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...

Yeah, there were 7 of us living in council / HA house. My mum scrubbed the wooden windows to get rid of the mould.

Have you tried it?

5K for decorating? Is the wallpaper gold plated?

Yes they need to sort the boiler. But you need to get a tub of 99p filler, a bottle of bleach n a cloth. I’ve lived in council, rented and now bought houses/flats.

First council flat had 3 working heaters (one was a glorified hair dryer the others were small storage heaters) you could freeze water on my windowsills, they wouldn’t fix it as there was still heat.. and they were knocking them down eventually ten years on the flats still there. The fire escape window didn’t open, the other bedroom window had a sticker with don’t open written on it.. cause it had no fuckin hinges so it’d have nose dived 4 stories down onto concrete.

Private let left us with broken leaking heating for two years. Another with damp on every wall, another with rats in the halls and yes a few were ok or neighbour issues so not the landlords fault.

The bought house.. unsafe wiring, roof patched with plywood on the inside to hide small holes that obviously let in water, the same weird wooden corners you’ve pictured.. all our walls appear to be board, not a bean of insulation but home report claims we had insulated cavity walls.. they’re solid but the report also said the roof was fine. And many other weird and wonderful faults.

Nothings free or perfect.

Not unusual for council houses near me. Many have vermin too.

Those saying get a dehumidifier, most people in council housing can’t afford to go out and buy a £100-200 dehumidifier before the cost of running one.

Aldi do a dehumidifier for 40 quid.

Use caulk for small gaps between plaster and windows or trim, btw.

The knackered windowsill can be fixed with some fascia board. We had to do that in our bathroom.

It doesn't really matter whether you are living in a hovel, a council house, a new build, a listed building or Buckingham Fucking Palace - the concept is the same. If you do not adequately hear and ventilate your property, you will suffer with mould and damp.

I am a landlord and an agent and it boils my piss time and time again that people refuse to accept this simple fact.

We also get mice in our mortgaged house. I've seen rats running around some very expensive houses down the road

Those saying get a dehumidifier, most people in council housing can’t afford to go out and buy a £100-200 dehumidifier before the cost of running one.

What??

How do you know about the personal finances of 'most people'?

Or do you buy into the myth that they're all poor and on benefits?

OP, you should have seen the state of my council house when I got the keys. I worked my fucking arse off to clean and repaint every inch of it. Cost me less than £1,000 to have the whole place redecorated and carpeted.

I love this house. I made it mine, and it's the only place I've ever felt is home. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that my council allowed us to have it.

dontcallmeduck the op is planning on spending £5k on decorating, she can spend a bit less on that & use £100 for a dehumidifier.
There’s nothing the council can do about condensation, you either have heating on & windows open or you get a dehumidifier.

@Interestedwoman My source was "Spotless" by Shannon Lush and Jennifer Fleming. I haven't looked at it in years in years, but they said that bleach removes mould but doesn't actually kill it, so it will grow back without a problem. Oil of cloves (very diluted - can't remember exact proportions) apparently literally kills the mould.

I tried it and it seemed to work, and the mould hasn't returned, although admittedly my bathroom is extremely well ventilated.

Apparently we should blast the heating and open windows to combat the mould....

That's pretty standard whatever house you are in, whether you rent or buy. They need to be heated to keep out the damp but also you need to open windows to let the condensation out.

I've got to add that the "Spotless" ladies are very keen on natural solutions to cleaning problems.

That’s exactly what your council house looks like.

Mines lovely, was a bit grimy when we moved in (with the mice). But I’m so grateful to have a secure tenancy.
My friend privately rents and her house is covered in mould, she says when she gets in bed it’s like getting into a wet tent.

A couple of my window panes had blown, the council had the new ones ordered and fitted within 2 weeks, I couldn’t believe council even covered for things like that, especially after having living in a private rent previously and waiting for so long for important repairs.

@PickAChew I saw a mouse eating dry food from my cats bowl.
Daft cat just sat and watched it.
Then it jumped out of the cat flap into the garden.
I own my house too and it's clean and tidy but sometimes shit or mice just happen!

People saying it just needs a scrub should rtft. I'm trying so fucking hard to make the place livable.
We can't all be perfect with disposable income.....

Speak to shelter, if you have been waiting for too long for repairs you can get someone to do the repairs & bill your landlord.

You don't need disposable income to clean mould

Are you kidding? Clean it up. Open the windows. Keep on top of the condensation. Paint it if you can afford to. All of those things are your responsibility.

But sometimes it's not about repairs, it's just about maintaining the property by using appropriate heating in the winter and letting the moist air out by opening windows.

(Apologies for using the word moist but nothing else will fit when you're trying to combat damp)

£300 a week for a tiny private rental, and we still open the windows and run a dehumidifier.

@Lifegoeson5 we are in a council house and they just do not care. Got them to do as much as possible before we moved in but my partner and dad have done the most work. Boiler keeps breaking and we have single glazing. Do you have single glazing? When we viewed we asked about the state of the windows and the claimed the previous tenants didn't open them. Nope! Not the case it's from having single glazing and the amount of condensation. Keep ringing up and write a complaint they soon get back to you.

Everyone who lives in a house has to maintain it whether it is a private rental , owned home or social housing . I’m sure there are plenty of homeowners and private renters who have to open windows to combat mould or find ways to tackle mould .

I don’t really get this post. We all have homes that we have to improve or maintain.

We private rent, I would love the chance to have a council house with a secure tenancy.