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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be annoyed at council waiting times

416 replies

Dancingfairy · 02/08/2017 19:54

My council has a 3 week wait for all repairs. The light in my bathroom has gone, it's not a standar bulb so someone from the council has to come to sort it. I have to wait 3 weeks! So I cannot use my bathroom after a certain time, I usually bath my children before bed but won't be able to for 3 weeks. Aibu to think it should be sorted sooner?

OP posts:
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6
FreudianSlurp · 02/08/2017 21:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GoldTippedFeather · 02/08/2017 21:53

I still think however the OP has no right to moan. The council haven't said they won't fix it, it's just not a priority and rightly so. Priority appointments are for things like gas and plumbing leaks, people with no working loo. If I called an electrician tomorrow unless it was an emergency I'd have to wait for an appointment like everyone else. I am not saying the OP should have to do it herself or that it's an ideal situation but it's a bloody light bulb blown in a bathroom. It's not really a hardship to have to bathe your children at a different time or use a torch propped up on a shelf.

doobree · 02/08/2017 21:56

Thtas just rose tinted glasses lostinaseasofbubbles being a tenant is generally really crap.

I'd give anything for us to be able to earn like we used to so we could buy our own house. It would be much better than any council house we might (never) get offered and 99% f rpivate rented wont take non working tenatns even due to disability so we can only choose from the least desirable private rented.

I dont have a garden, a freezer, or a tumble dryer, and went 3 months without a washing machine, but if you want to swap lost , just let me know! I'm ready to pack!

Want2bSupermum · 02/08/2017 22:00

For those asking what the disabled would do, there is a register kept of households who can't do things like change a lightbulb. Normally it's my Dad who goes over and changes it right away. The maintenance teams always have spare lightbulbs on them as my Dad has a really strict policy about them being replaced by employees on the spot.

The OP hasn't said she is disabled, just that she expects them to come over and change her lightbulb right away. Most housing associations would be agog that someone able bodied would call and ask that.

The best story I have about lightbulbs is the lady who called because the lightbulb was out in her microwave. She was partially sighted and deaf so the light going off was how she knew her food was done. My dad saw her name in the log book and went over in person to check on her the following day. The maintenance team had told her they wouldn't fix it because you can't fix a light in a microwave. My dad called the maintenance team in over their lunch break and showed them how to fix it while they ate. My father is 73 and is looking quite ill these days with his prostate cancer.

Alltheprettyseahorses · 02/08/2017 22:00

Since when does not charging market rent = a subsidy? Not to mention the fact that in many areas social housing rent is the same as private?

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:00

WTAF?

Do you all think you can treat the OP like shit on your shoes because she's a council tenant?

This thread is a fucking disgrace. The council are the landlords here and should keep their housing stock in good repair.

x2boys · 02/08/2017 22:01

Indeed seahorses but people in here can't grasp that !

doobree · 02/08/2017 22:02

I think a lot of people on this thread ahve never read a tenancy agreement in their lives

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:03

If it's the councils responsibility to change the bulb,they should bloody well fix it asap.

Want2bSupermum · 02/08/2017 22:03

chasing The OP hasn't taken a picture to share to find a solution. I'm sure collectively we could have had the light fixed by now.

There are rules and there are rules. Being in a tower block the bathroom will be dark as it's probably windowless. Everyone else in the country changes their own lightbulbs even when the unit it's in is sealed.

Floggingmolly · 02/08/2017 22:04

What part do you not understand, prettyseahorse?

CosmicPineapple · 02/08/2017 22:05

You are correct Chasing about council tennants do not deserve to be treated lime shit. However councils work on a prority basis and a light bulb will be far down the list. The OP could use 1 of the many suggestions as a temp solution.

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:06

If the council have said they will change it, then it must be their responsibility.

doobree · 02/08/2017 22:07

want2b if the rules state that you must not touch the electrical fitting or be in breach of your tenancy agreement (and who knows what else) you have to be pretty bloody stupid to break those rules.

You could be evicted, invalidate contents and buildings insurance and held responsible for anything that went wrong.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 02/08/2017 22:08

I think a lot of people on this thread think that most people would think.....my lightbulb has gone, why don't I try and find a solution whilst I'm waiting for the (no doubt over worked) council. It's not rocket science. Most of us of have inconveniences we have to work through Confused

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:09

If she tries to change it herself and fucks the whole fitting up, then what?

ClopySow · 02/08/2017 22:09

Social housing is charged at affordable levels.

Private housing is disproportionately inflated in certain areas

That doesn't mean social housing is subsidised. It means private housing rents are too high.

If you want to talk about subsidies - look at landlords getting massive amounts of housing benefit to pay their extortionate rents.

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:11

No a lot of people on this thread think Council tenants deserved to be treated like shit because it'ts fun to kick the lowly council tenants.

Huffletuff · 02/08/2017 22:12

I'm a council tenant and still think that she should get a grip. It's a light bulb.

ChasingHighs · 02/08/2017 22:13

It's not just a lightbulb though is it?

Alltheprettyseahorses · 02/08/2017 22:14

Floggingmolly - I'd read up on it if I were you.

Economy of scale comes into it too. A private landlord with several properties could charge £100 pw more than social housing and be lucky to break even due to letting costs, insurance, repairs and so on, not even counting periods of no occupation. They'd also have to justify the extra cost to their tenants with better standards of accommodation, such as providing furniture etc. The social housing is designed to actually cost less than it receives in rental income and they rarely have homes sitting empty.

x2boys · 02/08/2017 22:14

Ffs the council said she can't change it herself this may or may not be a stupid rule in some people's minds but a rule non the less ,having said that it's a low priority job so there will be a waiting time

doobree · 02/08/2017 22:15

Who wants the facts to get in the way of a good kcking though eh?

CosmicPineapple · 02/08/2017 22:16

Yes it it just a light bulb.

If it was a flood or no heating/hot water i would expect a faster call out. However it is a light bulb that will be fixed but rightly not before those tennents that have floods/no water/broken toilets and such.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 02/08/2017 22:17

If she can't change it herself there are other forms of lighting as a makeshift until she gets the service she so deserves. Christ alive, talk about a pampered society.

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