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

[SpainToday]

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?

Affordable housing is what it says, affordable housing, it may be people on a low income, it may be social housing council tenants, it may be wonderful lovely neighbours it may be total arseholes.

But then the people who buy their properties could be lovely or absolute arseholes.

If it is such a big deal, don't buy a new build, buy a property where the residents are already there and go round at various times of day and see what it is like - even then of course, people move and people change.

Affordable housing is definitely NOT where the council houses problem families! Affordable housing is just that… owner occupied, privately owned houses where the buyer has a discount … the terms of this will vary and I’m not up on it but until our circumstances changed we were looking to buy at affordable housing. Professional young couple. I know plenty of people who’ve bought through affordable housing schemes- the last being my fantastic nail technician. Would LOVE to live next door to her.

Yeah, no its definitely not that. Dear me....

I wouldn't, just In case the little Spaintoday's end up addicted to crack through no fault of your own.

I am passing you a grip because I think you might need one.

No, that is not what affordable housing is.

Round here 'affordable' housing still needs an income of 60k plus to even get a sniff.
Affordable is an utter misnomer. It's either part rent , part buy or first-time buyer help to buy. Social housing tenants won't get a sniff.

I've always thought "affordable housing" is a stupid phrase.
Every house is affordable to some people and not to others.
"It's political correctness gone mad!" ;)

I wouldn't chose to stay directly opposite if I didn't have to. The estate I live on at the moment the affordable/social housing has folk shouting and screaming out windows at all hours, one of the residents was caught stealing from the building site and the police are round there 3/4 times a week for various reasons.
The last new build development I lived on which is very nearby has similar characters and sadly much worse who invite trouble to their doors involving extreme violence.

On both estates my house has been far enough away to not be directly affected by any of it but I would honestly not buy a property in the immediate vicinity.

Our first house on a new build development was affordable housing as it was shared ownership. We had to have a combined income of less than £60k and be first time buyers. We bought 70% and 5 years on sold and had enough in equity to buy without shared ownership. The house attached to ours was owned normally and the neighbours were perfectly nice, the block of flats next to the house was affordable housing and the neighbours were perfectly nice. Zero issues.

CrapBucket · Today 17:41
I bought a new build and they made a big deal of pointing out where all the affordable and social housing was on the plan... I couldn't care less. Most of the people round here are lovely, the only ones who aren't, live in the big posh house.

I had exactly the same comments from our sales negotiator, the affordable housing was a separate colour on the site plan. So if even the builder is warning people then there must be a reason? We are a very average household, and can’t afford to get this wrong.

you'd think you would’ve done even the tiniest bit of research on what affordable housing is…

I live in affordable housing. I applied through the council, they assess and then we got a certain % off the retail price of the house.
Normal mortgage, normal FTB, normal everything. If I sell, the buyer needs to be assessed by the council and I sell to them at the same % discount I got.

No shared ownership, no council housing. Just a normal person with a normal mortgage on maybe a slightly lower than average income than the area.

We’re in ‘affordable housing’ with a combined income of 60k. We are young and this was our way of getting a house that we can, you know, afford. The thread is bad taste. The people in those houses aren’t necessarily going to be any different from you - we are a two income household (FT at that, working respectable jobs).

I live in affordable housing. Me and DH both work full time, as indeed do most of our neighbours in the same affordable housing. None of us are problem families. You sound like a snob OP. Even more well off people can be wankers sometimes.

Agree @FestivePinkFairy!

Affordable housing here is lower rent than the private market, that’s all, and the income requirement to rent it means that the people living in it don’t actually need affordable housing! It may mean different things in different areas but here, it isn’t what you think it is at all!

Generally, affordable housing in the context of a new development means housing that is for sale at lower than market price or as shared ownership, allowing people who couldn’t afford to buy a house at normal prices to buy a house at a discount. There are usually criteria (links to local area/ key workers) and if you sell
the house, it has to be sold to someone else meeting the criteria with the same discount eg: 80% of market rate.

Social housing is rented out by the council or a housing association, and often has a bad reputation for antisocial behaviour. Some social housing will have antisocial behaviour, but privately rented or owned homes aren’t free from antisocial behaviour either!

The only reason not to buy the property is that it might affect the resale value because some people would prefer not to live near affordable/social housing (I am not saying this is acceptable, but it is a fact - I listened to a whole report on it on R4 where an estate agent outlined how explicit some buyers are when stating their preferences about the ‘kind’ of neighbours they want).

Your choice, but I think you may be catastrophising what affordable housing can mean.

I'd not want to be living near to someone with a noisy car, or someone who takes illegal drugs, or a public figure (don't want the press sniffing around my bins if anything happens). At least in your case you have the information to make a decision.

This makes me cry 😢

I will need to think about affordable housing imminently

FWIW though, my history involves lovely luxuries in life. BMW 5 series, holidays far flung and a £450k property.

Don't judge.

You're right to change your name anyway.

Ridiculous nimby-ism (and it isn't even your bloody back yard yet).

Er no.

From my experience you get the same human beings living in affordable housing as you do those with mortgages.

FWIW when me moved into our present mortgaged house , our mortgaged neighbour turned out to be the head haunch in our city’s “mafia” . Awful family . Was so glad when they moved out a year or so later So yes, anyone can apply and get a mortgage including the criminal fraternity.

I really would dislike living next to a snob like you though… OP

I think the biggest issue might be reselling because it will put some buyers off and some will want to pay less if the house is clearly very close to social housing.
It may not be obvious in the future in which case I can't see it mattering.