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.

“I’m not moving my kids into a half done house”

Then don’t take it, and let a family who’ll be grateful for a home even a half done one! Jeez! My sisters place was covered in graffiti and smelled awful when she moved in but she was just grateful to have a home for her and her children and be out of a bed sit. She did it bit by bit and her kids lived in a not-even-slightly-done house for a good year or two and they never moaned.. Urgh!

I would LOVE a council house. My rent is astronomical. I wouldn't be able to lay carpet or decorate either. You just get one or two rooms nice and do the rest piecemeal.

Why can't you paint uneven walls? 🤔

It's unrealistic to not have to do work once you've moved in - what do you think everyone who has a place does when they need to decorate or replace flooring? Prioritise and complete one room at a time otherwise it feels like never ending upheaval and you lose the incentive to get things done.

Thanks. That’s a good idea I’ll definitely take a look. I guess I’m just struggling to understand why people let their houses get so bad. Like I said we currently rent but we’ve still had to paint decorate and replace one carpet as I dropped an iron on the living room carpet. But we have kept the house in really good condition like we would any house.

What everyone else said I’m afraid.

We bought laminate second-hand very cheaply and used that. Old combi oven and gas cooker (just the gas rings) from friends. We used to have an old piece of fabric on the kitchen window to keep the sun out! Lots of furniture from freecycle. Living room had my friend’s green stripy curtains her mother made her in the 70s.
Ten years in, it all looks really nice. We still mostly have furniture from freecycle (and give things there too) because that’s what we like. But lovely cooker, nice curtains, the big wardrobes I wanted and so on.
If only I could convince the kids to keep it tidy

If you're moving soon, I'd leave the plastering for a while. Plaster is in short supply and plasterers are rushed off their feet. So price has gone up. I've just paid 900 to get one room done as it was the only person who was free to do it in the next month who was charging under 1000. Hopefully by next year prices might be more reasonable

You lower your standards until you can afford expensive carpets and blinds. We stick net curtains up in our first house, spent about £30 on the whole house and that included the bendy rods to hang them on.

I should add my kids have lived in a few houses, and they've always been half done projects for a fair while 😂 we're about to knock half of this one down and that's just life.

Paper blinds Instant Temporary Pleat Blinds,Easy to Install No Tools Needed Quick Fix Pleated Shades Fits Any Size Cordless Window Blinds Installed by Adhesive Tape 1 Pack amazon.co.uk/dp/B07Z62MTT2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6xCxFbKM1BR58]] if you get them in a dark colour they block the light, look pretty decent and come with clips to hold them up - we used them until I made replacements, which took ages but was cheaper than buying what we wanted.

Talk about entitled.

You get stuff from free cycle, you ignore poor decorative order, you do things a bit at a time, you buy cheap...

When I got my first place I had cement floor (carpet had to be removed as the previous owner had died on it!). I had an arm chair from a friend, I bought a cheap rug and I had a bed and cheap chest of drawers. That was literally it! I did the diy myself over a year buying furniture from charity places, accepting hand me downs and generally compromising!

I know it’s tougher with kids but you need to lower your expectations of day 1 considerably to match financial reality!

Plasterwork - do you need to immediately decorate? If the house is liveable surely decorating can wait a while? It’s just colours.

Of course, if the house is too much work you can turn it down but most councils only allow that once or twice I think.

What plaster work meeds doing? I think you'll need to live with good enough. We have walls wed love to get plastered if we had spare money but we dont!

I dont think most people get people in to do blinds. Just get curtains from argos/ b and q/ dunelm?

Etc etc

Or do you both actually have a good income? Im struggling to see why you have such high expectations.

Cross-posted - OP I don’t understand it either. Ours was in a real state. It took a lot of work to get the walls presentable for example. But the neighbours welcomed us with open arms, they were so glad to see the old residents leave!

The carpet shops near me sell "room sizes remnants" so I would be looking at that.

And ultimately I think I would be accepting that it was a compromise based on paying less for a larger property.

I lived in a "half done" house for years as both an adult and a child. It was fine. You definitely don't have to pay someone to deal with the garden - you might want to, but you don't have to. You could potentially clear a portion of it, either between you and your partner or by begging friends and family to come and give half a day of their time and then do a temporary (e.g chicken wire) fence round that bit til you have time to sort the rest out.

I got most of my kitchen appliances second hand - £30 a piece and they're still working 4 years on. We lived on floorboards and concrete in all but about 2 rooms for months as a child, just wore slippers inside.

If course you can paint uneven walls 🤦🏻‍♀️

Just paint the walls, do it all yourself. I've lived in my owned house for ten years and we have done everything ourselves with young kids and working full time, we are nearly finished

“can’t leave most things as I’m not moving my kids into a half done house“

Hilarious. What do you think the rest of us do? You sound like you want everything handed to you in a plate.

I’m not moving my kids into a half done house

Why not? You are saying you can’t afford it but that’s because you are wanting things perfect.

Short term you get the essentials -cooker- and make do for the rest until, with the rent you’ve saved on, you can afford to do things properly.

Room sized carpet offcuts are cheaper, curtains from charity shops and one person watches the kids whilst the other uses a strimmer on the jungle or get family and friends to help. Yes it would be lovely to move in and have everything just how you want it (I’m still dreaming!) but the reality is if you don’t have the money you make do.

The council should sort the fence though, especially if it’s a danger of causing injury.

The plaster isn’t essential. You can live with it for several months before sorting it, that’s what people do!

I'd recommend somewhere like gumtree to pick up those things which are essential to get you up and running. There are plenty of things which are in great condition that would save you a fortune over new.

Get the essentials (beds, fridge, cooker etc.) and put some away for everything else.

You could look at second hand furniture. See if theres a local BHF furniture store near you.

£1500 is pretty good for a whole house. Do you need to buy blinds? If there are curtain rails buy charity shop or eBay curtains. The oven - look for a family run local firm who might let you pay it off other wise could you manage for a month or two with a camping gas stove and a slow cooker. I camped out in this house with my kids as we gutted it and lived elsewhere for a couple of months once the floors and ceilings were back in we camped. We all slept in one room so I could get the others ready. Lived in the kitchen only downstairs and one bedroom upstairs then gradually did a room at a time. Our house was acstate when we bought it.
The men might just be on the rough coat of plaster when you saw it. If it is the area you want then I would take it you might not get another chance for ages. Put the money you would have used for rent in a separate account and use that for decorating. Ask about the fence I would have thought the council might do something about boundaries.

Good luck and have fun turning it into a home.

You do it gradually. We bought our house (mortgaged) and when we sold it 5.5 years later it still wasn’t finished.
We’ve bought another, and it’ll be years before we will have the money to get this how we want. I don’t like living how it is, but it’s tough.
We’re far from made of money, more so this year as I haven’t been able to work a chunk of it due to Covid.

In the nicest possible way, beggars can’t be choosers. If you think you deserve a council subsidised property then you should be realistic that it’s not going to be perfect. It’ll be a safe, stable and affordable roof above your head and your children won’t give a shit if the walls are bumpy. The council doesn’t have buckets of cash just sitting to make it pristine and show home ready. If you don’t understand that then stay in private rented and let someone else who would actually appreciate it have the house!