Council tenants complaining about their 'fixtures'

[Delilah21D00LoT]

I know I'm being unreasonable, but I just want to get this off my chest. Please feel free to ignore or have 'your say' too.

I joined a facebook page/forum: www.facebook.com/groups/diyonabudgetofficial/
about 4 weeks ago so that I could follow and get ideas.

There are stacks of people who've been painting their kitchens - as they cannot afford a new one (this includes me) and a heck of a lot of them are Council Tenants complaining about their "shitty, crappy, cheap shit, typical Council Kitchens" when they've posted a picture of these so called "shite kitchens" they look pretty decent - basic - but decent.

One person was complaining that she didn't like the 'beech kitchen' that the council had put in when she moved in the year before and she'd complained to them that she wanted 'white gloss units', but also complained when the council said 'No, we will not change it just because you don't like it"

Others have been complaining of their "shitty, non-flat or wonky walls, wood chipped walls and so on" what do people want? They've got a Council House or Flat - do they expect it to be done up like some brand new property?

We bought our house some 12 years ago - it still requires work. None of our walls are flat, straight or smooth, there are chips and cracks everywhere.

The kitchen is now over 20 years old and has been repaired repeatedly over the years and I painted all the units at the beginning of the year to brighten it up - and it actually looks pretty good.
I come from Council myself and have several friends who are still in Council properties, but they are the older generation (30's, 40's and 50's) and seem incredibly grateful for their home.

I think I'll just leave the group as I can no longer tolerate the selfish people who seem to expect everything to be handed to them.

I need to shut up, I know.

Sorry if I or this has offended anyone.

~ Delilah ~

[Frequency]

YANBU, recently there was a post on here about the OP not getting carpets or white goods in the council/HA house! Seriously, she thought they would provide a fridge freezer, washing machine etc

That would be because a lot of them do

Oh, the horror of providing families with basic necessities. Honestly, it's a complete waste of money. Do these people not understand that there's a limited budget? Fancy, wanting a carpet and cooking facilities when there's a Royal wedding to pay for and MP's expenses to pay. Some people just have no sense of priority.

[ButchyRestingFace]

Yes, it was - it enabled us to get on the property ladder.

Then the argument would surely be that having cracked, chipped walls etc is NOT reflected in the rental charges for a council/HA property so it's not comparing like for like.

[IncyWincyGrownUp]

I was lucky that the council didn’t rip the carpets out when the previous tenant left my house. It was a back-to-back let so the clearing team didn’t get access to the house. I was desperately grateful for that small thing. The normal practice is for the house to be completely gutted.

[ButchyRestingFace]

The normal practice is for the house to be completely gutted.

Yes, I had to clear out a relative's property recently and was told to pull up all the laminate flooring, rip out the fitted wardrobe in the bedroom, remove all light fittings, bathroom fixtures such as wall mounted wall cabinet and mirror, wall mounted toilet roll holder (!)and towel rail.

The alternative was paying a fine.

Some of what they asked felt like such an absurd, wasteful thing to be doing.

[Rebeccaslicker]

Ah, so taxes don't pay to acquire the estate, or to build accommodation or for housing benefits that pay the rent for some tenants or pick up the shortfall when the rent doesn't cover the cost of running everything? Ok then...!

[Holliewantstobehot]

TattyCat

You just repeated everything I said in my post.

[Holliewantstobehot]

Ah, so taxes don't pay to acquire the estate, or to build accommodation or for housing benefits that pay the rent for some tenants or pick up the shortfall when the rent doesn't cover the cost of running everything? Ok then...!

Well my HA house was built in the 80s so I expect they've made their money back and then some. The housing benefit point is irrelevant as many private renters also receive housing benefit so by your argument taxes are also paying for new carpets, boilers etc in landlords houses. And my rent is not significantly under market prices.

[blackheartsgirl]

Well I was one of the ones that complained about my Council house having wood chip walls on that group. it’s everywhere, was even in my kitchen nice fire hazard. It’s impossible to get off because it’s been put straight into bare plaster board no skim.

Before my kitchen was replaced it was falling apart, a cupboard fell off the wall and injured my daughter, they refused to replace the tiles that were cracked and we had water seepage under the cupboards and it did not meet safety standards for the placement of the cooker. It looked a bog standard Council kitchen but it was 30 years old. We also have mould. I also pay the same rent for a private rent in the same area, its one of the most expensive Council properties in my area I pay full rent.


Ive owned my own house before, I’d give almost anything to have that again, you can choose your area, the house, you may not have the money to do up that house but at least it’s yours, it’s an investment for the long term. Council tenants don’t get that choice. You have to take the first house you are offered or it’s the bottom of the pile.

It’s also worth noting that if you attempt to do your own repair or replace something yourself like we recently did with some internal doors then the Council are well within their rights to inspect that and if not happy will charge you to remove or redo offending work and recharge you for doing it themselves. I will not touch anything now that needs repair in my house even though I could afford it.

I do get your point about people whinging about the colour of their kitchens. I put up with a substandard broken kitchen for ten years until they did the kitchens and bathrooms and I cried the day it was finished. It was heaven. I even had a shower fitted in the bathroom, I’s never lived in a house with a shower either,we still had the original tin bath.

i Just hate people going on about how us council tenants should be grateful for what we get, you wouldnt say that to a private tenant would you. Council tenants still have a right to live in decent housing and the council as our landlords legally have to provide that.

[blackheartsgirl]

No th council do not provide you with white good or furnishings when you move in. I wish! We had no carpets just bare concrete floors, no shower, a leaky bath, no curtain rails or batons to put them on, nightmare when you have plasterboard walls. We had to pin sheets up at the windows for months, we were that skint. Dd1cut her foot on the stair grippers left on the stairs. It was truly awful. Yes we were grateful to have a house but the state of it sent into a huge depression and I self harmed badly as I was pregnant also with dd3.

[Chrys2017]

Why, if you are renting a house out and don't intend to ever live in it (again, or not) yourself, do you care what colour the walls are or whether someone has hung pictures on walls? Or whether they have pets?

Because turnover is quite high in privately rented flats and the landlord does not want to pay for wall repair, re-painting and new carpets to replace the one your pet smells have become ingrained in, every time.

[Frequency]

No th council do not provide you with white good or furnishings when you move in

Some do or offer a loan towards the cost of them in older properties. Our council offer loans towards decorating (older properties - the ones that get completely gutted) newer ones are ready to move into. Our HA provides the option of semi-furnished (eg cooker, fridge, washer etc)

On the newer ones, they've stopped the madness of ripping everything out and expecting tenants to re-carpet and re-paint the entire house themselves on £250 worth of Wilkos vouchers. If you're unlucky enough to be offered an older property, you have to take your Wilkos voucher and be grateful. I believe you also get a woefully inadequate voucher for a discount flooring shop.

It used to be B&Q vouchers until our B&Q closed down and too many ungrateful paupers complained about having to take a 15 mile round bus trip with £250 worth of paint in tow.

Heaven forbid you give the paupers cash, so they have the option to shop around for deals. They'll be sure to spend it on fags and booze and then whinge when one of their urchin children gets a splinter from the bare floorboards.

[Emilybrontescorsett]

The water has seeped through my bathroom tiles and it's taken the council 4 attempts to rectify it.
It's come through the ceiling and run down the kitchen walls to such an extent that the walls which I had to decorate are ruined.
They then had the cheek to ask me to repaint the ruined skirting boards, again which I painted originally.
Well I won't be doing it as I'm moving, thankfully.
I appreciate that some people like to whinge but seriously I can't understand why anyone would be jealous of council tennants.
Would people be slagging off someone who had inherited a house and moaned about the shabby decor?

[Emilybrontescorsett]

Oh and my bathroom is covered in mould but they refused to do anything about it

[Emilybrontescorsett]

I don't get hb before anyone asks.

[HelenaDove]

blackhearts as soon as this thread started i knew there was more to it.

[TattyCat]

Because turnover is quite high in privately rented flats and the landlord does not want to pay for wall repair, re-painting and new carpets to replace the one your pet smells have become ingrained in, every time.

Well this landlord doesn't mind paying exactly that. That said, if every tenant moved on after 6 months then yes, it could well become a problem. We have a tenant by accident rather than design - our house didn't sell for months so we decided to rent it out instead. Our tenant has a dog and has just taken on a cat (kitten? I don't know), but it's her HOME and she is entitled to live her life, pet or no pet. We maintain the house (just had roof done and we're sorting another problem but hate that it disturbs the tenant) and will continue to do so.

IF the tenant stopped paying the rent then it's an issue. Otherwise, we'd be perfectly happy if she wanted to decorate (it's just been done btw) to her taste. I don't 'care' about the house, other than that it remains standing and not neglected internally. If there's a problem and the tenant lets us know then we'll sort it, pronto. If it ends up in a shit state because there's a dog and a cat then we'll deal with it but quite honestly I'd rather have pets than kids!!

Long and short of it is - I think private or otherwise, landlords need to let their tenants live in peace without all the rules and regulations stating that a bloody picture can't be hung on a wall, or they need permission to fart. It's their HOME. If they turn it into a complete shit hole and cause damage then there should be a financial consequence within reason. A house rented out for 5 years or so shouldn't suffer that much if the landlord has maintained it at a basic level.

[twattymctwatterson]

I'm in a Council flat, which I pay full rent for. The boiler is constantly breaking down, I'm fighting a losing battle with damp and it just doesn't seem to retain heat. When the new kitchen was put in the did a really shoddy job leaving rough edges and skirtings hanging off the walls. The bathroom is ancient and I don't have a shower. I know I'm lucky that I don't have to pay private rate rents but I also don't feel I have a particularly nice home for my daughter. Where I live all of the decent council houses have been bought so those of us who are struggling a bit financially are living in rough areas with sub standard housing so yes I do moan a bit. I think MNet seems to think we're all living on benefits with wide screens TVs and Staffordshire Bull Terriers who expect everything handed to us.

[HelenaDove]

Dixie thats appalling.

[Elusiveone]

Ive got a 30 + year old kitchen and the housing association wont teplace it yet. It is crappy but i have to make do

[Barbiesears]

That's awful, Dixie. It's one thing for them to slack off on kitchens etc but basic security is frightening.

[HelenaDove]

www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/bromley/8380677.ORPINGTON__Tenants_take_hostage_in_kitchen_renovation_war/

[RainbowWish]

My partner and i love live in a council house.
He works 40 hours a week. We pay full rent, council tax etc. And have 1 child and a baby we provide for.
The council put in a new bathroom when we moved in and their workers put all the plaster down our toilet and we had to go mad for months and months to get it fixed.
While moaning about cosmetic stuff is ott.
Everyone deserves a certain standard of living they should be provided with.
Not everyone gets thier councils house from nothing through their benifits