well maintained?

[blarblarblarrr]

I have finally got onto the waiting list at our council. Don't know what to expect other than a huge wait but tbh its given me hope that I might have somewhere secure to bring up my children in 2 or 3 years time.

I'm wondering to those of you in council housing or housing association ones are you happy with the condition it's in? I'm getting far ahead of myself but I wondered about what people do if they get offered somewhere that has alot of damp for example. I'm very easy pleased, just want a place that's decent and clean.

Is your place well looked after when it comes to repairs or suchlike?

Thanks

The maintenance is subbed out. Kier do my LA homes.

Depending on the building it will be either concrete or floor boards.

Don't view it as ready to live.
They often aren't.
But you have a secure tenancy (or will have after probation if app) any carpets or decorating will be yours to choose, maintain and replace as you like.
You won't be spending £100's on carpets just to be turfed out after a few months.
Plus if you do move you can take flooring with you.

I would look on Gumtree for a couple of large rugs that you like (not sure if it's national but here people sell room size rugs for £15 when they change colour scheme, crazy) while you climb the list.
The bathroom and kitchen will have lino or other water resistant floor so it will be the bedrooms/stairs/lounge needed.

blar my Ex SIL spent £1,000 putting down new flooring. When her DH had an accident and was wheelchair bound. They moved into a Bungalow. She left the flooring down for the next tenant. Thinking she was doing something kind and the tenant would probably be grateful at moving in with it like that. The council ripped it all up! total waste.

Private landlords have to meet standards but it seems that council properties can be left to fall apart

Because nobody gives a shit about the realities of social housing all they care about is the belief that people are being given mini castles for free amd they are personally paying for this.

In my area on average you wait 2+ years for anything none essential.
Damp is without fail always blamed on the tenant no matter what
Heating and hot water could be gone for months before it gets sorted.

You get an empty shell no nothing in it,and of your lucky the bath won't be full of human shit and perhaps the walls won't need re plastering.

I wouldn't live in one if you paid me to

Thankyou NeedASock I'm glad someone understands. I moved into this one after I split with my Husband. Jt was a case of "it's a house - it'll do". But I'm glad some understand it's not all picket fence and roses living in one.

OP. Another thing. Do plan for unforeseen circumstances. I have fallen ill since moving here, smashed my kneecap after a bad fall and been in and out of hospital countless times this year. I can't move from here as I don't qualify to go back on the list medically and also, it's not a desirable area . I'm not joking, one neighbour even left the paramedic gobsmacked last week when they were yelling at her to get her fast response car off his drive at 5am because she had to get to me with the oxygen and there was no where else to park do, do your research and more if , and when you get offered a property. I was never told this was a previous drugs bust house when I accepted it

Flooring will either be concrete. Tiles or floor boards.
If you are going into flats, i.e. Above someone, it will need to be carpets. Lots of councils don't allow other flooring. Which yes does take the piss as you are buying it.

And yes it's true no one gives a shit that social housing is sub standard conditions. No one gives a shit that you pay rent and getting repairs done is like trying to get blood out of a stone. The only thing people care about is wanting to see the rents in line with private. Which if the properties were being maintained wouldn't be as bad.

Omg at shit in bath why would people do that? The mind boggles.

It is so wasteful to rip up floors put down by the people moving out! Wonder why they have to do that?

Undesirable areas...Maybe I'v been stupid but I just thought that they would mostly all be fine. I know obviously there are drug problems in some places but figured there's always familes on these estates and most do ok, most are friendly. That there's only a few bad apples at the end of the day. That neighbour shouting at the paramedic sounds awful though!

I don't mind carpet. As long as the bathroom and kitchen can be lino or tiles for hygienic reasons.

The rip up carpets in case you sue them for flea bites.

I moved into a council house just under 3 months ago. After private renting and doing all repairs myself I've found it weird that I can ring and the council will repair things.

Some of my windows had 'popped' and had condensation on the inside, someone came to measure the next day after reporting and new ones fitted the week after.
Had someone fix a leak on a radiator in a couple of days and the same for a leak in my toilet.

When I moved in there was no flooring down apart from the bathroom and kitchen, but they had put a new kitchen in, tiled the bathroom and skimmed and painted all the walls.

Decorating is taking a while, and I still haven't got a carpet on the stairs and landing yet but will get there at some point.

If you're in a flat building, be prepared for other tenants to generally treat the place like shit. Fly tip, smoke in public corridors, let their dogs poo everywhere. You can make your place your own little paradise but sometimes it is shit having other people in such close proximity.

I sometimes think it's on a property by property basis let alone regional. I moved into a beautiful HA flat. The whole property had been refurbished by someone who intended to let them out privately, so it was designed and decorated to that standard, but the building was purchased by the HA. The girl in the flat above me needed a bigger home and exchanged with a woman. The house was disgusting apparently - the doors smashed, dog poo ground into the carpets and the smoke alarms were all broken. The woman had agreed to leave the white goods as our flats have integrated appliances, but at the last minute sold everything and replaced them with broken machines. The HA didn't do anything about it before she moved in, all that stuff is down to the tenants.

my house was clean and in reasonable repair when i moved in certainly no shit in the bath it needed decorating and flooring and furniture but it was fine my estate isnt in the best area but its freindly enough not much trouble so i guess it depends where you live i,m in Bolton not inner city.

I have lived in my council flat 15 yrs, all repairs have mostly been done I. Reasonable time depending what it is.
Expect to decorate and lay carpet as they generally rip out what was left before.
But it all does depend on where you are housed obviously and what your local council is like. Good luck

It's pot luck really. I've known of people who've had great places that were clean and well maintained. Someone else (same year, same council) who moved themselves and their baby into a place with no working heating (in winter) and mould everywhere (I do mean everywhere - on carpets, in cupboards, not just the "normal" damp-related mould).

I'd recommend that you expect the worst, go in armed with the sort of quantity of cleaning equipment that a national cleaning firm would use in a year, and be prepared to spend the first few days getting the place habitable.

That way, you won't be too disappointed.

Private landlords have to meet standards but it seems that council properties can be left to fall apart

What 'standards' would these be?

This is just as much a myth as you are trying to dispel about the standard of council properties.

It varies massively and not just from councils but also on who's been living in the property before you.

I was lucky when I got mine, the previous tenant had been an elderly lady, the house was carpeted and decorated (very old fashioned but clean and presentable) and the council asked if I wanted to keep the carpets and curtains - there was even some furniture that had been left that they said they'd leave if I needed it.

Repairs are complicated with my HA. A lot of repairs that used to be their responsibility has been passed to the tenant (blocked internal drains/kitchen cupboards falling off/making good the bathroom sealant) but they should explain in full before you sign the tenancy what they look after and what you need to do.

When I moved into my HA flat, all the carpets and light fittings were left. Maybe no to my personal taste, but I was very grateful as a single parent.

When I give up my house, I will be leaving behind really well fitted laminate flooring, good quality stair carpet and one virtually unused bedroom carpet. All in nice neutral colours. It would be a tragedy and a waste to rip them all out. At least give the new tenant the choice I say.

I moved into my HA flat about 9 months ago and it is impeccable .
Brand new kitchen and bathroom, the whole place was carpeted.
I even had a washer, dryer and dishwasher
I moved in and they had cleaned it top to bottom including carpets .
The tenant before me was an elderly lady so the decor in the bedrooms need doing but I honestly can't complain.

I have a friend who lives in a council flat, it was liveable, but not great when she first moved in, but she and her husband did a lot of work on it, put it in a new kitchen and bathroom and it is now absolutely beautiful.

I lived in a maissonette 1st floor HA flat about 8 ish years ago. There was no flooring other than in the kitchen and bathroom and we were given a voucher of around 120ish pounds to buy paint and decorating items. We could have done with decent flooring or well, any flooring because you could hear the couple downstairs bonking away at night and the people in the adjoining house in their bedroom but that's by the by really. The council were very good at repairs and such like. I accidently locked myself out of the house with my little one inside they were there to drill the lock and changed them within 20 mins, I had to keep shouting to my daughter through the letter box that everything was ok!! Also repaired a small downstairs window my then partner smashed on another occasion (I wasn't there) to get in as he didn't have a key ffs.

On the other hand I've lived in two private rents, one had a terrible mold issue which took ages to sort out and the other had apparently 'industrial grade carpets' which were fine...maybe 20 years ago they were. Not now. Also mold issues that had taken a good while to sort.

Mold issues in the first place were because of the deterioraring extention roof over the kitchen which was ready to fall down at any moment...

Mine are good too. But my friend who lives less than half a mile away has had an awful time of it with them. We had to gut every single room and it took months till we moved in. LO and me but swings and roundabouts, I will get the right to buy in a couple of years and it's security for my daughter.

when we moved into a council property it still had graffiti on the walls, the kitchen was thick with grease and the floors were that sticky the council womens shoe stuck to the floor and her foot came out out it. contrary to popular belief we had to redecorate and clean ourselves, we didnt get a decorating budget. we did have to pay for carpet and lino ourselves. we are comfortable here now but it really riles me up when people assume everything has been given to us.

I know the feeling. Every door in we had was punch marked or dog chewed. Every floor was bare. Every room had to be stripped, sanded and replastered. I paid for everything. We got nothing either. We couldn't go in the back garden as it was ridden with rat holes. I've soaps for it to be dig out flattened and re done. But like say, swings and roundabouts. It's secure. Right to buy eventually and I'm proud of what I've achieved with it

We moved into our HA house 3 years ago, it was neutrally printed throughout and really clean, they gave me £300 B+Q vouchers which we used for paint etc although it didn't actually need decorating. The kitchen is being replaced next year, nothing actually wrong with this one but it's due to be done apparently??
Any repairs are carried out within a couple of days. The area is lovely, its a mixture of HA and private. I have a 3 bed semi and I pay £360 pcm and I do feel very lucky and fortunate.