Aibu to give up my council house?

[Beautyisintheeyeofthebeholder]

Okay guys...bear with me might be long but i could really use some wisdom ...😰
As in the title I'm considering giving up my social housing property and moving into private rented.
Reasons being, I find living with my neighbours tough. They have dogs on both sides which bark sometimes nonstop morning noon and night. I'm starting a degree in healthcare and will be required to work shifts and I don't se how this will be doable trying to manage assignments etc on little/disturbed sleep. Next door has bought their property so no chance of them moving, and they have had walls knocked through and laminate fitted so every bloody noise travels you can hear coughing talking etc so clear it's unreal 😩.
Other next door have had the property in the family (passed down tenancy) since house was built in 1920 so no chance of them going either.
House itself is in poor decorative condition it was meant to be sorted out when my x partner lived here but when he left he refused all help. I'm a single mum on benefits so can't really afford professional decorator etc.
House is damp mouldy inspectors from the housing say it's condensation (it isn't) and have installed those air vent things which are bloody useless.
I have virtually no kitchen cupboards and worktop space it's impossible cooking.
Bathroom is from the 1970s and the housing have refused to take it out as it "still works" .
I don't know fully how I can afford a private rental as the lha is around 450?? I'd be looking at a shortfall of 100-200 pcm and I have no idea how that will change when I go on student finance.
I just don't think I can put up with this house much longer I'm very down at a point in my life where I should be happy I'm about to start a professional qualification 🙁
Any advice appreciated

I fear you will be in for a shock if you move into private renting. Not just the extra money, but the lack of security. Remember that there is no such thing as a "guaranteed" long-term tenancy - at least, I've never seen one advertised, or heard of anyone who has had one, or even "know someone who knows someone who knows someone" who has had one.

Private tenants live a much more insecure existence. Almost all tenancy agreements allow for the landlord to serve two month's notice. I lived in my previous flat for 8 years, but aside from the initial six months I spent the whole period living under the fear of knowing that any day I could come home to find I was required to move out. Unlike with social housing, it's not just failure to pay rent or being an inconsiderate neighbour that can get you kicked out - the landlord might decide to kick you out because he feels he can charge more in rent to a new tenant, or because he wants to cash in on his property, for example.

There is no guarantee that your neighbours will be any more considerate in a privately-rented home. There is no guarantee that it will be in a better state of repair, and certainly no right to have it improved or have a new kitchen installed. And it is much easier to just replace a tenant than listen to their complaints about the property.

Only you can decide what is best for you, but remember that if you decide to move out of social housing, you will most likely find it very hard to return to it if you find that life as a private renter is not as rosy as you'd expected.

If you were prepared to take a 2 bed then your SH provider might be prepared to relocate you and may give you priority for a move. They are often very keen to get larger family properties back.

Beauty as you're in a 3 bed house you will probably be able to swap easily as they're very desirable. Unfortunately as we are in a 2 bed flat there's lots of us on homeswapper in my area in flats looking to exchange so I've accepted that we probably won't get anything, I do keep looking and trying though. Good luck I hope things work out for you.

Yes but you aren't qualified now, you aren't earning that amount, and you don't get the maintenance....so my point still stands.
You can't afford to move, can you?

Sorry like user, I am bit confused too. At the current time apart from your current housing what are your realistic options for moving elsewhere (in terms of money currently available to you)?

Look for an exchange. I was looking at moving into private not long ago until my father pointed out that basically, once I give it up I will never get one back again and your rights in council housing far outweigh your rights in private. We were extremely lucky (if you could call it that...homelessness at just the right time, ie. a place became available the day we were kicked out) to get this place to start with. I don't really understand the apparent lack of social housing though, given there are 3 empty properties in my street alone, 2 of which have been empty close to 2 years now...I know there IS a shortage, but this makes no sense

It would be a very ill thought out move to give up the tenancy.

You can't guarantee who your neighbours would be in a private let and you'd be paying more for the 'privilege' of being in a non secure tenancy and gambling on whether you'll get a good landlord or not. You may also have asbo neighbours in a private let and it'll be even more expensive to move again.

Your daughter's asd may help with rehousing. Contact shelter and see if they can refer you for some advocacy to get a move, hopefully nearer the uni. You need tenacity in dealing with the housing and if you're prepared to settle for a 2 bed an advocate may be able to negotiate a deal with housing to free up a valuable 3 bed.

I'm on the bidding list for a 2 bedroom, I have been unsuccessful so far as I've been given band"b" status and the allocations go to "a" 99 percent of the time.
I am already paying the bedroom tax so I suppose that's why I'm thinking I'm paying out already I could get a nicer property.
Thanks to those who posted the well wishes it's meant a lot

I have recently given up my council tenancy to private rent. My council were unfortunately no use in helping with the anti social behaviour in my area...drugs, excess noise 7 days per week, police presence for one thing or another daily. My health was starting to suffer and my child has important exams this year so I decided I needed to get us out of there. Had to tighten my belt as £200 extra a month in rent but it's been the best decision I ever made.

A lot of private landlords will require a satisfactory credit check/proof of income/bank references before they take you on as a tenant.

Not all private landlords are any more efficient at sorting repairs either and there is still no guarantee of a quieter neighbourhood with privately rented property.

That said, I really do sympathise with you - it is horribly stressful to be living in a sub-standard house with constant noise, but at least the home you have is affordable and the tenancy is secure - which are two vitally important advantages. Perhaps try to treat the damp with moisture traps to alleviate condensation problems, clean it with mould cleaner and invest in some cheap silicone earplugs ( from amazon amongst other places) - they really help with getting a good night's sleep and will give you some peace when studying, at least. Good luck with your studies - keep going because it will be a stepping stone to better things eventually.

I'm on the bidding list for a 2 bedroom, I have been unsuccessful so far as I've been given band"b" status and the allocations go to "a" 99 percent of the time.

Does your council not have an exchange site? Ours do..but there seems to be other places that let you arrange one

www.houseexchange.org.uk/

Would stop you having to bid for one at least.

Its HARD getting someone to take a larger property for a smaller one though. I know the premise of 'bedroom tax' was that there were sardine families in 2 beds looking for larger ones but that has not been the experience of a fair few of my friends.

why can you not improve the house yourself? Get free second hand kitchen units on freecycle, or a bookcase or shelving unit and use that in your kitchen.Also an offcut of worktop to extend the cooking space.

Damp paint over the damp walls, £5 will buy you a pot, freecyclers also
give away half empty pots of paint that are perfectly useable.

Get a dehumidifier, a B and Q one costing around £60 will sort out you damp problems if you run it day and night ( they are very cheap to run)

get good comfy headphones to eliminate noise whilst studying, and good earplugs to sleep. Anyone who has ever lived in London flats accepts these noise issues, private rental or not!

You sound rather entitled, you seem to have a good sized house and are able to retrain whilst on benefits, l think you could do some small things yourself to fix these problems.

A good pair of ear defenders, or noise cancelling headphone can deal with the noise so you can study in peace. Book cases against walls are also cheap sound proofing. You can do some decorating yourself. You will be able to make it work if you want to.

As last resort maybe get some sleeping pills, you can stick them in the sausages and throw them over the fence

Have you got your house up to exchange on homeswappers, saying you'll accept a 2 bed?

You might get someone desperate to get more space to swap. You won't know unless you try.

Get some advocacy to bump up to a on medical grounds

why can you not improve the house yourself? Get free second hand kitchen units on freecycle, or a bookcase or shelving unit and use that in your kitchen.Also an offcut of worktop to extend the cooking space.

You cannot do this in council property...we were bollocked for sorting a plastering problem ourselves (husband is a qualified plasterer) and had threats of eviction for not sticking to the tenancy agreement by doing this...despite it clearly needing to be done and the council ignoring us.

I have a slightly similar quandry, OP, and face alot of the issues you do.

My suggesion: in your mind decide how long you can stick it for - the duration of your course until you qualify, for example? Then you can look again seriously at renting privately.

Private renting is insecure, and much of it at the lower end of the market is shocking. But if you hate where you live in social housing, sometimes you have take a chance.

Unfortunately, alot of councils and housing associations do not enforce standards. Where I live there are meant to be no dogs, but there are plenty of them and they do cause issues. People sell drugs and get arrested and convicted, but still they stay .... I could go on. It can get you down! Also the quality of much local authority housing is not that great. I remember my mum moving into a lovely new, decorated council flat in the 1970s. A rare event these days, you often have to spend months trying to get it to a basically liveable standard.

If you are going to leave, then you also have nothing to lose, in terms of putting pressure on the HA, or your neighbours, though if the walls are that thin, I don't think there is going to be much you can do. You COULD make yourself a real pain in the neck with the HA. Walls between neighbours have to be a certain standard - you shouldn't hear them talking. This plus the other things, they may respond. You could get your councillor/MP involved. You have nothing to lose if you decide that if it doesn't improve you are going to move anyway!

You could keep at it with the home-swapping thing. You would have to make a serious probject of it though, over the next few years, giving it a couple of hours a week. I know you've done it for years (so did I and didn't get anywhere!) but if you treat it more as a serious project, you may get somewhere.

As for private housing, its is shite. I've done it, its insecure, its horrible dealing with some letting agents, and so on. But life is for living. And if you hate where you live, and you can move, then I would personally. You don't say how old your DC is. Luckily you have the time to find somewhere that really suits, rather than just rushing from one private landlord to another. If you do it, try and spend some time finding a landlord who is good, genuine and who will treat you fairly.

Sorry for the long post! But I have been in a similar situation, and I probably even need advice myself .. I don't quite agree with the posters who say never give up social housing, but agree its best to continue to see if you can change things in other ways first, before giving it up!

If you have three bed and need a two then due to the bedroom tax council may very well help you swap to a vacant property.

If you cannot afford a couple of tins of paint and some cheap lining wall paper you cannot afford to go private. Sorry.
You say there's little storage in the kitchen, what about a few extra cupboards ask on freecycle if anyone is giving any away. Won't be matching but not the end of the world. Failing that shelving have a look on ikea and Pinterest for inspiration.
Find out your areas life span for bathroom replacement. They tried that crap with me, I researched and emailed them reminding them of the better homes criteria and it didn't say anything about the room being functional just anything over x years to be replaced.

You could still have the same issues and paying more for this. Plus you would be stuck with a contract.
The landlord could decide to sell during the year and you are out, possibly with an overlap of rents. Plus deposit etc.

WankingMonkey has it spot on. I've saved for ages for a new bathroom and guess what ! Not allowed to improve the property myself I'm breaking the terms of the tenancy and would have to put the shite one back in when I vacate!!
Will look at ear defenders while studying. Ear plugs work a tiny bit.
😂😂😂 to the poster who suggested putting the sleeping pills in sausages and throwing them over it's the best laugh I've had all day !!

I know it's hard but stay put. I was a single mum of 3 with no maintenance and no family around, living in a house with a leaking roof so we had buckets all over the place and the three kids all sleeping in one room as one bedroom was uninhabitable. Life seemed impossible and I thought things would never improve. But three years later everything had changed for the better, bit by bit.
Try to find even tiny ways to make your life less stressful and don't throw away your home. Best wishes for your future

Do not give up your council place. You will often have to move. Then it's getting very hard to find somewhere that will take hb. As someone else said if they do its a shit hole. In need of repair etc. It's much easyer to end up homeless when private renting. You have a roof over your head for life. Or at least many years. It's really not worth gIving it up.

Get hold of environmental health to come and look they may tell council to fix it up I think there is meant to be a standard of living. That the Council have to keep up.

With the mould make sure there is air getting in. Wash all the mould of. Give it a chance to dry a bit. Then paint it with damp paint. You just pait it on same as you would paint.

You don't need your ex to help you decorate even if you buy a large tin of magnolia rollers paint brushes just to cheer it up a bit.

With the barking dogs as people said make a complaint. If your worried tell them you want it confidential.

Do not give up your council place

If the barking dogs get too bad, invest in a good set of noise cancelling headphones (Ebay? Freecycle?). I got these when my next door neighbour started looking after other people's dogs. Worked a treat.

Don't give up your tenancy until you are on a much better financial footing. The most common cause of homelessness these days is private tenenacies coming to an end and landlords either hiking the rent or selling the property.

For all the negatives, your current home has to be better than finding yourself in a council B and B or on a friend's sofa.

Stay put and try to do what you can about the issues.

Good luck X

I'd be very reluctant to give up your council house- private rent has (ime) had the exact same problems, but for at least double what council housing would cost! Try for an exchange first, and sorry you're having a tough time.