Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

I don’t want to buy a house directly opposite affordable housing

342 replies

SpainToday · 31/12/2022 17:34

I have name changed for this because I expect to get annihilated.

DH and I are considering reserving a plot on a new development. I think all developments now need to have a certain amount of affordable housing. Our first choice of house would be directly opposite three affordable plots and this is a real sticking point. DH is also wary. There were originally 8 plots with our preferred design of house, they have all sold except this one and I suspect that’s the reason.

Of course we could always go with our Plan B type of house round the corner, but that seems such a shame. When we bought our current home, 12 years ago. One of the mortgage questions was proximity to any affordable housing, so its clearly an issue.

Am I worrying unnecessarily?

OP posts:
PinkSyCo · 31/12/2022 19:15

Can’t you save up and buy a house out in the sticks somewhere? It would be very unfair of you to inflict your snobby family on decent people.

Taillighttoobright · 31/12/2022 19:17

OldTinHat · 31/12/2022 19:10

Absolutely do not buy that house. Your neighbours will loathe you for being arrogant and stuck up.

Buy on an estate and be part of a community. Don't want to be part of a community? Then buy somewhere in a field where you have to worry about no one but yourselves.

God, living in a field sounds brilliant. But then there would be fly-tipping on the verges.

Lozzybear · 31/12/2022 19:19

Don’t do it. I’ve been there and regretted it. Rubbish in the front gardens, smashed windows, anti-social behaviour….heartbreaking when you put everything into buying your house and other people get brand new houses for free and then trash them.

DottieUncBab · 31/12/2022 19:19

Affordable housing is completely different to social housing. We live on an estate that was 40% affordable housing so there’s a couple of blocks of flats in the estate as they are considered affordable. In fact one of this blocks (two story block is directly opposite us). It’s completely fine.

Taillighttoobright · 31/12/2022 19:19

PinkSyCo · 31/12/2022 19:15

Can’t you save up and buy a house out in the sticks somewhere? It would be very unfair of you to inflict your snobby family on decent people.

OP just wants a peaceful life! Are you saying that this can’t be achieved in estates with affordable housing in them so her snobbiness would have to be invoked in the form of complaining about it?

myrtleWilson · 31/12/2022 19:20

fist bumps @witheringrowan for first class explanations of s106 etc including the counter cyclical nature of affordable provision in market downturn.... housing bods unite

Hairybaker · 31/12/2022 19:20

We lived in a shared ownership flat to get on the housing ladder. Four of the other floors in the apartment block were for social rent.
Yes there were some lovely tenants but the majority were not. Police were a regular presence and it was a nasty atmosphere. I would not live next to social housing again as our experience was awful.

toocold54 · 31/12/2022 19:21

YABU

Whatever worries you have about living opposite are going to be the exact same issues if you live around the corner surely?

What are your primary concerns?

PaperMonster · 31/12/2022 19:22

I live on a HA estate where most of us work in public sector eg social worker, nurse, teacher etc. There are a few private houses and we had sooooo much trouble with one of the owners. Thought he was a cut above because he owned. Total knob he was. And he had parties in the summer in the garden and his guests’ cars would block us all in. Thankfully he moved away and the loveliest people moved in. Really don’t know what the hell you’re expecting!!

Lara9891 · 31/12/2022 19:23

@Badlytrainedspaniel I saw it and I know places like that exist but we certainly do live in social housing. My local housing association is lovely and I keep my house well presented and clean. I had awful experiences living in a fairly well to do areas because of the awful snobs looking down on us there.

DirectionToPerfection · 31/12/2022 19:23

You can't choose your neighbours OP, the only way to absolutely ensure peace and quiet is to live in a detached house in the countryside.

tolerable · 31/12/2022 19:24

to be honest-yes.you are bu. is as much\if not more chance your next door neighbours are drug dealers //paedos//undesireables //buy to let...than them who have to prove their legit earnings to afford entry level house purchase

toocold54 · 31/12/2022 19:25

other people get brand new houses for free and then trash them.

No one gets brand new houses for free.

They still have to pay rent or mortgage.

The rent is as high as private rent on new build estates, even with the social housing.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 31/12/2022 19:26

The fact your plot is the only one left in 8 tells you you're absolutely not the only buyer with this concern

Yes it probably does, because rightly or wrongly many would rather avoid such locations, which is why developers often try to avoid building them

As so many of us have said you can get issues anywhere, but while living in a council/HA/affordable property most certainly doesn't indicate a problem family, being a problem family very often means it'll be the council who are providing the housing - and because councils often get involved in all manner of lower cost properties it can be difficult to know who's housed the residents

All of which is why research is vital ...

hennybeans · 31/12/2022 19:26

I think one factor to consider which might put me off living opposite affordable housing is size of the properties which can bring other issues.
Generally these houses are going to be smaller and terraced or semi detached. Builders like to cram as much in with as little parking and space for things like garages and bins as possible. If you’re paying a high price for a house that is detached with enough parking, etc, you are losing out a bit to have crowded houses opposite you where people will be parking anywhere they can squeeze a car, half on the pavements. Also bins will be everywhere as there generally isn’t enough space to keep them out of sight. This is no reflection on the people who live there, it’s just the way it’s designed. And if I was paying a premium for a bigger house, I would prefer to live near similar houses that were also built with enough space.

Gandalfsthong · 31/12/2022 19:27

My sister lives opposite a row of affordable housing on her estate, all lovely people/families, the house next door then are a nightmare! A little naive to assume you can tell what neighbours are like based on the type of house, but think you know that.

clairelouwho · 31/12/2022 19:27

I think that there is a lot of misconceptions about what affordable housing is.

Affordable housing is not the same thing as social or council or HA housing. Many, like me, who utilised the scheme to get on the ladder, OWN our properties and pay the mortgage just like everyone else.

We're not living there for free. Some maybe shared ownership-mine isn't-but other than the fact that we used a government scheme to get on the ladder-there's no difference from people who used the scheme to people who didn't.

There's nothing wrong with social housing either-but it's wise to stop conflating the two.

Taillighttoobright · 31/12/2022 19:28

dolor · 31/12/2022 19:15

LOL so you don't want to live near poorer people, is that it? 🙄

It’s not the poor thing. It’s the behaviour thing that disproportionately accompanies low income families.

witheringrowan · 31/12/2022 19:30

@myrtleWilson 😄

(Shall we tell them all that sometimes councils or HAs buy second hand properties, so you are never truly safe from the terrifying prospect of having affordable tenants next door, or not....)

IDontCareMatthew · 31/12/2022 19:30

It's the wealthier type of person who I would avoid

They are the trouble makers round here ( mix of owned/social)

JoyeuxNarwhal · 31/12/2022 19:31

You can get scrotes in naice areas too you know Hmm

Lozzybear · 31/12/2022 19:33

@toocold54 err yes they do if they don’t work. Look, I’ve lived in a new build development in which a small number of social housing tenants created huge problems within months of moving in. Houses wrecked, a constant police presence in the street. It’s a nightmare.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 31/12/2022 19:37

Go and find a house in the middle of nowhere if you don't want any neighbours

Or better still buy in an existing, settled area, where there's a decent chance of sussing out the general situation (and where the houses are often better priced too)

Obviously people move so you could still get undesirable neighbours in future, but at least the overall chances can be better - and beyond a certain price point the council are less likely to buy up houses to rent out

Nocutenamesleft · 31/12/2022 19:38

We live right by the affordable houses. We’ve had some parking issues but other than that they’ve been fine. I grew up in that type of housing myself so had no problem. The parking isn’t who they are. It’s just they got shitty parking.

superdupernova · 31/12/2022 19:38

Lozzybear · 31/12/2022 19:33

@toocold54 err yes they do if they don’t work. Look, I’ve lived in a new build development in which a small number of social housing tenants created huge problems within months of moving in. Houses wrecked, a constant police presence in the street. It’s a nightmare.

This is pretty much what happened on the new build estate where my DH bought his first flat. A particular highlight from the worst family was the night they bought a bunch of fireworks and set them all off at once in their garden. They had to run into the house when it started. The fireworks went flying everywhere.

Swipe left for the next trending thread