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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To want to accept this council house.

140 replies

TotallyChorkie · 26/05/2018 08:55

More of a WWYD?

We have been on the waiting list for 10 years. We currently rent at £1000 pcm and have never been able to save for a deposit to buy. The house is small and we have 3 children to one room.

We have been offered a council house at £510 pcm. The area is not a very good area with a gang and drug culture. I know it well and feel it is like any other London fringe town but I don’t deny that there are huge problems there.

My children would not have to move school and have some friends that live in this area. It would save us £500 a month which we could put towards a deposit and move out in 5 - 7 years time.

My husband feels that we should stay put. The LL is a friend and he is fairly confident that we are here long term. DH thinks we should put the children’s childhood first and remain in this area. This would mean renting long term and we are already in our early forties. I worry about retirement.

OP posts:
user1457017537 · 26/05/2018 13:31

Take it!i In 10 years time it could be a desirable area.

expatinscotland · 26/05/2018 13:32

I would stay put.

EddieTheBeagle · 26/05/2018 13:39

Take it, see how it goes and if you hate it then go for an exchange.

MorningsEleven · 26/05/2018 13:43

I'd take it. We live next door (literally, the first block of flats is 10 yds from my house) to a council estate and it's never been a bother. In fact, I feel really safe because people look out for one another. The kids are all at the same school as the people in the nice bit of the catchment area so they'll mix regardless.

Carolynnnna · 26/05/2018 13:44

Take the council house! If they have the same school and friends why do you think they would get mixed up in the drug culture?

Butterflykissess · 26/05/2018 13:44

I wouldn't bother knocking next door. A quick hello isn't going to determine what they are like to live next door to. Also to add i doubt they will have their own rooms each unless they are all over 16 otherwise it will be a 3 bed so 2 sharing.

SuitedandBooted · 26/05/2018 13:47

After re-reading OP I would take it. 3 kids in one room will be increasingly miserable as they grow.
As other have said, you can always go for an exchange, or just go back to private renting if it is really dire. You will have extra money saved.

Good luck with you exploring this weekend. I hope it turns out to be OK.

LuluJakey1 · 26/05/2018 13:53

Take the house. In 3 years you could save at least £18,000 and be in a position to buy the council house. There is your step on the property ladder.

EdiShowers · 26/05/2018 13:53

I wouldn't take it under any circumstances. The impact on your DC of growing up in such a horrible area would be awful.

MrsPicklesonSmythe · 26/05/2018 13:56

I think I've just moved from that area. It's pretty bad tbh but seeing as you're already living there or within the catchment you might as well save on the rent. Take it.

LuluJakey1 · 26/05/2018 14:00

I grew up in a council house. There were lovely families and some not so lovely. I had my friends from school who did not live there and that was where I socialised as a teenager. We never had any problems living there. My parents were really decent people and found others who were really decent people - of whom there were many. I remember great holidays with the neighbours two doors down who had two children about my age. We went off to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, Scarborough, York. We had great times. Yes there were other kids I did not particularly mix with but we were always ok with each other. Don't dismiss it. In 5 years you could have owned the house for 2 years and be in a position to move on to another property with osme money behind you.

AlpacaLypse · 26/05/2018 14:02

Definitely use this weekend to get an idea of what it's really like in the street at all times of day. Everyone should do this. If I'd realised the traffic chaos at school run time I'd have thought twice about this place, and another house we looked at we had the sense to spend the evening in the area and discovered that it was a rat run for drunks on their way home via the kebab shops.

causeimunderyourspell · 26/05/2018 14:05

Gosh this is a really tricky situation. My initial reaction is hell no - it's possible you will never even get a mortgage, but your children cannot change their childhoods. On the off chance that you did, surely buying in London, you'd end up in the exact situ you are now?? All crammed in and paying a fortune because of your age? Money is nothing if they are are scared to leave the house, or worse still, become embroiled in the drug/gang culture when they are older!

Second thoughts though, potentially you could move in and get yourself on the transfer list? It's a guessing game as to how likely any of these things are.

InterstellarSleepingElla · 26/05/2018 14:14

I would take the council house. We were renting privately and were offered a council house which we took. A week after moving in there was a murder round the corner, there are definitely drugs on this estate (drug bust a couple of streets over) but you know what? Our neighbours on our street are lovely, would go out of their way to help you, we haven't had any trouble, there is a ofsted outstanding nursery a street over which our toddler goes to and a grammar school 20 minutes away (walking) which our eldest attends. the rent is just over half of what we were paying and not panicking about money has made a real difference to us. In your shoes I would take the house.

GabsAlot · 26/05/2018 14:18

a mile away? not so differnt culture then-take the council house and save the money

sweetboykit · 26/05/2018 14:22

A council house is better than a private rental as you can decorate it and you can have it for life. Private renting is at the whim of your landlord.

SaltyPeanut · 26/05/2018 14:26

Many times the reputation of an area, especially council estates, bears zero resemblance to the reality of living there. I'm living in an area with a bad reputation right now, also because the rent is cheaper. It's as quiet as a sleepy country village, honestly. There are some rough types but they stay quiet and under the radar, remember they don't want police where they live so are more likely to be well behaved there.

Go and take a look. Ask around, visit the local pub, shops, chip shop etc. and strike up a conversation with the people who work in them.

What do you have to lose by looking.

But don't take too long because offers of a council house don't stay open for long, especially in areas with high private rents.
Do not mess council housing officers about, timewise, because they'll say fuck you then and offer it to the next one on the list. It's very much grab it while you can. I've dealt with my fair share of council housing people and they do not hang about because it's all about getting that rent money flowing fast.

Best of luck to you.

SimonBridges · 26/05/2018 14:27

Take it.

I agree with the idea of having a walk around there at night/evening and seeing what it’s like.

And yes places that are only a mile apart can be vastly different.
When I used to live it was gangs and knife fights yet if you went to the other end of the street it was million pound houses.

KennDodd · 26/05/2018 14:34

I'd take it. If in a year you don't like it you can move back to private renting and you'll have £6,000 in the bank.

Dancingtothebeat · 26/05/2018 16:02

It would depend for me. There is a drug and gang culture in Hackney but when I lived there I felt that unless you actually went looking to get involved it was pretty safe. But I am white and I know that some of my friends from the naice bit of SE London I came from who were black or mixed race because they felt it was harder for non white children to avoid pressure to get involved in those areas.

On the other hand there are areas like St Mary Cray which I would never move to because it’s just full of low level petty crime, mindless violence, lots of drug addiction and alcoholism and low levels of aspiration where, even if kids aren’t involved, it shrinks their horizons and there is quite a strong possibility the won’t be able to have a lot of freedom if you want to keep them safe.

Totally depends on the area and the kids tbh.

Also the type of accommodation. Houses are okay but I would never take a flat because anti social behaviour can make you a prisoner in your own home in a flat.

SunnyCoco · 26/05/2018 16:14

I would take it in a heartbeat

FASH84 · 26/05/2018 17:47

OP if it's barking, goodmayes, seven kings etc. You could easily move out to a nicer part of Essex for less, so many people commute is unbelievable, it's like hoards of ants flooding to our local station every morning. Houses are bigger, cheaper, schools are good, commute to London 30-45 minutes. I'd stay put until your eldest has done GCSEs and then move out

Sleephead1 · 26/05/2018 18:39

it's so hard I think looking around over the weekend will be good but also what are your kids like ? only you know them do you believe they could become involved in this sort of thing due to peer pressure ECT? it's loads to save but I'm from the north east and they are area i would never ever live in pretty near where we live. They are some nice people who live in these areas but they are some awful ones as well with drug/ addiction problems and crime. My friend moved into a housing association place when pretty young in a bad area she had lots of stuff including her dog stolen and had people at the door all the time and was threatened it just wasn't nice so I do see how in a mile and a half it can make a difference. Do you know anyone who lives there at all could you speak to them ?

ittakes2 · 26/05/2018 18:55

Would it not help your child about to be doing GCSE's to have her own room?

Ariela · 26/05/2018 23:25

I'd knock on the neighbours doors each side of the property and introduce yourselves and say you've been offered the house next door, and ask how they find the area. If you don't like either family/the response you get you can always decline.
My first house was an ex council house & I did this, one side was a lovely retired couple (she was Welsh and made super Welsh griddle cakes for us, am sure I put on a stone there) the other was retired and keen gardeners (we were given stawberries, tomatoes, beans etc ). Yet everybody said do not buy in that road it has an awful repuation. Sure there was one dodgy family at the end of the road but the rest were fine.