Offered council property in terrible area

[ShouldITakeIt]

Single parent of DS who is 2. Currently living with my mum but have been on the council waiting list since he was born. Was offered a flat before but turned it down due to it being in a rough road and have been offered another one this week which is in an even worse area! The flat itself is actually really nice but the estate it is on used to have a really bad reputation and is a deprived area. It was fairly quiet when I visited but pretty run down looking and I saw a few undesirable looking people walking about :( the problem I have is that if I decline this flat, then I'm booted off the list. Private renting isn't an option for me and I'm currently living in my mum's lounge. Would you take the flat? Does anyone have any experience of living in an undesirable area? Help!!! :(

My last house was on a road with a lot of private rentals. We had drug dealing, loud parties, vandalism, burglaries, even a kidnapping.

Now I’m in an ex council house and my neighbours each side and opposite are council. Some of the houses are a bit of a mess, but, touch wood, we’ve not had any problems in the last 10 years.

Definitely the only swap she will get is with someone in an equally shit area on the top floor. So swapping one bad area for another.

Yeah I know that!!! but like who is going to want it.

I'd snap their hands off tbh, how can you be considering to continue remaining in your mums living room?!

Yeah that's kind of what I was saying glad you agree. No ones going to be like yes I'll swap my gorgeous little cottage flat with a garden for this top floor flat on an "undesirable" Estate.

Take it and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work you could move back to Mams. If you don’t try you may always wonder what if….?

She can't? Otherwise she wouldn't be getting a flat?

I lived in an ex-council flat that was on a still majority council-owned estate. There was always people shambling about looking chaotic in the day and it looked a bit tired but it was a nice place. Most people had lived there a long time and liked it. If the flat is nice, you'd be silly not to really.

Would you be comfortable sharing which estate it is, OP?
There's bound to be some locals or people who know the area on here. Much better posting anonymously than in a local Facebook group or the likes.

Wtf have I just read. Don't take it op. Let someone else who will appreciate it have it.

@thegrain oh I get it's not ideal completely but someone might.... at least the option is there for op if she really hates it there.

People only want better than what they've already got so it does make me laugh when people on MN say "just do a swap". Obviously haven't been on many swapping sites 😕

I'd also like to point out that she says the flat itself is really nice....that's huge for a council property! They are usually in an absolute terrible state - unless they are new build of course. But even those aren't great.

I do get it, I'm in council housing myself but to have already turned one down and then to think about turning this one down too...I do think the op is expecting too much from council housing.

To actually have one being described as 'nice' is rare!

Sorry, I obvs misunderstood.

What do these undesirable people look like exactly? OP you’re a single mum living in your poor mother’s lounge, you can’t afford to be snobby choosy. Take the flat and then when you’ve bettered yourself you can rent/buy in a more desirable area.

Figure out what your plans are. If you are going to be earning well in the next few years, then you might be able to get a private place. If not, might just be safer to stay with your DM as long as she's alright with it. Refuse the flat and if they take you off the list, apply again. Maybe something better will turn up.

It doesn't work like that. If your off the list then you have to wait before you can re apply again. In my area it's a year. Then you're right at the bottom of the list again. It would be at least 2 year before she would be offered something again. 2 years at a minimum - it could be double that. Not sure they would rank her as a priority if she has turned down 2 previous properties no matter what her current situation is living at her mums

I mean… where do you think council housing is going to be, if not on a council estate???

I'd take the flat - it means you have a secure home. Make sure your home security is good (lock doors, windows etc). I live on a road that used to be notorious in this area for crime. It's fine now. I'm certain that dealers do live down the road from me, but they don't go door to door selling like the Avon lady. I've been here over 5 years, and there's a mixture of HA, private rented and private owned on this road. So far, I've had no problems (thank goodness!). My neighbours are lovely.

If you take the flat, it may well be in the future that you can get on the bidding list for a transfer or on the home swapper website. I think as long as flat is in good order, and you can afford rent/utilities, it will be worth having.

I’d much rather a top floor no chance of some noisy idiot living on top of you! Nothing worse than noise from a flat above.

I was wondering the same thing. Surely it can’t have been that surprising when a council flat was on a council estate?

If you are in no hurry don't take it, I took a house on a hell hole estate & had 2 years of a living nightmare. If you decide to take it keep your head down & no matter what you see if it doesn't affect you say nothing.

I’m struggling to see the dilemma here. If you turn this one down you are Off The List. That’s it. There’s no mythical flat or house in a nicer area that you’re giving up a chance of by taking this place. It’s this or keep kipping in your mum’s living room- presumably if you could afford private rent you wouldn’t be doing that.

I suppose there is a third option where you pool resources with your mum and look for somewhere (private rent or buy) bigger, but again if that were a viable option you probably wouldnt have been sleeping in the living room.

I think you need to give you head a wobble and get on with it, try and see this as a fresh start for you and DC in a stable home of your own.

There's no reason to say she can't. Who do you thinks going to stop her?

We were given (not offered as this was before any bidding system) a maisonette in the area that had the very worst reputation. When we went to view it, we took my mum, who had no experience of the area and just viewed it as it was. Looked at it through her eyes and we moved in.

We lived there for 13 years, never had any crime committed to us or near us. Had a real community spirit, my children grew up with others that they are all still friends with today. The only reason we moved was because they were knocking the estate down.

We had lived here less than 2 months when we were broken into and my car stolen. There is no community spirit at all, I don’t know either of my neighbours names, and there is a really anti social family nearby.

Places change, people move away and the structure of an area changes very quickly. It doesn’t sound like you have much choice but to take it. Once you close your door, it’s home. If you really dislike it, you could try and exchange, or like others have said save up to part buy.

Is it really the flat you don’t like or are you a little afraid of stepping out on your own after being at your mum’s?