To clarify exactly what a council house looks like

[Lifegoeson5]

So many posts about council housing and 'benefit scroungers' getting 'free' housing.
I pay £150 a week for this...

That's just not true @Footiefan2019 I don't think the Op said where they lived but certainly in my town social housing and private rent are comparable, I live there's in the Northwest ,whilst I realise there are massive differences in private rent and social.rent in places like London it's not representative of everywhere in the UK.

I'm sorry but I can't feel sorry for people in council houses, I own my own home (mortgage) and have just been quoted thousands for work that needs doing

I feel your pain, @BusterGonad. We need new windows, guttering, downpipes, soffits, facias and external doors. It's going to run into 5 figures, I'm sure. And the night before last, during torrential rain, water absolutely poured through the roof of the bay window. DP was up there in the pissing rain, painting emergency roof repair stuff on the flat roof, but we need a permanent fix done. It will probably need re-roofing.

We're also awaiting a bill for a very complex repair to the boiler. It's not quite finished, because they're waiting for a part for the boiler, which is working but has a slight leak. We have a bucket in the boiler cupboard collecting the water atm. We had no heating or hot water for a week, because we couldn't find a plumber that could come any sooner. The council's contract with their plumbing company guarantees someone will be out within 48 hours of a boiler failure.

It's bloody endless and I'm sick of it. I was ranting the other night that I wished I lived in a council house and wouldn't have to worry about paying for all of this, or finding someone to fix it all.

Lakielady, you have many benefits those who have a council house don't. For example, equity, you'll have your mortgage paid off (hopefully!) and have a pension pot, you're allowed to do whatever you want to your own home.

So my heart does not bleed for either home owners or council renters.
There's bonus and downside to both. No competition

OP could you save up to get a deposit for private rent? You'd have more of a choice of houses then and could claim housing benefit?

I don't own my house though LakieLady that's the whole point of renting wether private or social ,yes the housing association replaced my roof and my boiler but it's not my house ,when I had a mortgage I had to pay for everything myself now I pay rent to a housing association they pay for repairs etc.

Well £700/month would be a lot for private rent near me @maddiemookins16mum it all depends which part of he country you I've in.

Indeed it does. £700 would barely get you a 1-bed flat here, even thought we're 50 miles from London.

A 3-bed "affordable" housing association place is a couple of punds shy £1,000 a month. For families who are "benefit capped", this leaves them £150 a week to pay all their bills and living expenses.

@bustergonad I do feel for you as I have been a homeowner. However once you buy then that's the risk you take. Presumably you had a survey done which either predicted likely future work or didn't.

Like I said, too many people buy when really they cannot afford to. The moment the house needs work they are struggling.

I don't miss that aspect of owning.

That looks grim but come on, clean the mould off the windows. My house (not council) had this issue due to ill-fitting windows, and always got condensation on the inside. I wiped round to dry the window each morning when I opened the curtains, and cleaned the window frames twice a month anyway - therefore no mould problem.

You have to take SOME responsibility.

Good grief, you're coming across as a little entitled, OP. I'm so sorry to hear that you were trapped in an abusive relationship, and very glad you are free and making a new start. You may not be used to being responsible for a whole home, or understanding what it entails. When you move in to a property, if it's dirty, give it a good clean; it's not somebody else's responsibility to do that for you, and you have at least one other adult that can help.

If there are walls that genuinely need plastering then the council should be able to help with that. If it's really just a bit of filling, then the 5k you've borrowed will easily cover that and all the decorating. You'll probably have enough left for some flooring too, if you shop wisely and maybe look for cheaper off-cuts and things like free fitting deals.

I'd be flipping delighted to have a secure tenancy with rent controls, but we bought at the property high and are stuck with an enormous mortgage that will likely never be paid off; we'll have to sell our home and downsize, and then the government will probably end up taking most of that "asset" in care fees in our final years. I wish we'd had a decent secure tenancy and we could have had a few holidays and maybe even a newer car here and there - yes, I know not all council tenants can afford these things but it makes me quite envious when I see people earning less than us having much more luxury. Envy is a bugger :-(

Councils have been consistently squeezed for funds by the Tories for years and years. It's no wonder the condition of so many Council houses is shit.

When I was a child (60s) and for decades fro then, Councils had the funds to keep their housing up to the mark. They simply haven't had that since Thatcher made them sell off the stock.

We have to reinstate the level of funding to our Councils which they need, from the State purse which means higher taxes, or Councils can increase CT .....

@SheChoseDown, yes, I know I'm very fortunate really. Just overwhelmed by it all atm.

It's not just the money, it's the hassle. Getting quotes, booking leave to be in when they come, getting tradesmen to book the jobs in, finding companies that (hopefully) won't rip us off, even working out what order to do stuff in is doing my head in.

DP was supposed to organise his (tree surgeon) son to grub up a massively overgrown (and covered in wild clematis!) hedge suring the summer. He never bloody got round to it, and it'll be even worse, and therefore dearer, next year. And there's huge pile of prunings that he was going to burn in an incinerator, bit by bit. He lit it precisely once, so 90% of the stuff is still there, sopping wet and covered in bindweed.

Actually, I don't have a house problem, do I? I have a DP problem...

I don't know if you mentioned where abouts you are , but we're in the north west and £700 is the private rental price of a 3 bed around here. Plus £5000 seems really. Excessive for decorating, we had a quote of £1700 to paint our house and that included all undercoats, new doors, skirting and ceilings (4 bed house) We provided the paint but there was an offer on Dulux paint at b&q so it cost just under£200 for all the paints we needed.

@LakieLady LTB :) Just make sure he sorts it all before he goes.

I moved into a absolute dive of a council house in June. All you need to do is report your repairs and decorate it.

All of the photos you’ve provided is just cosmetic and dirt.

The wall with the cracked plaster get some polly filler and fill in

The chasing of the wires... not sure why you’ve shown that it just needs painted or wallpapering over.

The pine tread, paint it white and use sealer to around the edges.

Windows... soap and water, and use Mildred spray...

You say the photos were taken on the day you’ve moved in.... so hopefully you’ve put some elbow grease into the property, did you expect to move into a show home OP.

I’ve no idea why people think council houses should be full furnished, white goods supplied and carpeted.... for £150pw madness and entitled

HA homes DONT come with white goods. Despite a PP claiming that they do.

Still not the best claim ive seen on here regarding "freebies" that social housing tenants get.

No the absolute best that ive seen was the claim that SH tenants all get their TV licences paid for them .

Now that was a real hum dinger Im beginning to suspect ulterior motives behind this kind of crap.

"I’ve no idea why people think council houses should be full furnished, white goods supplied and carpeted.... for £150pw"

Show me where anyone said this. I"ll wait.

I live in a council house and it is lovely Please don't post rubbish like this as it will only produce more stereotypes x

^"I’ve no idea why people think council houses should be full furnished, white goods supplied and carpeted.... for £150pw"

Show me where anyone said this. I"ll wait.^

There are a few posts upthread where, unless I have misunderstood, people have expressed feeling hard done by for their council/HA house not having carpets or white goods. Admittedly, no-one has expected their house to be fully furnished.

I live in a council house and it is lovely. Please don't post rubbish like this as it will only produce more stereotypes x

To a large extent, it is the luck of the draw. Structural issues aside, how pleasant it is to move into depends very much on how the previous tenant has left it.

Show me where anyone said this. I"ll wait.

Ever heard of exaggeration for effect? The problem to my mind is not a mis-perception about social housing. It's a mis-perception about secure tenancies. The confusion arises because just about the only secure tenancies still around are granted by social landlords

If you're on a shorthold tenancy (just about all private tenancies these days) you have just about no security. You can be chucked out pretty easily. It seems fair enough that the tenant will not invest anything in the building, and that decoration and often even furniture will be provided by the landlord.

There is definitely a sense in some quarters that those on secure tenancies should expect a similar level of maintenance. But that has never been the case. Secure tenancies (associated with social housing) are very much better. They are tenancies for life, which can be passed on to family. In that case the tenant actually has an interest in sorting out decor and some maintenance. The landlord just does things to stop the building from falling down.

The OP’s house shouldn’t have mould in it. Unless she has damaged the house through her actions, that is absolutely the council’s responsibility.

The OP’s house shouldn’t have mould in it. Unless she has damaged the house through her actions, that is absolutely the council’s responsibility

The mould is a direct result of lack of ventilation and warmth.

Are you suggesting the council pops round daily to open all the windows, ensure the property is kept above 14°c and return mid afternoon to close all of the windows?

HelanaDove Show me where I have said anyone has SAID this! I'll wait

There are a few posts upthread where, unless I have misunderstood, people have expressed feeling hard done by for their council/HA house not having carpets or white goods

CecilyP this was why I made my above comment.

TriangularRatbag I agree fully with what you've said, however most new tenants nowadays will start on a starter tenancy and if they miss 8 weeks of gross rent, they will be evicted under Ground 8 and no judge can refuse to action. (strict procedure with this however)

@Samcro

MistyCloud do those things really work. we get condensation in our bedroom. we can't have the windows open much(thanks to dickhead man who starts his van at silly oclock and leaves it running for ages!)

Yeah they do work quite well. As I said, you get a few inches of water within 3 to 4 months or thereabouts. (Where it has drawn out the condensation from the room.)

There was a wee bit of condensation in our small bedroom (even though we aired it,) and a VERY faint smell of damp. So we put 2 of these in said bedroom, and it stopped it. The things drew out the condensation.

As I say, loads of places sell them. Around a quid each or less.

I mean, a proper dehumidifier is good too, but these things can just be left in a room for many months, and don't cost anything for the upkeep after the initial 75 to 99p for it.