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...

Council housing is generally only as good as the council providing it and their contractors.

So your thread title is incredibly misleading.

And to some (who keep on top of the cleaning) a little insulting.

How long have you lived there? The LA are your landlord so contact them about boiler/ damp issues but otherwise give everything a good clean and decorate a room at a time with appropriate materials.

Yes, you do need to heat and air house, especially if you are drying 7 people's clothes and towels inside.

Are you venting the house at all @Lifegoeson5

We have a decent, well-maintained house, and ours goes like that after a week of damp, cold weather, and the house being closed up/not aired.

It wipes off easily.

Your house doesn't look that bad. (from the pics you have posted.)

As I say, if you don't air the house (and put the heating on) you will get damp/mildew. You don't have to 'blast the heating' and open all the windows. Just have heating on low (when it's cold and damp,) and put the windows on vent.

As a pp said, you do have to look after it yourself once you sign that tenancy agreement. Major repairs/plumbing/electrics/gas is different, but mould and mildew is sometimes tenant neglect.

As another pp said, it looks like nothing some kitchen roll and mould and mildew remover wouldn't fix.

@PickAChew can I ask how you keep on top of it?
We recently bought a 1930s house. The windows are double glazed but old. No matter what I do I get mould around the windows which has destroyed the wallpaper!

Is wallpapering close to a window just not possible when you have a house with condensation issues?

The windows need a clean and maybe some bleach on the mould. Mine would go like that if they were left.
I would expect to paint/ decorate it myself too. I would expect the council to repair holes in the door frames though.
There are some really nice new council houses near me too, mix of family homes with downstairs WC’s and bungalows, off road parking & gardens.

I was brought up in a council house and after my mum decorated and deep cleaned the place when we moved in, and put in a shower, it's was a lovely clean home. You need to ensure the window vents are open and that you put heating on at times to prevent damp in any home, as well as have a deep clean every week or so of windows etc. Any cosmetic issues or decorating will also be down to tenants as they only fix actual problems.

Can’t you clean and decorate it?

The windows in my mortgage house end up like that if not cleaned.

You've got double glazing what else can the council do?

It is strange if the boiler always stops working after one bath. Is it just that the hot water in the tank runs out?

@gobbynorthernbird that's mould which I scrub regularly. Extractor fans don't work
@Singlenotsingle we've borrowed 5k from family. It will only cover plastering and decorating of half the house. That I don't own.
@HairyFloppins

Get a dehumidifier. Open your windows every day. Open your bathroom window when you've showed / bathed. Wipe down the windows when they have condensation.
Don't dry clothes on radiators.

What are you currently doing to deal with damp air?

Why 7?!

Also, you aren't clarifying what a council house looks like. I've lived in council housing my whole life and none have been like that so you're just showing what YOUR council house looks like. I've also worked since I was 16 in case anyone takes any ideas.

Whilst it’s not a race for the bottom, I pay £212.00 per week to a private landlady and the blinds move through the draft in the windows and you can see daylight through the bottom of the door.

I can be given notice at any point, and all I can do is hope she gives me my deposit back quickly and I can find another landlord who would take me... better not kick us a fuss about the drafts and mould though as this landlady was the only one who would take me.

Astonish mould and mildew remover is £1 from b and m or home bargains,it good stuff.

My council flat has flooring in the bathroom (the main floorboards) that is so rotten that I can like my finger through it.

All the houses I have lived in have that mould unless I clean it off before it gets bad. I have to open windows every morning also and watch condensation. If I left it it would spread.

7 because that's how many of us live here. Photos were taken the day after we moved in.

Who are the 7?

is it temp accommodation? I lived in temp accommodation from the council with my DD when we were homeless & it was disgusting but our council house we live in now is lovely!

We had a council flat about 5 years ago and it was quite bad. The bath never drained! It did but took literally hours. We called and called about it and when the plumber finally came, he said nothing could be done!

Those karcher window vacs are good for condensation on the windows. And dehumidifiers will help too. I used to rent a house that was riddled with damp and mold from a leaking roof. The landlord didn't fix it so it just got worse and worse. I really sympathise with you.

@Lifegoeson5 on the paintwork around the door handle?

Well mine doesn't look like that? Sorry but 90% of that you can put right yourself. I don't get this post at all you took the house...and mould has nothing to do with it being council m. Just keep on top of your shit and get a tin of paint.

Thing is OP....I've lived in rentals and council housing and you HAVE to decorate yourself to improve things. At least your tenancy's secure.

If you do spend money on decorating and minor repairs, at least it's a council tenancy (presumably long term) rather than a privately rented property which is likely to be on a six month term, twelve if you're lucky.