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.

My ds turning 18 won’t change things. He plans on going to Uni next year if everything goes to plan but he is going local as we have a great uni close by that offer the course he wants to do. So he’ll be living at home still as opposed to staying on campus. He will be an adult so still entitled to his own room the same as he is now and we won’t be asked to move once once ds older and gets a place of his own.

‘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.‘

It was hideous. If I lived there I would get rid of most of the superfluous tat that was in that room.

I still live in a rented house that has a variety of issues. I don’t have curtains in every room and don’t see it as a problem. I just feel lucky to have somewhere stable to live after some pretty terrible life events.

No actually. Unless I made an accidental typo the “OP” said she doesn’t go on Facebook much so ISN’T jealous of other people’s perfect houses.

Sorry @roadsurvey it was my fault for not making it clear.

Council house or not is irrelevant. This is simply down to being realistic about what you can and can’t afford.

Many people who buy their own house have things much tougher and live in a total dump for the distant few years.

This message come to you from a living room which currently has old Lino stapled to the joists until we can afford to get the ceiling done.

It was hideous

I can't see how it was anymore hideous than bare concrete floor, random rugs, crumbling walls and people on here who are living with garden furniture in their house

@AuntieMarys I'm not sure what's entitled about 2 people who work wanting a decent standard of home for their family

Yes you make do the with the bare essentials until you can afford more bit by bit. We're building an extension on ours and may just have enough for that. We're looking at cheap flooring for now and dh has already found a second-had free standing bathtub off a job that we can use for now. Was hoping to get DD a new bed but we'll recycle her old one and sort her out a new one when she's a bit bigger.

It isn’t more hideous than that, but someone paid a huge amount of money to have that room decorated in that fashion, whereas normal people have to live in houses where they have to repair and improve them gradually over time. The two are totally different contexts.

If you need a quick fix for a concrete floor, you can get very thin 'exhibition carpet' that will last a year or so. Burts (online) often have remnants.

You know those Victorian ladies that like to give charity to the downtrodden masses, but only if they were suitable cringing with gratitude? A lot of people on this thread remind me of them.
In my young day everyone who didn't own rented from the council. It wasn't about being "needy" and you didn't have to be grateful, as you lived somewhere not so nice as a bought house and you paid rent anyway (as you do now but for some reason that gets forgotten).
Now we live in topsy turvy land where naice middle class ladies froth about how they had to fix up their owned houses and sound jealous as all hell about some poor women faced with a grotty shell that needs EVERYTHING doing, that ISN'T an investment ffs.

@Niknick

I do get what you’re saying. We aren’t at all well off. Dh is on a pretty average wage and I’m on roughly 10p an hour above minimum wage. I can’t work full time due to ds and his needs but I work as much as I can and do extra shifts when possible. The house we are in now isn’t a palace so I’m not used to a show house as some of you were suggesting. It’s a small 2 bed semi detached but because our boys can’t share me and dh sleep in the dining room which is tiny, and have done for five years now. We were fine with that as it meant our teenage ds wasn’t suffering as his brother wakes regularly in the night. So if I’ve come across as spoiled or ungrateful I’m really not. I’d just do anything for my dc to make life more comfortable for them.

If that’s the case, it’s unlikely you’ll be paying full council tax then - contact they council and make an application for council tax support.

I did this for one if the families I supported in my previous job - she ended up with a monthly reduction of £50 per month due to her low income.

Also, if your DS is autistic - have you applied for DLA?

Maybe make an appointment at the CAB and make sure you’re getting all the benefits you’re entitled to.

We have always furnished and decorated our homes cheaply by choice. Much of our furniture was free on TrashNothing or Freecycle - there are local groups everywhere.

You will benefit from the massively reduced rent over the years so you will be in a better position to splash out on a few essentials brand new.

Please read through this thread again when you have time - there are some fantastic suggestions on here for making your house a home on a budget.

I get where you're coming from op when I moved into my council flat it needed decorating throughout, new carpets, scrubbing as it was filthy plus I had to buy all the kitchen appliances.

I was fortunate that I had been living with family for the previous 3 years so had saved enough money to do it. For people with no savings I've no idea how they do it.

What's ridiculous is that despite the carpets being in good condition when we moved out the whole lot got pulled up!! So the poor buggers moving in would have the same huge cost again 😐

It took us a year to get our first house into a home. At first we had bare floors, nets and hand me down curtains. We focused on getting one room done at a time. We had to sit on camping chairs for a long time!

Unbelievable. It’s like the other thread where the op, with no job, was crying about the fact she couldn’t “achieve her dream” of a farm house by a lake.

I bought a small house in a very bad condition, as that was all I could afford as a lone parent with a small child. It had 40 year old carpets, peeling wallpaper, etc. I had to move in as could not afford rent plus mortgage so just slowly did some basics and it’s only many years later that I was able to more to it.

@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.

To be fair, though, that was a thread discussing the work of a particular designer. Lots of people (myself included) didn’t like it and said it’s not something they’d choose.

There’s a big difference between not choosing to decorate a room in a certain way, and making do with less than perfect when you’re not in a position to be choosy.

If given the choice between that room and bare floors and windows, I’d wager most people would have taken the chintzy decor.

‘In my young day everyone who didn't own rented from the council.’

This is obviously not true. Many people have always had to rent from private landlords.

Wow we earn (low) 6 figures between us & our home was in a dreadful state. 6 yrs on we still have rooms to plaster & carpet to replace.
Our back fence is rubbish but had a new patio laid this yr so no money to replace. Just bought some cheap bamboo & DH & I screwed it on top of the fence. Cost about £100 but cheaper if shorter fence.
No curtains when we moved in so just bought some cheap on ebay & used sheets. Still have some nasty pine furniture! I also have some lovely furniture but the vast majority of it is 2nd hand that I up cycle myself.

I think the OP is looking a gift-horse in the mouth.

Consider how much less in rent the family will be paying over the coming decades, to say nothing about the security of tenure. That’s worth thousands of pounds if you want to put a price-tag on it.

There untold multitudes who would be grateful to be so fortunate.

CONFESSION: I am a local authority tenant and have been for the last 30-odd years and still there are rooms without carpeting or curtains. When I first moved in here all I had was a mattress on the floor and a second-hand fridge and cooker, all sourced and hefted up three flights of stairs by my Mum and no savings at alll That was it. I thanked my lucky stars to have got somewhere clean and secure after decades of flat and house-sharing. I still am

Just for the record, not all council rent is "massively reduced" in all areas. Not everywhere is London and the South East. Even with all the work I have done in my house, with the finish it has you would have to charge a very low private rent. I imagine that's the same in a lot of places.

To be fair it’s not just council houses with this problem - we are buying our first house - handing over every penny we have to buy it! We are due a baby in feb! Moving in January - we haven’t a penny to buy any furniture or new carpets or anything either for a good while! We have a bed and a Sofa! So will manage with that for a while! We will be focusing on getting what the baby needs first as a priority!

We will get there eventually though and do the place up gradually over the years!

Surely if this place is cheaper than your current place you won’t be long about saving up over a few months to get a few bits done to spruce the place up a bit?

If that’s the case, it’s unlikely you’ll be paying full council tax then - contact they council and make an application for council tax support

Really? With two combined incomes @CasuallyMasculine. Even if both incomes are on the low side then surely once combined won't be so low as to qualify for a council tax reduction?

@Stripesgalore

‘In my young day everyone who didn't own rented from the council.’

This is obviously not true. Many people have always had to rent from private landlords.

Where I grew up I meant. What I am trying to say is that there was no weird jealousy of council tenants!

Why do people keep telling about how they bought their house and it was in a state? What does that have to do with anything?