To take council house or private rent?

[Needsomeadvicepleaze]

Recently split up with DH and I have been lucky enough to be offered a council property. It is a new build and it’s absolutely tiny I don’t know I can live there with 3 children. By time I put wardrobes and drawers in the room they will be a small bit of floor space.

The living room is absolutely shocking! It will just be a sofa and TV as there is no space for a coffee table or any little cupboards.
its £600 a month

The private rented property is with a company so I will still have stability. It Has lots of space and a utility and storage something the council property doesn’t.
Its £960 a month but I understand I will receive some housing support.

WWYD?

I'm a (reluctant) landlord and I would advise to go the council route for the security. Too many private landlords are bailing out. Be creative with your furniture to maximise floor space.

Exactly and they usually increase rent every year by a larger percentage than the council.

Where has she said that?

Some of the responses on this thread are vile.

As somebody who got kicked out of a private rental with a 2 month old believe me, take the council house. Security in your home is worth it's weight in gold.

Will the children be 50:50 with their dad? Will he provide anything towards the rent? I think the council house would be better, you could always move later if your circumstances change?

So as you're in a position to put down the money in advance etc for private and pay the extra, what's the qn? You'll get some help towards it but unlikely to cover it all and if rents go up, you'll have to top up even more. But if you don't want to live in the smaller one, debate settled.

Oh fuck off with that "earn more" bollocks. You'd have to be extremely wealthy to afford 3 children on one salary.

I have only recently got into a council place after 8 years of waiting, and it is a flat with crap soundproofing and full of damp (which to be fair has been seen to). Hardly any places come up in the area and I know if we didn't take it, we'd be private renting for at least another decade as cant see us ever being able to buy.

The private let we were in previously was too small and very cramped so I do understand where you are coming from about living in cramped space, however personally I'd rather be living in cramped space in a house, than living on my nerves listening to neighbours conversations, tvs and have kids running on my ceiling in a poorly soundproofed flat. A house for me would be a dream, no matter the size. But that's me, we're all different.

What you decided depends on a few things.... If you took the council house, is there a possibility of getting a swap or another place easier (usually, once you are 'in the door' as it were, it might be easier to get somewhere else you like better?

Or, if you choose the private let, how many refusals do you get with the council? and how often do places come up? You could take the private let for now and wait to be offered somewhere else?

OP ignore the nasty responses on here but I can tell you as a HA tenant myself you'd be very foolish not to take the council house. You need to think of the future and what you can afford when your children leave home as well. I'm a fairly low earner and when my UC stops when DS is older I will be able to afford my rent, I couldn't afford a private rent.

Be smart.

Take the council home so you can have a secure roof over your head and a reasonable rent for years to come.

Private renting means that you would have no long term security for your kids and will be much more expensive.

Also if you have 3 kids and are a single mum to be blunt you won't be the first choice of tenant for many private landlords so you might struggle to find something decent.

Take the house and you can make it as comfortable as you can with time and there are many ways to make the most of a smaller space.

The sensible thing to suggest would be that you take the council house and manage your MH by telling yourself it isn’t forever and have a fixed time in your head of when you will move out by. Take the £360 a month you’ll save and put it straight into a savings account for a deposit. In 5 years you’d have saved £21k in rent alone.

If you are saving for a deposit then the council house makes sense. Put the rental difference in your savings account. OTOH you said you assume you will get some housing benefit, and I don't think you can have savings on universal credit so your well paid job doesn't really add up.

It is unlikely she will have £360 a month to save given that she said she’d need a top up of housing benefit to afford it. Your advice to take the house is sound, however.

They have a dad. I’m sure he’s paying maintenance also.

The OP only needs to earn more to buy the huge house she needs. If she was happy with a small house I’m sure she’d be fine … but she isn’t.

Take the council house and save for a deposit or look to exchange. The private rental ‘company’ is just a management company presumably, someone somewhere owns the actual property and could still decide to sell at any time. Or they might put the rent up by loads - if it’s through a company they’ll be more inclined to do this as the company will not only be charging them fees but also be advising them of market conditions and the potential extra money they could be making.

Go with the private rental. Let someone else have the council house. Think they’d appreciate it more.

Private rent may see you having better neighbours than being in a house that's one of many on a social housing estate. Your children might not be able to play out on the street etc.

What a delightful attitude! 🤨

Oh wow

Oh wow

You obviously don’t need the council house so let someone that does need it have it.

Security is a very real consideration!

Where did you get that idea 🤣

I've lived in a private rental with absolutely horrific neighbours which was in an expensive area. The council house had fantastic neighbours who really cared about each other so these stereotypes are not true in all cases.