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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Wrong council property information

17 replies

DerbyMumOf1 · 01/06/2019 16:48

I am wondering if anyone can help me out with a problem with council property.

I am currently bidding to find somewhere for myself and my 2 year old son and myself and my housing officer agreed that 1st floor flats would be unsuitable with a child so i thought ok, fair enough.
Some first floor flats have been appearing on the bidding cycle and i have obviously been very careful in not bidding on them, only ground floor..

Anyway, i was contacted this week to view a flat by a housing association by phone and i went along. I got there and it was a 2nd floor. It was a shame as i really liked the place but had to refuse and came away thinking i had made a mistake bidding.

I look up my bidding history and it is in fact advertised as a G floor, so should i contact them and ask for my refusal back as it's giving false information? I would never have bid on it otherwise.

OP posts:
BarbarianMum · 01/06/2019 16:52

Well you can try.

I'd think carefully about turning down 1dt floor flats just because you have a 2 year old though. They'll be 3 before you know it and perfectly capable of scampering up and down.

DestinyIsCallingMe · 01/06/2019 16:54

Why on earth do you have to be on the ground floor just because you have a 2 year old?

anitagreen · 01/06/2019 16:55

Lol I'm the on the 18th floor with two under 4 it's a home at the end of the day count yourself lucky that you've been offered one so low to the ground.

DestinyIsCallingMe · 01/06/2019 16:55

When my dds were little (baby and 2 years) we lived in a 3rd floor flat with no difficulty.

Original poster
DerbyMumOf1 · 01/06/2019 16:55

Yes, i personally wouldn't have minded as i was in one before but my housing officer called it "unsuitable" for whatever reason. I just don't know whether to call them on the wrong information or just forget about it.

OP posts:
foxandthehound · 01/06/2019 17:00

Me and my almost 2 year old are living on the 5th floor, no lift. I fold the pushchair down and leave it at the bottom and dd walks up the stairs herself with me behind.

BarbarianMum · 01/06/2019 17:00

Did you have a lift Destiny?
I lived in a 2nd floor flat (no lift ) with a baby and a toddler and it was bloody difficult. So much so that we moved. 1dt floor was fine.

anitagreen · 01/06/2019 17:03

Our lifts go sometimes we have to walk 36 flights of stairs but that's rare these days they've cladded our block and left it with no intention of taking it off at all after Grenfell that's what worries me most. Being at the top with two children plus being pregnant again I don't think I'd be able to get out tbh

DestinyIsCallingMe · 01/06/2019 17:05

Did you have a lift Destiny?

We did, but rarely used it (I have claustrophobia and hate lifts). Dd1 was happy to slowly clamber up herself from the age of around 2, and dh or I would carry dd2.

We never used a pram, just a baby carrier, so we didn’t need a lift for that.

Waveysnail · 01/06/2019 17:09

Surely higher up flats are safer. Unless there is a medical need not sure why you need to just bid on ground floor flats

HUZZAH212 · 01/06/2019 17:15

If it's still the system of 3 refusals and then deemed as not really needing a property then yes I'd make it clear it was falsely advertised. Aside from that its not down to your housing officer to try and dictate what property you should bid on. If you meet the criteria for banding to bid then it's free choice for you.

Sugarformyhoney · 01/06/2019 17:28

Often housing associations and councils deem them unsuitable with young children due to noise and subsequent complaints. Lots of higher level flats here have a children 11+ policy
Op- if you like the flat take it. I’d personally rather be higher up than gf and under every one else’s noise. If you don’t like it turn it down. Unless you’re homeless it shouldn’t be an issue

Asta19 · 01/06/2019 17:29

I’m also confused as to why your housing officer would say this. Lots of children live in places that are not on the ground floor. If you liked the 2nd floor place why didn’t you take it? My first place with a child was 4th floor (no lift) it was fine. As a single parent I’ve also always felt more secure not being on the ground floor.

ems137 · 01/06/2019 17:45

Every council is different. Mine say no under 16s for any flats/upper maisonettes that I've seen on my bidding cycles

MummytoCSJH · 01/06/2019 17:51

Regardless of why you only want ground floor, yes I'd call and explain and make it clear that had it been advertised as 2nd floor you wouldn't have put an expression of interest on and then therefore it wouldn't have counted as a refusal. You shouldn't lose a chance when they've advertised it completely wrong.

Original poster
DerbyMumOf1 · 01/06/2019 17:58

Thanks everyone. I have seen a lot of flats that say no children under 10 years. I think it all depends on the area in which you are living.

OP posts:
PookieDo · 01/06/2019 18:05

When I was bidding the info was dire. Wrong postcodes and wrong info all over the place!

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