To really regret buying on a council estate

[Gameofmoans81]

5 years ago we bought our first house. We live in a very expensive town so to get a house rather than a flat meant buying an ex council house on a council estate where about 90% of the flats and houses are still council owned. It’s a small estate surrounded on each side by millionaires in a good location basically.
I didn’t think anything of buying on a council estate - I’m not a snob, I grew up and have lived in normal working/middle class suburbs and rub along with all sorts of people in life and when we viewed it seemed quiet and fine. However after 5 years of living here I absolutely hate it to the point where it’s making me ill.
Firstly there are some lovely people living here, this is not an attack on council tenants but the actual truth is that these are main issues:
teenagers outside my house all night screaming/drinking
dog shit everywhere
rubbish everywhere - think bins tipped over and not picked up, used nappies thrown in hedge etc
sofas/tvs dumped outside for months
screaming arguments/fights/regular police visits
music blasting all day
weed smoke continuously wafting in to my babies nursery if we open the window
young kids out til late swearing and shouting at passers by.

I am desperate to move but the house next door but one has been on the market for well over a year despite being nice and a bargain and no one’s biting. No one but us is stupid enough to buy here. If you picked up our house and put it on the street behind us you’d raise the price by around £100k basically and it would be sold within a week.

i feel so trapped and depressed everytime I walk through the estate to get home plus I feel totally stupid for buying it.
And I feel increasingly furious at these people who are literally costing us thousands of pounds because they can’t be bothered to pick up their shit.
Aaarrrggghhh!

My lovely hard working In laws lived on a Council Estate when DH was young
Every man worked, a lot of the women were full time mothers and then got part time jobs, The gardens were lovely, A lot of the men had allotments.
In Laws said the Estate began to deteriorate over time, much more anti social behaviour.
They had a small win on the lottery that enabled them to move away- They were so much happier.
No one wants to live near anti social behaviour.
Obviously there are many hard working CE tenants, but the generational “ Problem”families can cause issues down the generations.
I googled the surname of two notorious problem families, and they are still in the papers decades later- like a pride in being feckless and aggressive.

People who live in nice areas have no idea how stressful living next to people with anti social behaviour is .

thankfully I never have but I feel huge sympathy for those that so and shudder at the thought.

some, like, @MindYourBeeswax clearly have never lived in this situation but more pertinently - seems to have zero grasp of how that may impact the innocent party day in and day out.

"People who live in nice areas have no idea how stressful living next to people with anti social behaviour is ."

This is true although I've also had friends who didn't want to visit me or park their car where I live...

But that's exactly why it was so cheap in the first place? They aren't 'costing' you money, they saved you enough that you could afford to buy in the first place rather than private rent .

First of all - you really don’t if you experience all that.

secondly, what did your neighbour actually do?

Just a memo to those suggesting OP offers her house to the council - she's already tried that and they declined.

Yes, do move if you can, OP - whatever it takes. As others have said, it will all just be a memory eventually.

We bought a semi on a council estate and our neighbours were council tenants. Most of the other residents were great, but ours were dodgy (but not on the scale described in other posts, I admit). They threatened neighbours physically if asked politely to move a van which was parked inconsiderately. They gradually piled an entire fitted kitchen and 3-piece suite in their back garden (feet away from their wall and ours!), then chucked petrol on it one hot August day and let it burn terrifyingly for 2 days. No, you didn't go round and challenge them! One other memory, among many, was of finding that the woman had been up to the primary school and punched the Head several times over some issue.

They didn't even register on the scale compared to what some other PPs have described, though. They were moved on to another part of the county for their anti-social antics.

I'm interested to know if Beeswax and Caramel live/have lived under similar circs, or just like to fantasise about how the world operates? If you haven't been at the sharp end, you really need the humility to listed to those who have.

From a sociological pov, I'm interested to know what has happened, though. I'm guessing that 50/60 years ago, the average council estate wasn't a mire of anti-social ratbags. So what's happened? As said previously, so many people now seem absolute experts on their rights but will not accept any concomitant responsibilites... so how have they been allowed to think like that? I'd say that, far from preaching at us to Be Kind, a finger should have been wagged at these people long ago to tell them just what the deal was - and what was expected of them in return for being allocated a home. They have absolutely no fear of anyone, it seems. There just aren't consequences any more, and they know it??

Difficult to say as I don’t know your area. However, I don’t think you were stupid for buying it. We bought our first house on a very rough council estate as it was all we could afford and desperately wanted to be on the housing ladder. We overpaid so that we could buy somewhere better and that’s where we are now. Our old estate sounds just like yours so I get it. What you need is an estate agent who can market it heavily to either first time buyers keen to get on the ladder or (sadly) a landlord who just doesn’t give a shit. It’ll sell at the right price.

From a sociological pov, I'm interested to know what has happened, though. I'm guessing that 50/60 years ago, the average council estate wasn't a mire of anti-social ratbags. So what's happened? As said previously, so many people now seem absolute experts on their rights but will not accept any concomitant responsibilites... so how have they been allowed to think like that? I'd say that, far from preaching at us to Be Kind, a finger should have been wagged at these people long ago to tell them just what the deal was - and what was expected of them in return for being allocated a home. They have absolutely no fear of anyone, it seems. There just aren't consequences any more, and they know it??

The 80s were when things changed round my way. I definitely think economics played a part - and also the knowledge that peoples’ livelihoods could just be chucked out when inconvenient. Now we’re dealing with 3rd generation descendants with a dose of Blair in the middle, papering over cracks by giving them everything on a plate.

From a sociological pov, I'm interested to know what has happened, though. I'm guessing that 50/60 years ago, the average council estate wasn't a mire of anti-social ratbags. So what's happened?

They aren't all now.

Both my sibling live in HA mixed estates which are relatively new and nice areas - housed through council lists - actual two council estate near us - nice - and okay.

One across city that is bad - partly is a few bad families but mostly it seems to be hands off from authorities - the residents complain in press of less policing not more of being left to it - police cite cuts and council seems to have no plan. Other services ambulance and fire say they increasingly have problems attending there and local amenities like shops shut and bus route get cut they stop fairly early now - and parks equipment stays broken meaning there less facilities there and more an area to avoid.

I live in a council house we'd like to buy. We have a lot of the problems you've mentioned but I am a "Karen" on the local council web site reporting flytipping, untidy gardens, abandoned cars (have to check if they have current tax/MOT) eventually things get done, our councillors also have local monthly "surgerys" so you can talk to them and get things done. Nothings perfect, we can't get anyone to do anything about the noisy bus that parks up at the end of the street with the engine running at all hours but I am persevering with TFL& Stagecoach

Anyone noticed that council estate tend to have amazing playgrounds?

I suspect the council doesn’t really know how to address the serious issues, so just channel money in to a fabulous adventure playground that they can have an opening ceremony for and publicise

Anyone noticed that council estate tend to have amazing playgrounds?

Depends on the area - where we are now none of the playgrounds are great - you walk to next county and they're great everywhere.

In London… the council estate playgrounds are phenomenal! I’d leave my beautiful leafy part of London and trek thirty mins because it was awesome!

Get your house valued.

Get it on the market and either sold or rented out. ASAP.

What kind of work do you and your dp do? Do you HAVE to live in this expensive town?

If you are thinking of DC and schools, plan to be in the right place for secondary school. The most important influence at primary school is the DC's family, at secondary it's more important to get them in a good school with hopefully less social deprivation

Which is worse?

Snobbery or condescending paternalism?

We moved from an ex HA house (amongst a mix of owned and Council owned properties) last year to a cul de sac with no HA/Council houses.
The difference is noticeable. No police visits, no furniture in the street for weeks, no yoofs on off road bikes, no noisy cars with the bass up full whack and no groups of teens/young people hanging round outside the local Coop drinking cider).
I hated our former home sometimes and I say that as someone who grew up in Blackbird Leys in the 70s (if you know, you know).

I've lived on a Council estate for 30 years. I'm well aware MN thinks I'm a chavvy scumbag who is on benefits in my free house.

Agree , you absolutely shouldn’t have to.
A friend used to live in a “ Druggy” area of the City, privately owned, Working women in her street, soliciting, any young woman in that area was at risk from kerb crawlers-
She moved to a far nicer area-
( More expensive, obviously) and loves it.

Even a Charity support worker of vulnerable people chooses to live in a wealthy village simply as she’s too “ Past it” for wanting to live like that.
The wealthier a neighbourhood is, the less “ Obvious “ antisocial behaviour is.
Dealing may well go on, but it will possibly be discreet?

A few years ago Jeremy Corbyn (Sorry to bring him up!) went on a rant about how council estates need to be 100% council tenants only.

Everyone else in the political scene was saying no, it's better to have a social mix of people / residents / families so there aren't severe pockets of deprivation and crime.

I remember it so well, because I lived on a council estate at the time. It was about 60% council tenants and 40% private. It was quite a nice place to be. But unfortunately the council bought some of the privately owned homes and the crime in the area has shot up massively. Its an awful place to be now.

Anyway sorry for bringing politics into it. Just felt relevant x

''@MindYourBeeswaxHow about a little tolerance for those whose lives are so hopeless that they turn to drink and drugs and for those who are so bored that they resort to partying late into the night or shouting, as a PP said, in their garden until 3am. One PP mentioned a woman who became a prostitute to fund her habit-do you think she wants her life to be like that?''

Actually I think what we need is zero tolerance for anti-social tenants.

Having a council property when there is a housing crisis and receiving benefits is something to be thankful for. It should come with the understanding that people in return for that safety net have to behave correctly, not make other people's lives a misery. Any kind of anti social behaviour should mean the person is automatically evicted.

I do believe that most people on estates just want to get on with their lives but the minority that makes it hell for everyone else should face the consequences of their action rather than have their life of partying, drugging and drinking funded by the rest of us.

Keep your sympathy for those who have their daily lives blighted by a few low-lives.

I have worked with charities that support homeless people and there is also help available for anyone who wants to find rehab programmes.

Evicted to where? The side of the road? Do you want to see children and teenagers homeless?

This thread is such an interesting read.

With so many new property developments incorporating a certain number of social housing units will the problems described become more commonplace?

It also must be extremely frustrating if you've spent say £400K for a new build flat, and suddenly you find yourself with anti-social neighbours placed next door by the council. Surely they need to have more responsibility?

I haven't RTFt but selling back to the council cd be a good option?

Caramel do you deal drugs / play loud violent music / wrestle with your mother in the street whilst drunk / keep aggressive and untrained dogs that shit everywhere and trash your own house? If not this thread isn’t about you us it? 🙄

Oh sorry I see that's not possible.