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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Aibu to think the council should clean your house before you get the keys?

243 replies

Kellyjohnson23 · 28/07/2017 16:43

I'm so sad today,got the keys but it seems totally impossible.
Everywhere is dirty,muck everywhere,the walls are scruffy,the skirting boards and doors are a horrible dirty yellow (that the white has turned into )
I don't have anyone to help me decorate so it's all on me.
I just feel sad

OP posts:
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Original poster
Kellyjohnson23 · 28/07/2017 18:42

Oh god that sounds grim,I stupidly went today without a dustpan and brush ..won't make that mistake again.
Deffo a lot of natural light coming in,I'm going to just remind myself the good thing this time is I have all my furniture /fridge/washer etc
Last time I moved I didn't have a plate..
Thinking of the positives

OP posts:
AccrualIntentions · 28/07/2017 18:43

I've never lived in social housing, but had to deep clean/paint/decorate every private rented house or flat I've ever moved into. And actually both of the houses I've bought needed a bloody good scrub before I was happy using the kitchen or bathroom too.

Ontheboardwalk · 28/07/2017 18:48

Try and do the decorating yourself unless you know a really good one or you could be wasting money.

I've just paid £150 for a days work for a small space and ended up going all over it again myself. Who on earth paints the outside of a window frame but not the inside!

SchadenfreudePersonified · 28/07/2017 18:54

Fairy My DH was a joiner for the council.

They went into one property when the tenants had been evicted/buggered off/gone to jail/whatever, and had to put in new flooring and doors (Services cut off for non-payment, so tenants had been burning anything they could rip out) along with other stuff like overflowing toilet, piles of randon=m decaying crap etc - there was a "dirty team" in before them to shift the horror so the repair team could get on with it.

Anyhow - they had everything clean and working etc, but there was a really awful reek coming from somewhere, and they couldn't find the source. Then they found (by following their noses, I think) that if they pulledtnhe bath seal away in one corner, there was a hole. And that was where the stench was coming from.

So they took the bath panel off . . . to reveal stinking, decaying, infested pile of used tampons . . .

DH was retching as he told me,

Chestervase1 · 28/07/2017 18:57

I think they should. You wouldn't take a private rental that is filthy would you. My council has £1.7 billion on deposit they should spend the money on improving council property, shops and estates.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 28/07/2017 19:01

Spend your money on flooring,once you start paint the walls you'll be amazed at how it transforms the place. If you find a roller too heavy ( I do) then use a paint pad.

Whatsername17 · 28/07/2017 19:02

I'd keep. The money and cracking on myself. Wilkos do lovely paint and it's very affordable. My house had bumpy wallpaper painted white, in every room. I had to strip, lining paper, fill gaps and then paint. I still did my living room within a week and it's a big room - l shaped living/dining room with an open an conservatory on the back. You will be able to get it done in 3 weeks. Use a paint pad not a roller - makes your paint go further. Really you should paint the walls before glossing the radiators/skirting/door frames.

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 28/07/2017 19:05

You sound so entitled. Go and rent private then if you are not happy with your place.

Well the OP clearly is entitled to a council house as she has been given one. There really is no need to be unpleasant. I don't think that expecting somewhere to be clean is that outrageous. We have lived in lots of rental properties and they have been cleaned before we moved in and we have also scrubbed clean every property before moving out.

It doesn't look that bad but I totally get that overwhelmed feeling when you move in. We moved into our current house four months ago and I still have empty bookshelves as I can't face unpacking.

If I was local and less lazy I would love to help you settle in OP. Post some pictures when it is all done.

mirime · 28/07/2017 19:29

I don't think the OP sounds entitled, just overwhelmed at the amount of work to do.

And I agree, there should be a basic level of cleaning done. Someone I know moved into a HA house and the whole house had to be scrubbed, and I mean literally scrubbed, even the concrete floors after the carpets had been pulled up. It was filthy. Luckily she had plenty of family to help out.

BabsGanoush · 28/07/2017 19:30

I've been painting woodwork today.

You would be best painting the walls first then doing the woodwork, and to be honest, I'd leave the stairs until last. Get your bedroom done first, then living room/kitchen/bathroom.

For a good finish lightly sand the woodwork first and then wipe off with sugar water/hot soapy water. Then paint on an undercoat and let that dry, then paint on your topcoat - Satinwood is good.

The best paint was gloss from about 20 years ago, but now they have to be more environmentally friendly so the paint isn't as good.

Paintwork will 'yellow' more in dark places, say behind the sofa, because the light can't get to it, but you aren't going to see it behind there anyway.

Whatsername17 · 28/07/2017 19:41

Buy one coat gloss too.

Lucysky2017 · 28/07/2017 19:42

I am afraid it is the same when you buy a house even a mansion! That's just life I'm afraid.

SafeToCross · 28/07/2017 19:50

Just think of it as a do-er upper. It does actually look like it has potential. Look on ebay for vinyl flooring with free delivery. I used off cuts and just got a sealant that smoothed round the edges.

ginnybag · 28/07/2017 19:54

That window in the front room has the potential to be really something.

Paint yourself, spend the money on the flooring. You should be able to get off cuts of lino quite cheap and if you aren't fussed about it lasting more than a couple of years, carpet for the bedroom shouldn't be too bad. We did DD's for £80, fitted.

The front room floor I would personally fit mid price laminate to, to start with. If you can find a sale, and a willing body to help, it's pretty easy to do as long as one of you can cut a straight line and shouldn't be outbid budget.

Original poster
Kellyjohnson23 · 28/07/2017 20:25

I feel a bit better about everything now.
Like everyone has said once it's painted and wallpapered and carpet ..it will look so much different.

OP posts:
Foslady · 28/07/2017 20:29

There will have been a basic clean, but unusual to have any painting done, it delays the handover and increases the void time - most people would rather be in and choose their own colour scheme. and the majority of tenants when the HA I worked for did paint moaned that they didn't like magnolia

Alfieisnoisy · 28/07/2017 20:29

Glad you are feeling better OP.
I remember when I was given my house it was a shock. It had been utterly trashed by the previous tenant. There was graffiti on the walls and holes plus a very neglected garden. I could have cried. It came after the breakdown of my marriage and I was low anyway.

It's now 8 years on and the house is unrecognizable from the state I got it in. I've worked hard to make it nice and it's my little haven from the world. Yours will be just as nice....it just takes time.

IdoHaveAName · 28/07/2017 20:33

You've a beautiful bay window. Perfect location for a Christmas tree for little one!

I'm only in my council flat 3 months and I actually cried my eyes out in front of them telling them it was in the middle of nowhere. They were merciless. I'm getting used to it. Walls are now painted. Skirting boards seem to be beyond salvaging. I've flooring down now too. I've a sofa, table and chairs and bed (I was sleeping on a blow up mattress for 2 months). I'm getting to the point where I've bought cushions for my couch.

Believe me, my place was worse - the walls were painted black in places. I've gotten over the shock and it now very much feels like home - just 3 months in.

LonelyGir1 · 28/07/2017 20:39

I know it feels rubbish now, but it looks relatively clean. It's daunting when you feel like there is so much to do but, as others have said, just take it room by room starting with the most important room to you.

The grey colour scheme you're thinking of sounds lovely!

Dragongirl10 · 28/07/2017 20:49

errrm.......all of the flats l have struggled to buy in my life have been disgustingly dirty on move in, needing new kitchens, bathrooms decorating and major filfth removal..thay have been the best l could afford at the time...l was always so grateful to have got that far (and far too worried about making the mortgage repayments) l just got stuck in like most do....

so the concept of getting a reduced rent property and expecting it cleaned too is laughable.YABU

maddiemookins16mum · 28/07/2017 20:52

Look at what you've done already, you'll get there...little steps. Think ahead to Christmas Eve, lights twinkling, mug of hot chocolate (brandy optional) and you'll be all sorted (well before that obviously). You'll look back with a chuckle and think how well you did. Enjoy your new home.

Oh and yes, to an extent, I think a basic clean should have been done before but as others said perhaps there just aren't the funds.

Good Luck.

NoodleNinja · 28/07/2017 20:54

It doesn't look too bad.

When we moved into ours there was about 60 years of wallpaper to strip off in every single room and then the horror of the final coat being newspapers which seemed to have been glued to the wall. It was horrendous. Woodchip wallpaper was bad enough but the newspaper took weeks to get off.

Best of luck in your new home!

x2boys · 28/07/2017 20:56

A reduced rent Dragon? Again we don't all live in the South and again my rent is about £10 quid a month cheaper than private only private rented would have nicer amenities (usually)

x2boys · 28/07/2017 20:57

10 quid a week*

LonelyGir1 · 28/07/2017 21:02

^That may well be, but you have said that it is a reduced rent by £10 per week/£40pm.