To wonder how people actually afford to move into council properties

[Niknick]

So, me and my dh have been offered a house with our local council after years of being on the waiting list. We have two son’s youngest of whom is autistic and we have been offered 3 bed meaning we’d all have our own bedroom at last. I haven’t had an official viewing of the house yet ie with the hosing officer but workmen are currently doing some repairs and they allowed me and my dh in the other day to have a quick look round whilst they were sat in the garden on a break.

Anyway i went equipped with my tape measure to measure up for carpeta, blinds and just to get a general idea of how things will fit. I’ve since gone to a cheap carpet place and been quoted £1500. Blinds will cost around £450-£500. Then there are things like decoration, removal costs, buying a new oven as our current one our landlord owns etc. The property isn’t in great condition and having viewed another of the council’s houses years back me and my dh are under no illusion that the council will do anymore than the bare minimum.

So far it needs plaster work doing as the workmen have done a rubbish job. It needs scrubbing beyond recognition, the garden is like a jungle so that will be more cost as we’ll need to pay someone to do it as me and my dh are busy with work and the kids. Plus parts of the fences are smashed and need replacing as it’s not safe with my son. I know it’s the tenants responsibility to do a lot of these jobs but usually, people moving into these properties aren’t well off so AIBU to wonder how do people manage to do all this? We have virtually zero savings due to paying high private rent, so long term moving to this house would be financially a good idea, but short term I’m panicking about where the hell we find the kind of money we are going to need to make this house at least comfortable for us all to live in. Moving to my current house paying a months rent up front plus deposit and referencing check fees is cheaper than what we’ll have to spend to move to the new house so I’m quietly panicking.

local larger charity shops have soft furnishings and large furniture too. They all deliver for free or for fuel cost.

I haven't read the whole thread, just the first page but I can guess how it went, this being MN (you are an ungrateful mare who should be on your knees with gratitude over your "free" house, yes?)
I don't know why all the responses on the first page are saying things like "well when we bought out house we spent £££"
You don't own your council house you are renting it, and most council owned properties would not be in a good enough state to be rented on the private market! The flip side to that is security of tenure, but you can put thousands into polishing a turd, and you never get that money back, unlike if you own!
My place is a crumbling concrete shithole, probably has asbestos (at this point I'm to scared to find out) and I have spent a lot over the years on white good, flooring, decorating. I had one kitchen cupboard and a sink as standard (with the shittest MDF and plastic worktop). This was all the council was required to put in, so I have added kitchen units, changed the worktop and even put in a new bath, a shower (there wasn't one and the Council won't put them in if there isn't one already) and bathroom sink.
I am desperate to buy a house and move, and when I do I will take as much as I can, and the Council will come in and strip out everything else I have put in-flooring, worktops, cupboards-and the next tenant will move into a shell with a concrete floor. Its heartbreaking!

Anyway OP, I have found Facebook Marketplace good for a lot of items like a second hand washing machine. Also smaller carpet suppliers, and ones who have remnants (where you get a roll of carpet that is already cut and would fit one of your rooms.)
Ikea or Howdens were quite good for cheap kitchen cabinets.
Good luck, and here's hoping your house is a better build than mine and will be worth it. It's hard work when you are working FT and around kids but you will feel better when you have broken the back of it.

Well, with my first house I started with nothing.

I bought a stove & washing machine from a second hand appliance shop. I bought kitchen crockery, glasses, cutlery, etc. from charity shops.

I bought curtains from charity shops. I bought sofa and table from second hand furniture shops.

A lot easier these days with Freecycle and Gumtree.

I took any offers of stuff from friends and family. This meant I had a double bed frame but I had to live with my existing single bed mattress for a year.

I decorated one room a month with the cheapest paint I could buy. I borrowed a wallpaper stripper from a family member.

I borrowed a strimmer from a neighbour to cut down the garden jungle.

I went round all the carpet shops looking for off cuts or returned stock and my Dad helped/taught me how to lay it.

You make do. It takes years.

Does your autistic DC receive DLA? That could be used to furnish their bedroom as a top priority. Child benefit could be used for other DC bedroom as a lower priority.

Hi OP good luck it will be so worth it once you have moved in.
Just do one room at a time, prioritise.

Nowadays you can get things so cheaply on sites like free Facebook and local sites. Look at getting carpet reminants end of lines and charity shops for curtains.
Lakielady has good suggestions up thread. Safety first so you have to sort fence out, you might be able to do yourself by patching the fences.

When we moved into our first house we only had a bed and fridge freezer, all the money went into the house.
We bought plastic garden table and 2 chairs and a hanging rail from Argos that was our furniture for many months - a work mate felt sorry for us and lent us her garden sun loungers for our living room, then someone gave us an old sofa eventually.
We bought most things from charity shops even crockery etc as there was no internet 25 years ago to source these things and then furniture on monthly purchase. We had no turf in our garden just soil for well over a year ! I smile now as I don’t think many people expect to live like that now and expect everything straight away.

According to this thread, everyone is living in house with crumbling walls, concrete floors with random off cuts of rugs thrown down, towels taped to windows as curtains...irl I know people from all backgrounds and income levels and no one lives like this.
We are probably what you'd call a middle income family and we totally did this. Duvet covers for curtains, no skirting board, washed in a bathtub for months as shower was broken, hole in one of the walls. Moved ourselves, cleaning ourselves, couch from website that was basically stuff free to a good home. It is life to not be able to get everything you need in one fowl swoop and then feel that sense of pride as you fix/find bargains/buy, great for the people who have the money or fair dues to the people who saved all their lives, but for the rest of us it's the way it is (and sister, brother and in laws are all the same and some have very good wages and are amazing savers!)

@donnadenise

To be honest from what I’ve seen more or less everything in the house is essential and needs doing before we move in.

Life isn't like that, you have to make do and get stuff done when you can afford it. That's the same whether you buy or rent, if you don't like it then turn it down and find a different house. I've lived in my house for years but there are still things that need doing but I've never been able to afford it, that's life.

You don't sound like you are appreciating what you have been offered.

Agree

@Niknick

To be honest from what I’ve seen more or less everything in the house is essential and needs doing before we move in. I don’t expect to be able to make it exactly how I’d like it long term and I’ll go for the easiest and fastest when it comes to decoration but I can’t leave most things as I’m not moving my kids into a half done house. Plus, once we sign for the house (if we definitely decide to take it) we have to start paying rent that same day. So for at least a month we’ll be paying two lots of rent which will definitely take its toll. So we would need to be as fast as we can doing the house up but it all depends how much the council pull their finger out and what state they leave it.

If you claim housing benefit you can get both properties paid for as long as you move into the new property immediately. In practice this means moving furniture in and setting it up, not necessarily sleeping there

It might be helpful to go on one of these courses to help with your sons difficulties. Cheaper than paying for extra ongoing therapy as you'll have a better understanding of the issues and then you can support him all the time. There's one for schools too, one of the teachers could do it and it would be helpful for other kids too (I think they're really cheap at the moment)

www.sensoryintegration.org.uk/page-19076

OP, you've had lots of great advice which I hope has calmed you down a bit. My house belonged to a 92 year old gentleman and was terribly neglected but it was what I could afford. I'm looking to do it up on a tiny budget and I find IKEA has lots of nice budget options.

I really don't understand why councils gut properties. It's so wasteful and surely incoming tenants could sign something to say they accept the property as seen to protect the council against claims.

The reason I struggle to believe this stuff is there was a thread on here a few weeks ago where a woman had taken a photo of a bedroom which was a bit old fashioned looking but beautifully done imo. There were hundreds of posts from people saying that it was awful and they couldn't live in it and critiquing every aspect of it...it had a lovely bed, nice wallpaper...yet everyone was saying how it was hideous.

@Catiopea

I think the post about the families you know with kids with autism is really telling.

You see what someone else has and feel aggrieved that you’re not getting that too. In reality you have no idea what those families’ personal circumstances are - you are just surmising, with a massive dose of jealousy.

Many, many posters have provided you with practical advice, free. Others have given explanations of how having unrealistic beliefs and expectations are both unhelpful and unkind to others.

Upthread you said I’d just do anything for my dc to make life more comfortable for them

The single best thing you can do to make your children’s lives more comfortable is to model less judgemental and jealous behaviour, demonstrate resilience and a ‘can do’ attitude, appreciate what you have, including opportunities, and to remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

Good points.

OP, you’re not replying to any of the posts about sourcing inexpensive carpets, curtains, etc. You’re only replying to the criticism, which I can kind of understand, but it’s a bit ungrateful to the people who are trying to solve your actual problem (making a house liveable for less).

Have you just decided to buy expensive things on credit?

Someone up thread mentioned about your oldest moving out at some stage if he's nearly 18 - will this affect the size place you're in? Are you confident this will be your forever home? Good luck with the move

Usually they buy things on credit and pay it off slowly.

@formerbabe

The reason I struggle to believe this stuff is there was a thread on here a few weeks ago where a woman had taken a photo of a bedroom which was a bit old fashioned looking but beautifully done imo. There were hundreds of posts from people saying that it was awful and they couldn't live in it and critiquing every aspect of it...it had a lovely bed, nice wallpaper...yet everyone was saying how it was hideous.

@formerbabe I remember that thread. People love to say how they will rip it/ strip it. I bet most of them are living in a standard 3 bed semi awash with grey walls.

@formerbabe a large demographic appear to be middle class on here, so that's not surprising really. It is quite rare to have a thread such as this where people's experiences in council houses etc are relevant.

I’m not only replying to the critical posts. If you go back you’ll see how I’ve thanked people for their suggestions.

Yes @honeygirlz. It was completely bizarre...a perfectly well decorated room with nice furniture yet everyone was saying how awful and unliveable it was. Wonder what those posters would make of bare concrete floors, random pieces of lino thrown down and sheets at the window.

@formerbabe

The reason I struggle to believe this stuff is there was a thread on here a few weeks ago where a woman had taken a photo of a bedroom which was a bit old fashioned looking but beautifully done imo. There were hundreds of posts from people saying that it was awful and they couldn't live in it and critiquing every aspect of it...it had a lovely bed, nice wallpaper...yet everyone was saying how it was hideous.

On the flipside I'm always completely baffled by all the 'Well, of course, we'll have to knock through all the walls, build an extension and put in three more bathrooms' threads. I can't conceive of being able to afford to do that stuff, certainly not as a short-term plan anyway; and as far as I'm concerned the houses in question never looked like they had anything wrong with them to begin with!

Friends might have curtain / lampshades etc to give to you.I have passed curtain and lampshades etc in over the years which might not be someone’s first choice but will make do until you can change them.

@Niknick

Omg I haven’t pushed my ds’s issues at all. It must be different in other areas as since my eldest ds was 16 (almost 18 now) we automatically became entitled to a 3 bed house, prior to that we could only bid on two beds.

Please accept my apology. I didn't see the age of your other child until your reply to me re the medical issues. When they turn 16 the rules do indeed change and they are entitled to their own room. Again, I'm sorry I just didn't know the age.

The OP said on previous page that she couldn’t look at Facebook as she was “jealous of people’s perfect houses”

That says it all, really. She is not going to be happy with a 1980s shiny pine set of bedroom furniture and an offcut of carpet from Gumtree when there’s a world of Wayfair out there and fully-decked gardens with chimeras and grey rattan lounge chairs...

I know right Former! "A bare concrete floor and rags at the wiondows won't hurt your precious children! Why, we lived in one room with just an aga and a bare mattress and we made it an adventure!"

First world problems are uneven (but brand new) plaster and no carpets or blinds - ffs

You don’t need carpet. We didn’t have any for ages until we could afford it. We just hoovered the floorboards and put rugs (or cardboard) down in areas a -buy slippers.

A dance can be patched with chicken wire or cheap wood. Costs pennies.

Do the garden together as a family or leave it - you really need quite a lot of spare cash to afford the luxury of getting someone in to do very basic work like that.

Sell it to the kids as an exciting adventure, an experience, and a chance for them to learn some important life skills.

Yes @Persipan. I have a friend and we,went to her new house..it was immaculate like from an interiors magazine. We went to the kitchen which was modern and pretty new, nice cupboards, worksurfaces and tiled flooring...spotlessly clean and no faults and she apologised and said she hated it and would need a new kitchen...I was