To wonder how other people afford to keep their house ‘nice’

[WaspLady]

I’m a single parent on low income, I work full time but have nothing left at the end of the month. Don’t buy myself clothes, go out or have any extravagances other than kids hobbies.

I have a housing association house which is absolutely falling to bits, we are expected to be responsible for most repairs ourselves but I don’t know how it’s possible to pay for it, if I owned the house then I guess I might be willing to go not debt/ remortgage to replace the kitchen (currently 18 years old and cabinets and worktops disintegrating rapidly!) and internal doors (I think same age as the house so been there at least 35 years and only one or 2 not had some kind of repair job, several just hanging on by a thread) or have a shower installed (currently only have a bath).

I go into neighbours homes and they have all put in nice kitchens, have had showers installed, replaced a lot of fittings etc, but how can anyone in a low income afford this? Where am I going wrong? I’m embarrassed to have anyone in my house and it makes me so depressed. It doesn’t matter how much I clean, paint and patch things up the house always looks awful 😞

This!

I have a HA property OP and I do not do any major repairs! It's for the HA to do. I do minor things like resealing the bath and obviously decorating is up to me but I wouldn't do anything huge. One of my windows was leaking and rotting and I got it replaced.

Please check your tenancy agreement. It will state how often your HA changes kitchens and bathrooms and their responsibilities towards you and some will assume all is fine if you never tell them otherwise. If the bathroom / kitchen is failing, then report this, and it can be assessed as needing to be replaced earlier, and that also includes other items that are regarded as the building fabric, so anything that is structural is for the HA to bring back to a good standard. So if you think the plaster work has failed, then they need to come and sort it but be prepared for the wait for the work to actually take place and it could run into months! Fences - this again varies from HA to HA and it will state which fence is yours and which is the responsibility of the HA. Try local Reuse / Community Furniture Projects and Paint Exchanges for paint and other decorating items to save money. Often local colleges run courses for those on UC or low incomes, for free, teaching basic decorating and household repair skills, so worth looking at these, or whether you have a Men's Shed locally that can help you out. There is new legislation regarding HAs and their responsibilities and for anyone who is in a HA property I would advise knowing your rights - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-social-housing-act-receives-royal-assent-to-become-law

HA's do not legally have to replace or maintain fences. They only have to mark a boundary.

I’ve lived in council & HA OP, I thought HA was one up from council but they didn’t even come close. The few repairs that they did do ended up worse than before, due to them having very few skilled workmen. Many people gave up asking & fitted their own kitchens & bathrooms …. This is fair enough if you can afford it, but that doesn’t help the people that can’t. I know it’s already been said but list & photograph all repairs & send an email to HA. They’ll probably ignore you or say they don’t do this & they don’t do that, which makes me wonder what the fuck these HA do actually do seeing as they’re quick enough to take the rent. So send an email to your MP, & a copy of the letter & photos that you sent to HA. There’s always the no win no fee thing, google your HA & see what comes up. But I’m sure that your MP will sort something out for you. Couldn’t you move into council accommodation & start again? At least you’d be moving into a hopefully reasonable property. You shouldn’t have to live like this.

Yes all of this. You need to contact your HA and explain the state of the property. Ask when it's programmed for a new kitchen and find out how old the current one is.

Are you handy op?? You could steam/soak off wallpaper easily for virtually no cost, I’d just buy a ready mixed tub of plaster and a putty knife and patch over the wall myself- sand by hand any bumps and paint one colour- you’d be surprised how much becomes invisible with a coat of white paint!!
Kitchen - put an ad on marketplace or loca groups- see if anyone is dismantling a kitchen and ask if you can have the carcass and/or doors. You can spray paint cheaply and get a good finish. Could you paint or spray paint your existing doors?? And just change the handles? For your worktop - some repair/refurb options: could you tile it? And up the wall a bit like a backsplash to blend it together? You can buy lengths of work top cheaply from ikea; and you can also buy sticky back plastic coating like vinyl (plain or marble effect etc) that you can stick over the top, cut precisely with a Stanley knife & smooth out all air pockets as you go with a credit card. Honestly I would say give everything a coat of white paint. Makes so much difference! And another cheap hack I have to brighten up is to change your lightbulbs. So many people have yellow tone, dim lightbulbs- up the brightness a bit (800lumens or above) and see how it looks.
do you have any good charity shops?? Make it your mission to go and have a look regularly to collect a few textiles - curtains/cushions/art posters etc that you can eventually put together to create a scheme. British heart foundation have some great furniture charity shops around the UK. Take it room by room and keep it as simple as you can.. step by step! Xxx

Having read your updates OP you absolutely need to go to the housing ombudsman. It's not okay for the HA to tell you they can't afford repairs. That's their problem, not yours.

Barnardos and oxfam also sell furniture online. Join your local fb pages that isn't facebook marketplace. I know where I live people are always giving things away and post on it to let people know what stuff is outside their house. I've got garden chairs from there before. I picked up a sideboard for a tenner as well!

Tbh I'd not bother with a front fence or I'd buy those cute little picket fences that you just hammer in (think I saw them in B&M last year) with the money you've saved for the fence quote.

Steam the walls, filler and sand, lining paper or paint white again with the money you've saved from not bothering with the front fence. You'd be able to buy a shower mixer tap out of that too.

Get Shelter's advice about the damp, the kitchen and doors. If no luck with the kitchen use the £300 autumn payment to spruce it up.

im in a socially rented property and have managed to get them to sort the shit bits out. Anything like work surfaces being shot is a hygiene risk so get on to that and tell them that they need to get it done. I find messaging on social media works better.
They do take the piss so keep on at them about their responsibilities. I had my bathroom done because there was a leak but my HA can leave them in for 30 years.
I don’t have any answers really other than cheap paint and rugs, nice lamps and use things like books and plants to accessorise..go for cosy instead of perfect as that’s rarely achievable in a HA house

Ask the HA if they are aware of the Social Housing (Regulation) Act 2023 and what they intend to do wrt the damp and mould and the effect it has on your child's health as stated by your GP.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/social-housing-regulation-act-becomes-law-in-historic-moment-82402

I feel for you op.

I used to live in a HA property (one of the better ones by all accounts). Some people really don't understand what a poor state many of these homes are let in. No shower, old, poor quality, falling apart kitchens, mould and damp, leaky windows, broken fences and windows. No floor coverings. Broken tiles. The HA won't do many of these repairs as it's the tenants responsibility.

It's very depressing when you don't have the money or skills to get your home to where you're not embarrassed.

All that you can do is try to do what you can but at a time. If you could do some wallpapering then you could buy some modern wallpaper or lining paper.

Keeping it as clean as you can will always make things look and feel better.

Cushions, throws, lamps and rugs.

Get on at the HA as they are obligated to update kitchens and bathrooms after a certain amount of time.

Also remembering that your home is to keep you warm and safe, it doesn't have to be a show home. Even when you're looking to buy a property, you'd be surprised at the states of some houses that haven't been updated for decades. Your home probably isn't as bad as you think.

Exactly this. The kitchens they put in are like cheap flat pack furniture.

I was lucky when I lived in the HA house they updated the kitchen and I looked after it really well. But there's no way it would last 25-39 years.

Even worse if someone's lived there before you and hasn't taken care of it so you're starting off with a dodgy kitchen.

Just been searching for similar information on Google. I know it’s a long time since you posted, but how did you get along in the end?

I’m in similar situation. HA home. Repairs are bodged beyond belief. Walls covered in wood chip. Stripped some and found cracks you could fit your flat hand in. They told me it was cosmetic and down to me to sort 😭. It’s clearly a subsidence/ structural issue! They plastered one small wall eventuality. But now the deep cracks have progressed to splitting through the woodchip paper.

Saved to get shower fitted but the pipes make the most awful noise. Literally if we flush the toilet we have to wait to wash our hands or it sounds like a rocket is launching. HA told me not to flush the toilet when unnecessary. I’m afraid that if I pay to have shower fitted that any deeper plumbing issues will be blamed on me!

HA look for every opportunity to do a ‘charge’ on occupant mistreatment. It’s almost like you have to be in the position to afford a mortgage or private rent before you can afford a HA properties repairs.