To be concerned about living near social housing?

[XNC]

Hi,

So before anyone starts with the popcorn emojis or snobbery accusations, I'm well aware I'm going to offend some people by asking this question and whereas I'm not happy about that, I could really do with some advice and experiences, so I've decided to ask a controversial question.

I should also make it clear that I'm fully aware that the majority of people living in SH are not anti social arseholes - I have friends in SH. I have also had issues with neighbours who own their house or rent privately. I know SH doesn't automatically equate to issues.

However, statistically speaking, there are more issues with anti social behaviour in SH areas, disproportionately so, so am I really being unreasonable for being concerned about moving to a road which has SH?

Thanks.

We live on a newish estate where they had to give a % to social housing and I'm going to give you a very honest post about my experiences....There are about 10 SH properties in one row. Knowing what I know now we wouldn't have bought on here because of them.

One house has a family living in it. They have 2 staffies that they keep in the garden. They have a shed to sleep in but aren't allowed in the house. The garden stinks from all the dog waste and the dogs bark at all hours of the day and night. The bloke sells weed. We know this from watching a steady stream of cars park up outside his house for 2 minutes at a time, particularly at night. The house also smells of weed and they regularly smoke it in the garden.

Another house has a man who buys cars and caravans, parks them outside his house and sells them. I very much doubt this is a registered business...we currently have 2 caravans parked outside his property blocking others from parking.

The other house has someone with drug issues. Their bin blew over once and needles and methadone fell out all over the street. They didn't pick these up.

I'm so happy we're at the other end of the estate and I must admit at times I worry about the impact it will have when we sell our house. We are looking to move as soon as we can and the market is better because we just can't stand it

How do you check the crime rates again?

Here you go, @XNC - click on the "Your Area" tab and it'll take you to the stats, including an interactive map: https://www.police.uk/

You'll get endless anecdotes on here to "prove" how unreasonable or otherwise you're being, but as so many have said it's heavily area-specific so research is always worthwhile
That said, you don't need anyone else's permission to decide; these are your choices and you have every right to make them

I once had a shared ownership house on a gorgeous new estate. Every shared ownership house was labelled as "social housing" but they were purchased by lovely families on various middle incomes.

The ones that were rented out were younger families who were proud and grateful for a beautiful new house - everyone was lovely!

In older, more established estates with social housing - I have found that the behaviour was worse and more violent & damaging. But I don't know why this happens. But it's certainly a pattern locally to me. (Had to move from a private rental nearby due to regular arson!)

Is there anyway of narrowing down to that road specifically?

Yes, @XNC - the site I just linked at 10:22 will do that for you
Put your postcode in, go onto the interactive map and you can zoom right in to individual streets

@Puzzledandpissedoff thanks for the link, but it seems to just to give me stats for the constabulary combined, rather than specifically that road.

Ah, thank you.

As others have said - surely it's down to where it is. I live close ish to an estate and it's generally fine. However, one of DCs is planning to move out of their flat thats opposite an estate because they dont like the agro and the stabbings. This is south east London so I'd say do your research. It would be naive to say that all estates are fine but many are. It also depends on your family set up - I would be reluctant to live in one with a teenage boy but I reckon it's fine for a middle age couple.

You also wont automatically be exempt from issues just because you dont live near an estate. Am on a local facebook page for one area in London and it's certainly very very naice but there is constant reporting of bike, car and mobile phone thefts with the police doing nothing. There was also a stabbing near the station over the weekend. So it's not just about living near an estate but the general crime in the area.

My previous house was a new build on a fairly large estate and there was social housing in another section of it. It was made to look cheap and nasty compared with the owner-occupied houses (things like cheap front doors, different windows etc).

There were definitely problem families there, but luckily not close enough to affect us unduly unless we walked past their houses.

But as others have said, you can have problems with owner occupiers and private renters as well. As well as checking the local crime stats, it's also important to wander around at different times of day (preferably also on a warm summer evening so you can gauge if everyone is having loud parties).

@lieselotte

Ooops posted by mistake....

I actually did have a drive round earlier and it was very quiet. The houses on the next road are mostly SH and would be at the bottom of our garden. They were mostly small, sleepy looking bungalows.

There you go then.

You might be lucky and be in an area where those bungalows are for over 55s
I have that option, in the future, as I have a 2 bedroom house (youngest son is here though at the moment).
You can apply for various areas (usually on the coast) to swap to one of these places.. usually a flat or bungalow. My Borough does it and pretty sure other ones do too.

Is it near the Coast, OP?

Hi OP, that could be an ideal place! It might be retirement bungalows, so may be fairly quiet, and also have people around during the day if they're retired, which is good for home safety.

@Trinity65 no, not near the coast. Wish I was!

@StellaAndCrow that would be nice. There's just a few houses on the road we're looking at that don't look particularly looked after, but they're round the corner. I can only see 1 crime on that actual road over the past 6 plus months.

However, statistically speaking, there are more issues with anti social behaviour in SH areas, disproportionately so, so am I really being unreasonable for being concerned about moving to a road which has SH?

Do you have a link to the stats

Well the housing associations have to take some responsibility for who they allocate homes to. But this seems to be the elephant in the room.

I worked for a housing association for ten years and a council landlord for 15 years. I wouldn't buy a house near social housing or on a mixed tenure estate.

The vast majority of people living in social housing are decent and respectable, but it only takes one or two "problem" households to turn a neighbourhood into hell on earth. I had to manage estates where a small number of people caused massive problems for homeowners and other tenants.

It is a fact that social housing reduces the value of owner-occupied homes nearby. That isn't being snobby, it's a fact that any honest estate agent will confirm.

I have managed estates where just a few households have caused such problems that homeowners have not been able to sell their homes at any price. Estate agents have refused to market them, because it's a waste of effort.

I know that bad people can own their homes as well, but most people who have invested money in buying a home will look after it and the neighbourhood it is in.

I have to say, these personal and professional experiences are really starting to put me off.

DD lives in a cul de sac of social housing that was added to a larger estate. She's got some amazing neighbours, and out of 10 houses, 7 are lovely tenants. The other 3 frankly want moving to an uninhabited island in the middle of the atlantic and leaving there.

I'm in social housing. 20 years ago it was a new build built on what had been allotments on a council estate.

The council estate has a reputation for being rough.

Quite frankly OP I don't want you moving anywhere near me.

Yes there have been incidents with loud music but that has been resolved.

The bungalow opposite me has a wall that looks like it was made for children to climb and sit on, but if it happens I open my door and let the children know the lady is well over 90 and they move.

You don't need stats, it's not rocket science! 🙄

We used to live near Hampstead Heath in London. Lovely leafy streets, lots of privately owned $$$$$ houses (the flats were also expensive) opposite social housing estates. I thought it was a lovely mix and well done (not that it was intentional) but loved living there. Meant the kids at school got to know a big mix of people from different backgrounds in life as well.

People who buy their houses cause noise, break the law, and do a whole host of other things, if you are naive enough to think otherwise then that's on you.

We did drive and stalk on nights when there were likely to be parties. Just drove in, had a walk. Totally paid off. It was probably the quietest place in town😂
Really put our mind in ease. These were two different HAs and according to neighbour only once they had a nightmare family.

People will get risen blood pressure but... No furtniture or ton of rubbish outside is one thing to look for. We are foreign and swear to god I have never felt as uncomfortable as when we looked at one house in similarly nonposh area and we were stared at by few locals on their front yard furniture. Apparently they would stare at anyone new though. We are just extra vigilant.

Look at google satelite. Garden full of rubbish is a no go too.

At the end we found great mixed owner/rental/ha, street was like 99% English, estate which was an absolute heaven. Nice neighbours, quiet, practical.

It can be done, but needs a research really. But once you find that good one, you never leave😁

I'm on a new build estate of mainly detached houses with maybe 10% council social housing. Some of the SH is at the end of my back garden. I get zero noise from any neighbours, zero trouble with noisy teenagers playing out, it's just a lovely place to live whether private or SH.