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.

When we first moved into a housing association flat, they gave us vouchers for paint but I don't know if they give them out anymore. Luckily the previous occupants had left all the flooring and the HA didn't bother to remove it, so we just cleaned it and made do until we could afford to replace it.

Purchased cheap curtains and home furnishings were either cheap or secondhand.

When we purchased our new build house, it was a shell - nothing in it and concrete floors. We had saved up beforehand to pay to have it carpeted and lay laminate but I know my next door neighbours lived with just the concrete for about six months as they didn't have the money to put down flooring.

You can't expect to move into a HA property and have everything at once - the HA only have a duty to house - they don't have to provide it decorated or ready to move into, it doesn't even have to be in excellent condition to be fair, it just has to be liveable!

If you don't have the money to purchase the items you want, you wait. It's not going to be a massive hardship to not have floors for a little while, curtains can be purchased cheaply and whilst they won't be great quality, they will do.

Oven you can either buy second hand or get a cheap one.

As for the garden, not a priority - it's getting colder so I would leave doing anything until next year when you might have the money. However wouldn't the HA be responsible for the fence, they own the house after all?

You make sure it’s safe (and I’d expect that’s the council’s responsibility) and then you do the decorative stuff as you go. It wasn’t a council property but when we moved house when I was a child we had blankets pinned up on the window and different offcuts of carpet to make enough to cover one floor. We weren’t poor by any stretch, it was just what you did when you moved!

The same as anyone else affords to do anything to their homes - you just do it as and when.

We lived in our house for two years before we could afford downstairs carpets. We lived with concrete floors and off cuts in the meantime. We carpeted three rooms for less than 1k in the end. Blinds cost about £20 apiece from Argos - what are you referring to when you say £500 for blinds?!

Keep an eye on local neighbourhood apps and Facebook, loads of stuff is given away for free.
I’d prioritise a carpet for your kids room and maybe cope with rugs in other rooms.
The blinds idea is ridiculous- get curtains.
Garden- we’re heading to winter so pretend you don’t have one and go to the park etc whilst you clear it- for the fence but ready made trellis.

As for entitled - I think concrete floors is a bit crap but you are coming across a little bit precious OP- no one has a perfect home, let alone if they get one at a cheaper rate of rent via an overstretched council.

People go their best. I had a friend once who's floor was covered in off cuts and samples, walls painted with a mural all from sample pots, blind was a piece of material nailed up. Was very alternative/hippy but also cosy

[quote movingonup20]@Wakemeupwhenthisisover

Council houses don't come with carpet or white goods normally but it does vary a bit[/quote]
Wow that’s madness. I wouldn’t rent privately without those things (unless it was nice hardwood floor) that doesn’t seem right that they don’t provide those!!

I do hear what you are saying op. While I agree that you do it bit by bit the difference with a council house and a bought house is that a bought house will have floor coverings at least. I agree that it seems wrong that the council take these out and leave the people who can least afford it with lots to do to make their house nice.

However, I think you need to prioritise making your house safe for your dc and making it nice can come later.

Blinds are cheap from Argos or dumelm or the range if you fit yourself.

Carpets more tricky but just do a few rooms at a time.

And freecycle is amazing too, I just got a lovely pine single bed for the spare room on there and managed to get it in my car which is smaller than a mini.
Lower your expectations, the conditions my mother and I lived in the 60's were unbelievable, no double glazing, rats, damp, no central heating just a three bar electric fire. I didn't even notice it as a child.

In our first house we put down carpet tiles, which are really cheap, although you have to make sure you don't get the really scratchy ones. Curtains we did with curtain track www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Treats-Coiled-Curtain-Track/dp/B07LCQL6Y1/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&psc=1&keywords=curtain%2Btrack&sprefix=curtaintra&th=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1599981698&sr=8-3 and curtains from the odds and ends bin in IKEA. And just paint the walls, we just paint our whole house brilliant white, and the colour comes from all our shit carefully chosen decorative items

Can you see it is a long term project, something to get your teeth into? There's something really satisfying about getting the next thing ticked off the list, and the next thing...

I’m confused, why do you have to pay for the carpets/repairs/new oven? You’re renting you don’t own it, the council should pay for things like that. A private landlord wouldn’t make you pay for the upkeep of their property (unless you damaged it) so why would the council?

Council renting is a lot different to private renting. For a start, they get that property for life (if desired). Tenants can also decorate without permission.

Newspaper in the windows and bare concrete floors? Erm no. I will most definitely starting looking around for cheaper alternatives but I’m not moving my kids into a new house, which will be unsettling enough for my youngest dc, coming up for winter when it’s freezing, to bare concrete floors and no window coverings.

I think the poster wrote that from experience, so no need to be snippy and take on board people have it worse and you are coming across as entitled.

I think the council will fix the fence, because that's a danger to any child, let alone one who's a bolter. Perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to see the house while works were in progress. It might not be as bad as you think. Carpets are necessary, but as you've said yourself 0% credit is available, so that's that solved. Getting a gardener - ridiculous. I'd seriously wonder why someone was entitled to social housing if I knew they were paying for someone to fix their garden. You'll have to take holiday, just like most other people.

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.

I would get the fence sorted for safety. Carpet remnants for small rooms are easy to get, especially from small independent shops.
Our local charity shops are full of curtains for a fiver - they don't have to be beautiful to do the job.

We are quite well off but still have no hallway carpet and an unplastered/unpainted kitchen as other things just always take priority. Most of our furniture is second hand and mismatched.

Get the real necessities sorted, but don't put yourself into large debt for a 'perfect' finish -you'll have plenty of time to get other things done, especially if you are saving on rent.

@Niknick

Newspaper in the windows and bare concrete floors? Erm no. I will most definitely starting looking around for cheaper alternatives but I’m not moving my kids into a new house, which will be unsettling enough for my youngest dc, coming up for winter when it’s freezing, to bare concrete floors and no window coverings. I have a credit card, which to be fair I’ve just finished paying and don’t want to go back into debt but I’d use that first before moving my kids into a house with no floor coverings.

In the nicest way, you need to change your expectations.

It doesn't cost £500 to buy blinds or several thousand to buy carpets. Your children won't suffer if they live in a house with bare floors for a few months fgs.

The council will definitely mend the fence. You can ask them about the plastering and if it is really bad they might redo that. If not, dodgy plastering will look much better once it’s painted. You may be offered decoration vouchers. You will be able to get a second hand oven on Facebook, possibly even free. Get cheap blinds from ikea and fit them yourself.

I agree that it would not be nice to move children in to a house with bare concrete floors and I’d prioritise that. Getting a carpet shop to give you an all in price is the least hassle but most expensive. You can order carpet online and get a fitter separately. Or at least shop around carpet shops, some do while house deals.

I put these in my sons room

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00T9SV864?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

It's tough but try and think of the long term.

Get yourself on Freecycle and Facebook Marketplace, also see if there are any charities for cheap furniture. The British Heart Foundation have great second hand furniture shops. Do you have any friends and family who can help? I always have a stock of curtains from old houses and have a dining table and coffee table in my garden I need to get rid of somehow. Lots of people are the same and would be happy to help.

Lots of crossposts at once there! I can see why you feel anxious about having it nice for your DD, but it doesn't cost a lot to make his room cosy. At the back of carpet right they keep the roomsized offcuts and end of rolls. It's not hard to fit carpet, if the rooms aren't massive. But get a carpet kicker and a good Stanley knife to cut to fit. Also pieces of vinyl for kitchen and bathroom, second hand rugs, or cheap area rug for living room. Or get one fitted in there, it shouldn't cost as much as you've been quoted. I've used an Indian bedspread for a curtain, held on with clip on curtain rings. Take a deep breath, and start looking for solutions. You can do this. Treat it as an adventure, turn it into a game with the DC.
Oh, and ignore the people with nothing useful to contribute.

when my parents converted the attic, they got carpet off cuts in all different colours/styles. they asked in a diy store to cut them into 40x40cm squared and layed/glued them to the floor.
was the coolest place in the house.

While I agree that you do it bit by bit the difference with a council house and a bought house is that a bought house will have floor coverings at least

I'm not sure why you think a bought house automatically comes with floor coverings. New builds don't unless you pay extra for them, second hand varies from house to house.

Who moves into a fully done up house other than private renters and even then that’s not guaranteed. Everyone renting a council house or even buying a house has to make do. Your comment that you are not moving your kids into a half done house are frankly ridiculous. Some families on the council list live in two rooms.

Your deposit will cover the extra rent if you can’t give enough notice and you will have the luxury of a month to prepare your house. The council rent will be cheaper is it not? Do you both work are you not entitled to housing costs for the double period?

Do you get DLA? You can also apply for grants for your sons room.

If the council are working in there now you ask them to finish the plaster and the fence. You paint wonky walls until you can afford to plaster and paper. You usually get a decorating allowance.

Councils used to prepare houses for rent, now they can offer them as seen because there is always someone next on the list. Many councils have neglected their properties over the years. However as you say, you can make it your own, eventually.

I notice your objection to being judged on here while you are judging the previous tenants.

@Brainfogmcfogface

“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!

Quite!

And why do you need blinds immediately. I have blackout curtains off amazon for £22 for my bedroom - ponydance ones. they are perfectly acceptable.

teenager you say?
so you havd an extea pair of hand for diy?
great!

Do you realise how lucky you are? You've been offered a council house with a bedroom for each of your children and a large garden.
Where I live noone gets a 3 bed even with 2 children and even if one of them has autism.
Instead of complaining make the choice. Either realise how lucky you are and do the house up bit by bit so second hand cooker first, ask the council to repair the fence and remember you'll be saving a fortune in rent so will probably be able to do the house up quicker than you think. Or leave it for a family who actually need it and will be grateful.