AIBU to think it shouldn't be so expensive to move into a council house?!

[FreshStarts00]

NC.
So we've finally been allocated a house! Viewing is really soon. They want first 2 weeks rent 6 days after the viewing, then they say they can give us the keys 2 days after that.
Few hiccups:
We'd be paying rent on 2 houses. Need to give landlord 1 months notice from the day we pay rent, which is the 1st of the month. We barely have anything left over as it is after bills. Let alone magically coming up with another £250+.
They don't provide flooring.... AIBU to think this is a hazard with a 3 Y/O?? Splinters and nails and rough floorboards
No white goods whatsoever... So we'd be without an oven and a washing machine. Also microwave ect but that's not vital.
No bath- LO will just have to get over her hatred of showers, this one isn't really a major issue.

Anyone got any magical ideas?
Or been in a similar situation?
AIBU to think it shouldn't be so expensive to move into a council house?!

No they dont provide flooring and white goods and normally no blinds or curtains either.

But the beauty with a council/HA property is that as long as you pay your rent you have a tenancy for as long as you want one.

You could rent private but you would have excessive deposit/bond and flooring and white goods. But you could be asked to leave six months in.

My husband works for the council, they have to rip up carpets in case they are infested, fleas, bed bugs, carpet beetles, not to mention needles, some tenants purposely hide needles (yes it's sick I know)
So it's done for health and safety, you wouldn't want your child crawling around on a carpet with hidden needles in it.

We moved into a HA January this year, we were told we were next on the list on Wednesday afternoon as it had been turned down by 9 others as we were 10th on the bidding list, we had to pay 1 months rent by 1pm that Friday so less than 48 hours later. We then 14 days later 1st Feb had to pay 2 1/2 weeks rent to cover the end of Feb. While still paying full rent and council tax at our private rental. We had no carpets for about 2 months used our deposit we got back for them, and our HA ran a grant scheme and we were awarded £600 from that which we used for cooker and fridge freezer, already had washing machine and tumble drier. It was cold and a bit miserable without the carpet and other bits but so worth it. I think we got lucky as it was a brand new 4 bed town house with 2 ensuite and 1 family bathroom because of the time if year just being after Christmas. I knew I was on the list so had been putting a little money away each week looking back so glad I did.

I grew up in a lovely council house, and all the houses where I was were very much the tenants' own homes. They were decorated, carpeted furnished etc. by the tenants themselves. People fitted kitchens and replaced bathrooms as they wished, too... all the things that make a house really one's own.

It's not cheap to do out a house, and it takes time and money to personalise and equip a home properly, so some patience and saving are going to be required. But in the long time you have something that is very much your own place.

Op if you Google free fridge you will find an ad on gumtree offering 2 free fridges, a hob and cupboards in hackney if you dismantle and collect all. Know anyone with access to a van?

Might be worth looking at this, other companies run similar schemes too British Gas Energy Trust/Scottish Gas Energy Trust

These trusts supports families and individuals struggling to pay their bills and suffering from fuel poverty.

It awards grants:

To clear domestic gas/electric debts from British gas and other suppliers
To buy essential white goods and cookers
For boiler repairs and replacements
To help towards funeral arrears
The scheme is open to anyone but you must live in England, Scotland or Wales.

Applications may be made online or you can print an application form from the website.

www.britishengergytrust.org.uk

Almost every single rehouseing service user who hasn’t come from council housing I ever come into contact with (and it’s lots due to my job) is surprised by the lack of

Flooring
Curtain poles
Decoration
Cleaning
Bathroom fittings.

And fwiw the rent for council around here is not hugely cheaper than private it’s a little cheaper but not much.

I’ve had service users move into flats and houses where shit has been smeared over the walls and the loo is vile. And our area rarely gives decorating vouchers.

Yes it is hard and expensive when you have to kit out a place. Buy some cheap rugs until you can afford to carpet the place. Even having 1 rug in the living room would make it feel better.

You can pick up white goods on ebay/facebook often very cheap, people are really faddy about them. You can also get cheap carpet ends of roll and stick them down yourself, it's not perfect but it keeps you going for a year or two. We had the sort of thin carpet they use for exhibitions (ex-ex) in our dining room for years. This is often going cheap after the event.

It is a change of approach from being a tenant where you weren't allowed to touch the house to suddenly being self sufficient but I'm sure it will be worth it.

On the flooring thing: I once helped a friend to move into a lovely house where the housing association had left the carpets in. The entire place was riddled with fleas, and it was an absolute bugger ripping everything up and disposing of it (and getting bitten in the process). Raw floorboards would have been infinitely preferable.

I agree- paint the floors and buy nice big rugs. Rag rugs are colourful and pretty cheap too.

Re oven you can buy combination microwave ones so you won’t have to factor fitting in an oven as a cost. Later on if you need a bigger oven you still have use for it as a back up and microwave.

There are a lot of low income furniture shops around that local people donate to. You have to prove you are on a low income but you might find that a helpful avenue to go down.

Also you can pick up camping washing machines cheaply which will do the job until you can afford a larger one.

Can you get an overdraft to buy the essentials?

The hatred that the well off have for the poor is astounding.

I dunno. The assumption that anyone owning their own home or private renting is automatically loaded, is pretty prevalent on this thread too. Plenty of hate there. Works both ways...

You really do sound ungrateful. We could swap places, I'll swap your £250 every two weeks, with a cast iron tenancy agreement, for the £250 I pay every week, with the added extra of a six page rental agreement that says if any part of rent is due 2 weeks after its due that the landlord starts the process of eviction.

You are very lucky, why are you moaning?

I would prefer it if each property were fitted with proper white goods- fridge, oven and washing machine as well as carpeted. - Hahaha I live in Germany where if you rent or buy a flat it is completely empty. As in no kitchen - at all. No cupboards, no oven, no sink. Lucky if you get a tap and the wastepipe.

Now that is a cost you have to factor in.

OP - I suggest your local FB selling page for cheap rugs, second hand white goods etc.

BHF do white goods, tested too. They’ll be cheaper plus you’ll have the feel good factor of helping a charity. There’s been loads of good suggestions here about how to fit out a house cost effectively so read through, find the stuff that’s helpful and ignore the rest.

How come that works in private rental then? If the tenants steal the white goods, call the police and deal with it that way. You can't just assume the tenants will be thieves.

It's naive to think police would do anything. They don't have time. Even private landlords work under the assumption that anyone can be a thief. I had to pay 6 weeks deposit and first month rent, £500 agency fees and then was docked £50 from it because a lightbulb was dead.

So we paid £3200 upfront.

I also had to give the flat an end of tenancy professional clean which cost £170. On the day of the inspection, the inventory company asked me to scrub the extraction fan grill, that the professional cleaning company had already scrubbed clean. We left that place pristine from top to bottom.

If so wasn't worried about getting my deposit back, there's no way I would been that thorough.

Would you like the council to wipe you arse for you on your new toilet as well?
My local HA provides toilet paper. You get a little bag with toilet paper, 2 tea bags 2 small packs of buiscits ( the small ones with 2 in) coffee and hot chocolate sashes and them little pots of milk. If I remember rightly they also provide lightbulbs and electric heaters which they collect back after a few weeks.
Some new builds come with downstairs flooring. No white goods though.
If you've only ever rented privately then I can see why you might of thought council properties may come with these living essentials. Some secured priorities do They're usually included in your rent though
In both private and secured council properties. Usually they give you a break down of your rent and what you're paying for when I signed for mine there was crosses in the boxes that was NA like garden maintenance, part furnished, security patrols and stuff like that so can't understand why you wouldn't know this stuff. As pp's have said at least you get to choose and pay for this stuff yourself if it was included in your rent you would probably end up paying way over the odds for it.
Example mine did come with flooring so the rent is a little higher than those without.
I've since replaced that flooring. My rent hasn't gone down any though

I don’t understand why houses don’t come with flooring, unless it’s a brand new build house? Surely most lived in homes will already have flooring down?

White goods you should sort for yourself. You will benefit from far cheaper rent so surely can budget for these items once things settle down? In that mean time try for sale or swap/freecycle etc.

I think this is the norm for HA - I helped a friend move earlier this year following a relationship breakdown and all carpets and curtains and white goods had gone.

I did loan him the money for some hard wearing but cheap carpets and we religiously watched fb for white goods. When he was looking our bhf white goods shop was out of budget unfortunately (surprisingly expensive) but most of the soft furnishings we got him were gifts following house moves and people redecorating.

2 weeks rent instead of a month, and no deposit? Could it be any cheaper to move into a council house? Your rent is probably half nothing as well.

some people are never happy with what they get.

How do you think everyone else manages? We bought a brand new house, it was empty, we had to put carpets and wood floor down and pay solicitors, removal company, put up curtain poles before we could put curtains up, have turf laid etc. It’s tough being an adult, my heart bleeds for you, maybe consider a go fund me page rolls eyes
You’re renting a house from the council, they don’t supply the lifestyle, just a place to call home.

I am laughing so hard at all the posters twisting their knickers because they own their own house so have to pay their own costs. On the asset that they own, providing security for the future etc. The smallest violins in the world are playing just for them. 😂