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!

[Hmm1234]

Because those residents on the nicer street would calm the police straight away

[Meseekslookatme]

@FreyaStorm

This ^

There is a stereotype for a reason.

This is why I'm so amused by the posters that declare that people that won't consider living near social housing are snobs.
I've lived it, there's no way I'd EVER buy near social housing.

[Pipsquiggle]

It might be worth contacting the council again to see if they wanted to buy your house. I would ask them every 3 to 6 months

Not sure when you last asked but as people are transient, they might need your house size now.

Also do you definitely have to live in this expensive area? Over the pandemic we've had people in our expensive area in the south east move to Cornwall, Bristol, Norfolk and York

[Meseekslookatme]

@MindYourBeeswax

Again, I believe the behaviour outlined by the OP goes on and I believe it makes life difficult for her and I sympathise.
But these behaviours go on for a reason, usually things like a lack of money and, worse, a lack of hope.
It's hard to care about a village in bloom type of things when you have to be a prostitute or your children won't listen to you.

One solution could be that instead of paying rent, the housing benefit is paid as a mortgage payment to the council so that they are paying for a house they will own and any equity that builds up in it will be theirs.
This could give people a stake in the property, some hope and bad behaviour might diminish. After all, they would then be in the same position as the OP and wouldn't want to see their asset diminish in value.

Jesus christ, when most young working adults can't afford to get on the property ladder, you want benefit claimants to get properties to own for free?
No. Not in a million years.
Leave them where they are. FFS I grew up on a really shitty estate, witnessed stabbings, child abuse, arson, drugs.
I'll be as snobby as I like about the scumbags and career criminals I left behind thanks.

[MsTSwift]

You should have made them a cake then they would have changed their ways.

[RedHelenB]

@sue20

Post doesn’t mention where it is

It does seem to be London where this drops up. I've never lived anywhere where this was the case.

[RedHelenB]

Crops up

[DillonPanthersTexas]

@MsTSwift

That poster has obviously never lived in that environment. Our lefty do gooding views flew right out the window after our sharp dose of reality. Dh would literally get on his bike to go to work (I was in May leave) whilst they all able bodied twenty somethings sat in the garden all day smoking drugs and swearing.

Quite.

I only spent about 18 months on an 'estate' after I graduated when myself and a few mates made the poor and somewhat naïve decision to rent a larger house on an estate with mixed council/private accommodation rather then a smaller flat in a nicer area. We were all a bunch of 'lefty' right on students when we moved in and could have probably given Genghis Khan a run for his money when we moved out. It was a harsh lesson in how a handful of shit families can so severely impact on the quality of life of the majority. People have flagged most of the common issues already, late night music, the constant fog of weed, massive arguments/fights that spilled onto the street, neglected dogs barking all day, modified cars with those wanker exhausts speeding up and down the street, the litter, the horrible kids zooming around on scooters nicking things not bolted down, the manky sofa in the front garden that these arseholes sat on all day while boozing and the casual threats of violence if anyone actually dared to challenge them. Any kind of wooly desire to try and 'understand' why they behave like they do soon gets replaced by a burning wish to see the house hit by a meteorite. It is hard to have any sympathy when you are awake at 3am on a Tuesday morning again because these twats have decided to set fire to a load of wooden pallets in their front garden and invite their other arsehole friends round for a party. What I did no get was that the police were visiting frequently yet did not seem to actually do anything except have a quiet word, why aren't they getting charged for fly tipping various white goods on the pavement outside their house, why are they not getting arrested for all the weed, for breeding dogs, for all the petty crime, why are the dozens of noise complaints not culminating in eviction? Why were no questions asked about their seemingly endless supply of latest gadgets when none of them had jobs. There was a definite feeling on the street that the 'rights' of these cunts trumped the rights of the majority of ordinary well behaved neighbours. We managed to get out, plenty of others did not have that option. To be honest, when I hear similar stories on here and elsewhere I would seriously not care if these arseholes were just dumped on an island somewhere and left them to it.

[ReformedWaywardTeen]

OP I feel for you and no, not snobby at all.

I live in an area that may not be a council estate but which had sadly gone down hill.

When we moved in ten years ago it was lovely, house prices were ridiculous. It had made the best places to live list for years and continued to for about 4 years.

It happened almost overnight though. The council started to move private renters who had been trouble from an estate to try and limit the trouble. Instead, the troublemakers just started being vile here instead where they moved to.

It's meant crime, antisocial behaviour, and general filth and mess. Flytipping that is left for months despite us having a council reporting website, it's been noted recently that our area is missed for weeks whereas the nicer areas are dealt with within 24 hours. Constant sounds of sirens. Pubs where drugs are a huge issue but the council and police don't care.

We rent but we can't move due to school situation and because the rents elsewhere have gone through the roof. We are pretty much stuck here until the teens finish exams in a couple of years. It wouldn't be fair to move their schools at this point in their education. However, they are negatively impacted as they don't feel safe going out in the area. Both have friends who have been mugged in broad daylight. One boy who was grabbed by a gang of them beat him up as his phone was too crap to steal (not an iPhone) do they really hurt him then nicked his trainers.

To see an area drop like this is disgusting. It's like it everywhere though, an area goes bad, the council throw money at it and move out the trouble and they move them elsewhere and it ruins that area.

Rather than moving them to a nice area they should just leave the troublemakers and move the nice people somewhere else.

I would contact your local council and demand action. Keep a noise log. If it's a housing association estate they will have a duty of care based on tenancy agreements that mean with enough evidence they can remove them.

[Teddletoddle]

Some posters on here always blame the Government or capitalists for poor behaviour. They point to Nordic countries as an example of a socialist Utopia. Where there is heavily subsidised childcare, there is an expectation that parents work. There are large social housing estates in the UK where you have third generation families who have never worked. It is so difficult to help children achieve when they live in a culture which despises personal responsibility.
Nordic countries are not always the Utopian paradises that we imagine. They are experiencing significant problems with racism as more immigrants settle in Scandinavian countries,
It is absolutely not a question of throwing money at these communities. Mixed housing (private and social) seemed to be the way forward. I hope it still achieves its goal. It is so difficult.

[Teddletoddle]

I remember the London riots fifteen years ago. They seemed to stop in part to David Cameron making it clear that any adult caught looting or rioting stood the chance of losing social housing. So an eighteen year old son caught by the police for illegal behaviour put the whole family's housing at risk. I might be wrong but it seemed to have some effect.

[Teddletoddle]

I remember the London riots fifteen years ago. They seemed to stop in part to David Cameron making it clear that any adult caught looting or rioting stood the chance of losing social housing. So an eighteen year old son caught by the police for illegal behaviour put the whole family's housing at risk. I might be wrong but it seemed to have some effect.

[Ifrozethehoumous]

They can’t all be yobs on the council estate can they? I know some perfectly nice people who are council tenants. Depends where it is I suppose. O

[iekanda]

@Ifrozethehoumous

They can’t all be yobs on the council estate can they? I know some perfectly nice people who are council tenants. Depends where it is I suppose. O

Most people aren’t antisocial - only a minority need to perpetrate antisocial behaviour to make things miserable for the majority. If you think about how much shit one dog can do in a day, within a week, the place could be plastered in turd.

[MsTSwift]

No it’s a minority but it only takes a few to ruin an area and the quality of life for the decent majority

[Angelswithflirtyfaces]

OP this sounds very hard but cut your losses and run. There is a recession coming and if you leave it too late, houses like yours go into negative equity very quick.
Dont be a landlord either on these estates, the government is scrapping no fault evictions. If you get a 'professional tenant' i.e someone who knows how to get to stay in your house for free, it could cost you a great deal.
To the blissfully ignorant rose coloured glass wearing deniers on here, these estates are beyond awful. I spent 4 and a half years as my first bought property. The first six months were ok, but then moved in neighbours who were sociopaths, peadophiles and the worst of society.
I did not fit in. They liked living like that. It was me that was not right there.
They enjoyed their lawless lazy lives. It didnt bother them living in filth, conflict and chaos.
So before pps start analysing their feckless ways and the reasons, be confident that without consequences or any self awareness it really is their chosen preference.
The solution educate, monitor and fine these people again and again until it becomes unbearable for them. Giving them mortgages is a terrible idea. They have a secure tenancy and treat it like a scrapyard. The decent tenants should be able to get them evicted. People like you OP should get an automatic buy back from council if there are consistent genuine problems from neighbours.
I was also brought up in social housing. Its got worse over last 30 years for sure.
No way would I ever live on one again. The government need to sort these estates out. Cake, kumbaya and hand wringing fo gooders as not worked so far.

[womaninatightspot]

@Ifrozethehoumous

They can’t all be yobs on the council estate can they? I know some perfectly nice people who are council tenants. Depends where it is I suppose. O

It’s been said lots of times on this thread but most council tenants are nice, ordinary people who are not responsible for the problems but you’d be amazed at the impact even a few anti social individuals can have on a community.

I grew up in a council estate which was rough as fuck. Most people just kept their heads down and got on. There were a few arseholes that caused issues for the rest flytipping, litter, dog shit, drugs, alchohol, noise, peeing in stairways. Folk in and out of prison for theft mainly.

These don’t tend to be working people so are often found up at 3am shitfaced on whatever cheap high life affords them making a lot of noise. They also have a seemingly unending supply of sofas to abandon outside for extra visibility.

[creamwitheverything]

OP this might have been mentioned before but have you considered,(if you need out quick and I dont blame you one iota) putting the house in auction? It will find its level and may be bought quickly by buy to let investors? It will find its own level and I am sure the auctioneers could tell you what similar properties would be likely to achieve. You could put your reserve where you need it and see what happens. It all depends on your own finances. I am sorry you are stuck it must be awful. We live and learn and its always the hard way isn;t it? I hope you can get sorted and get out as quickly as possible.

[Brackensmomma]

Ask the council if they'd buy it from you. Most are struggling for lack of properties and might buy it from you..
I don't know what else you can do.

[Trainbear]

Call the police every time get a note of the incident number Every time

call the councils anti social tenants number and report Every time

set up a diary and record everything. If necessary go back as far as you can recall

does the council or housing association have a tenants group. It is possible to join as a home owner. Often they have meetings to address these issues - with the police etc

zero tolerance, no justification for being an arsehole none at all.

[absolutelyanythingwilldo]

@Trainbear

Call the police every time get a note of the incident number Every time

call the councils anti social tenants number and report Every time

set up a diary and record everything. If necessary go back as far as you can recall

does the council or housing association have a tenants group. It is possible to join as a home owner. Often they have meetings to address these issues - with the police etc

zero tolerance, no justification for being an arsehole none at all.

Good intentions but terrible advice. OP would never be able to sell her home if she did as you suggest as this would all need to be declared when she sells.

Best advice is sell up and move asap.

[SleeplessInEngland]

@RedHelenB

I always find this so odd about London. How come the yobs don't go onto the nicer street if it's only one street away?

Look up the Broken Window Theory.

[CulturePigeon]

DillonPanthersTexas

I do realise that this topic is not a laughing matter, but your post made me laugh. Yes, the familiar journey from right-on idealist to maturer realist is a familiar one, and nothing to feel guilty about! Misplaced idealism isn't going to help the OP or anyone else in her position.

I don't think anyone on this thread is being 'snobbish'. On my council estate, all but a couple of families were regular folk, working hard and getting on with their lives. We just lived next door to the horrible ones.

Marx identified this social group as the Lumpenproletariat and considered them to be useless in terms of effecting any social change, never mind helping themselves. The sociological term used to be the 'underclass', but I guess that's not in use now. It does not describe the working class, but a group who exhibit, often over successive generations the following features:

• no working adults in the family
• chaotic pregnancies/very young/underage pregnancy
• anti-social behaviour: noise, harassment of neighbours, littering
• failing to maintain their property and sometimes wilfully damaging it
• misuse of alcohol and other substances
• Criminal behaviour: threats of violence, vandalism, theft
• neglected/abused children who are unsupported at school
• conflict in any engagement with authority, from school to police etc
• rioting

These people are a minority but as PPs have said, it only takes a few families like this to ruin everything for so many others. God, I've got so many examples from personal experience. Anyone who tried to tidy their front garden or even...Heaven forbid - plant flowers, would get it immediately vandalised and have a campaign started against them for 'getting above themselves' (Who do they think they are? They think they're better than us!'

They behave bizarrely, in a way social reformers 100+ years ago would have found hard to believe - eg the rapid vandalism of fantastic play areas provided at great expense for their use. No logic at all - just a vile destructive urge which seems to be their only means of personal expression.

Don't know what the answer is, but it sure isn't pretending it doesn't happen or that all these folk need is a bit of understanding. We need to acknowledge the problem and be honest about it - call a spade a spade, and stop making excuses - so we can start to help these people by being firmer with them.

[Husbandworries]

@CulturePigeon

DillonPanthersTexas

I do realise that this topic is not a laughing matter, but your post made me laugh. Yes, the familiar journey from right-on idealist to maturer realist is a familiar one, and nothing to feel guilty about! Misplaced idealism isn't going to help the OP or anyone else in her position.

I don't think anyone on this thread is being 'snobbish'. On my council estate, all but a couple of families were regular folk, working hard and getting on with their lives. We just lived next door to the horrible ones.

Marx identified this social group as the Lumpenproletariat and considered them to be useless in terms of effecting any social change, never mind helping themselves. The sociological term used to be the 'underclass', but I guess that's not in use now. It does not describe the working class, but a group who exhibit, often over successive generations the following features:

• no working adults in the family
• chaotic pregnancies/very young/underage pregnancy
• anti-social behaviour: noise, harassment of neighbours, littering
• failing to maintain their property and sometimes wilfully damaging it
• misuse of alcohol and other substances
• Criminal behaviour: threats of violence, vandalism, theft
• neglected/abused children who are unsupported at school
• conflict in any engagement with authority, from school to police etc
• rioting

These people are a minority but as PPs have said, it only takes a few families like this to ruin everything for so many others. God, I've got so many examples from personal experience. Anyone who tried to tidy their front garden or even...Heaven forbid - plant flowers, would get it immediately vandalised and have a campaign started against them for 'getting above themselves' (Who do they think they are? They think they're better than us!'

They behave bizarrely, in a way social reformers 100+ years ago would have found hard to believe - eg the rapid vandalism of fantastic play areas provided at great expense for their use. No logic at all - just a vile destructive urge which seems to be their only means of personal expression.

Don't know what the answer is, but it sure isn't pretending it doesn't happen or that all these folk need is a bit of understanding. We need to acknowledge the problem and be honest about it - call a spade a spade, and stop making excuses - so we can start to help these people by being firmer with them.

I think this is excellent and pretty much nailed on with the few families causing horror for myself and my neighbours. I’d add entitled to that aswell. They feel like they are ‘owed’ something by society.

[DuchessofAnkh77]

You are making the mistake of thinking it is worth more than it is. Its only worth what someone will pay for it.. The neighbours house isn't selling as its too expensive - it is not a bargain

And yes - another mistake - you have bought a very cheap house in a nice area, and are now finding out it's impossible to level up where you are, 'cos its expensive....

Get a realistic price for the house....then work out what you can afford. The house isn;t going to magically increase in value.