To accept a council house in a rough area instead of private renting

[sallyhenderson]

After years of waiting, I finally have an offer of a Housing association home. It's an ex-council house that's recently been recently transferred to a local housing association. The only issue is, it's in an area of social deprivation.

I am a nurse and I earn 25k a year before tax. I'm a single mum. I'm currently really struggling with private renting. I rent in a not rough but not glamorous area and I'm paying 650 pcm for my 2 bed house. I have commuting costs of £130 a month.

This leaves no disposable income after bills are paid. It's not just the money. My landlord is awful and I have had to move several times. There's no stability. I hate private renting.

My sons dad private rents and does not want me taking the council house. My parents are apprehensive and think I may not fit in in the area but think it's a necessary evil as I cannot afford to buy a house, I cannot afford to private rent indefinitely and cannot afford to wait forever in the hope of getting a house in a nicer area.

There are worse places than where I would be moving to. It's an inner city area with deprivation but boarders affluent areas and is close to all the amenities of those places/ the city it's walking distance to.

There's excellent secondary schools within the catchment area and an outstanding school a few feet away...but it is a rough area. It has crime rate and a lot of burglaries. Because it's so close to the city it has a large student population and is up and coming with young professionals now choosing to rent there. Private rent is £750pcm or over £1000 for an apartment. This makes me feel a little better about moving.

The place is right near my work and all ameneities so not commuting costs and is £350 pcm. That's over £400 a month extra it would save me by living there.

Would I be unreasonable to move my Son to a rough area to have a secure tenancy so that I don't have to private rent?Or should I let my Son live in a safe area and be skint?

Ok. Well Moss Side isn't like that. Shop occupancy rates are pretty high, and there's not rubbish there. So it's not relevant to OP. There are certainly still some issues with the area, but not those ones.

And honestly, OP on the salary she's on is unlikely to have the option of renting somewhere in a naice area. Well, there are a surprising number of cheap studios and one beds in West Didsbury, but they're cheap for a reason and if anything more likely to get robbed than Hulme is. On 25k in Manchester, you'd be doing well to get much housing benefit, it's not like London in that respect.

I'd go for it. The presence of students will help - there's always someone around and, sadly for them, the thieves will largely target them and their flats - expensive electronics, multiples of everything.

I've been wandering up and down Oxford Street at night since the age of 16 - had no idea Moss Side was so close! Obviously it has a reputation but it's improving and places can gentrify very quickly, especially as students and young professionals won't remember the worst of the reputation. The fact that it has excellent schools is another driver for rapid improvements, and there would be great resources for your child in the immediate vicinity - sports, museums, education etc.

You hit the nail on the head with your ex: controlling. If he was truly concerned about your son's welfare in the area, he could put more money into support instead of spending it on his own (s)wanky place.

If you don't think you'll get another offer anytime soon then 'd I'd be tempted to take it. You can always move out if it doesn't work out and you could get bad neighbours in the nicest places anyway.

Good luck!

We lived on a rough estate for two years and didn't have any bother at all, however, there was just the two of us then. Once I fell pregnant we moved back to our home village many miles away but that worked for us at the time. If I had a choice I wouldn't want to bring up my children where we were, no matter how much money we could have saved.

I wouldn't think twice. Take it.

I wouldn't think twice. Take it.

It would be daft not to take it. I took a council flat in a very rough bit of Hackney in London as a single mum. The low rent and secure tenancy helped me get through higher education and a long period on benefits. Now 15 years on, it's a very gentrified area and renting this flat privately would cost £400pw and it would cost £450k to buy, while mine costs £116pw and I know I'll never be asked to leave. I plan to buy it in a few years and I'll be able to get over £100k discount. The area still has some rough bits, but overall the local area is much safer, the schools are great and there are really good amenities and the local resources and transport is great. I've had a lot of friends who have had to leave the area as private renting is much less affordable and benefit cuts have meant that they don't get much of it covered by housing benefit any more.

How old is your son?
If already school age, are there places in this outstanding primary school?
Generally there aren't in very good schools
Secondly, no offence but a single parent working as a nurse, I'm not sure how you will afford private education?
It's extortionate for the fees alone never mine all the extra clubs, swimming, horse riding that generally goes on there ( I went to one )
So be sure you're happy with the normal secondary school before you jump
Other than that a secure place surely is worth it. You've no guarantee this perfect private rental is yours for another year once your contract is up.

Around here private schools have bursaries. So if your child gets a place they reduce the fee according to salary. If I had a salary of under 30k I'd likely not pay ANYTHING or a small amount.

Thats what I did, and I managed to get an exchange to a slightly nicer area when the DC's changed schools.

(The idea that you can save up to buy your house is really out of touch. You still have to buy school uniform and pay for trips and things even with a generous bursary.)

By secondary school my salary will be around 36k a year.

It's not minimum wage.

What's the issue? Do people not want me to be able to afford private school?

In my area private school is around 11k a year. That still leaves enough to live on, without any bursary.

You're a nurse and a single parent. Grab this chance to take an HA home. You are the sort of person they are built for.

I lived near there when I was at university and loved it. Never had a problem with crime and loved being able to walk into the city easily, or get the bus that runs every two minutes down oxford road.
I'd take it.
Like any house I'd check the neighbours both sides and visit in the day and at night but the area is great and I think you'll really love living there.

I think you're being unrealistic
How old is your son? You say he's clever and are expecting a bursary but things can change, interest can be lost, private schools close down or have to stop offering bursaries and so on so you can't take it as a given.
Its not just the fees to pay, it's the extras that all the other children will be doing that yours will have to do.
It's also whether your son wants to go to private school after going through primary school with all these children.
You need to be comfortable with the fact he might end up at the local secondary and if you're not then taking this house may not be the best idea.

Hulme hall grammar for instance is £3019 per term so over £100,000 per year and that's without lunches, horse riding, swimming, personal IPad, the list goes on
I'm not sure where you have the info that any private school in the world is £11,000 a year!

Nothing wrong with wanting to send your child to private school.

You need to have a back up plan just in case though.

If the fees are now 11k, by the time your child goes to secondary they will be quite a bit higher as they go up well above inflation each year. While bursaries are available, they would only have a limited fund, which means you may not get one.

I wish you the best, but it's always good to take a pragmatic approach.

Fwiw I'm a doctor and I don't think I will ever be able to afford private school. It does worry me a little as the local secondaries are the pits: very rough as well as poor academic attainment.

Very good post by above poster

I work at the University of Manchester, which is very close to that area.

I'd move there. You're so close to everything!

Side note, I'm a researcher, earning a little above what you expect to earn what he's in secondary school and I'm unsure I'd be able to afford private school for my incoming daughter. My secondary schools where I live (York) are fine, but the private school is significantly better. Its the primary schools near us that are awful.

Despite the fact secondary schools are the big negative in my situation I wouldn't base a decision to move on it at this stage. State schools change all the time, and if the worst happens and they are all awful when he's y5 then you can use some of what you've saved in rent to move for secondary. Don't move based on a bursary though, they aren't needs blind admission. Qualifying on income doesn't automatically mean he'll get one.

As a nurse who was renting privately in nice area, I've finally bought an excouncil house in a rough area.

I have stability for me and dteens. It's not as quiet and I've never heard the f#*€k word used so much even by little old dears. It's a bit of a change to say the least but my mortgage is 400....I'm saving 200 quid a month and have stability...priceless.

If you have chance of a housing association house....grab it!!!!

You cannot predict what secondary schools will be like from this time point, and you can always move back into private rented at that time point if it turns out you don't like the choices.

Take the house. I live in a similarly eyebrow raising area, notorious in the 80s and I like it. Yes, it's poor and bits look run down but it's a family area and the schools are good.

Even if it doesn't work out having a bit of spare money to save while you're there will really take the pressure off.

I'm not sure about the private secondary idea though. I was privately educated and I wouldn't bother for my children. It's not worth it.

I would go for the security of social house.
The extra money is always useful.
Don't display big flashy TV or thing that look stealable!

Sent from a family of 3, in a one bed emergency flat.
After an illegal eviction from a private landlord...

Mumofone Hulme grammar is £1116 a year for the seniors.

Sorry hulme grammar is an exception but the price is much lower than the average private school, probably due to the results attained in sixth form are in line with local state maintained schools!

Hulme hall grammar for instance is £3019 per term so over £100,000 per year and that's without lunches, horse riding, swimming, personal IPad, the list goes on
I'm not sure where you have the info that any private school in the world is £11,000 a year!

Erm, are those numbers right? If Hulme Hall Grammar is 3k a term, that's 9k per annum? Although yeah, I wouldn't be paying that for their sixth form when there's Aquinas and Loreto nearby!

Fwiw most of the private schools around the Manchester area are about 11k per annum: some a bit higher and some a bit lower, but that's the standard in the area. Whether OP will be able to afford that is a different issue, but that's what they currently are.

www.mgs.org/209/fees-and-assistance

www.sbcm.co.uk/admissions/fees/

www.wgs.org/about-withington/admissions/fees/

www.stockportgrammar.co.uk/admissions/fees/

www.boltonschool.org/how-to-join-us/fees/