Surprised with the quality of some council houses

[LydieL]

Hi all, so I recently moved to a town in the north west, very low income area, the town is as you’d expect a sea of terrace houses that open to the street with concrete yards, some of the nicer parts have gardens but for the most part that’s not the case. There are also some newer estates.

Anyway I work for a charity, we support families where a parent or sibling has passed away. As part of my job I’ve seen a lot of council houses, in this area it’s mostly the terraces which are small or post war builds which are bigger but these tend to be “rougher” areas to live.

Lately I’ve been working with a family, mums been offered a council house and today I went with her to just go over a list of what she needs to do to get out of temporary accommodation asap and into it. I’ll be honest I’m a little stunned at the quality, it’s a 3 bed terrace, small front garden, mid size back garden (more than most around here), large kitchen, bay window. Council have fitted a new kitchen and bathroom and re-plastered the whole house.

It’s also in a “nicer” area. For the amount this place would sell for, you could probably buy 2 cheaper 3 bed terraces and considering the shortage of council housing stock I’m surprised that hasn’t happened! She will be paying about a little Over half what it would go for on the rental market.

Now I know this is the exception rather than the norm but AIBU to be surprised councils are holding onto higher value properties like this rather than selling them and either getting 2 houses (so 2 families can be housed) or putting the profit into the local area?

I am aware this is far from the norm but after talking to colleagues the council seems to have several properties in this little area, this mum has also got very lucky with her housing situation as she’s only been in temporary accommodation for a couple of months.

Charities tend to employ quite crap people tbh 😂 it’s not like they’re attracting the great and the good.

Thank you @AquaPeer xx

Private landlords have over 200 bits of statutory legislation that covers renting, it's just not enforced as it should be in many areas. In Scotland, you have to be a fit and proper person to let and on a register. Good landlords are always lumped in with shit ones and it's why we're all selling up...

Social housing is built to different building standards to regular housing and generally when sold off, it's a real loss to the social housing stock.

Many, many people took advantage of buying at a discount, that money did not go back into the social housing sector.

It's always black and white thinking applied to landlords and tenants on SM/press and the truth is that there are many different situations and solutions and it shouldn't be so polarised (like a lot of current politics.)

Have you missed all the press about the social landlords with damp issues?

I think the OP's tone is quite sniffy tho and I wouldn't want to have them as my support worker...

Mortgage rescue, they have them in some weird and wonderful places.

A lot of council houses were built in the 50s and 60s.

there were rules then about sizes of rooms etc etc and the intention was that they were good quality and would last.

Homes fit for heroes was the post war slogan.

private houses have got much much smaller and lower quality over time. My parents live in a house built in the 70s and the rooms are so so big.

my house was built in 2002 and the rooms are much much smaller.

the quality has gone down over time.

I remember your thread ! Well done, I’m glad you’re sorted and in remission, that’s amazing !!

Which tax is paying for what? Income tax? VAT? Council tax? What do you think they are paying for?
For example, if a house built by your local council in 1950 is being lived in by a family, who are paying the rent, how are your taxes paying for it? The rent paid covers the maintenance of the property/repairs.

So her husband died and left her in a foreign country with kids so she was forced to come home and you’re bitter about her having a bay window lounge…

”Hand outs of every flavour” by the way 🤣 you’re definitely in the wrong job!

Fuck me you work for a charity supporting vulnerable people and you are snarking about the fact that not all council houses are on sink estates in rough areas.

What the fuck is wrong with you? Has your employment with your charity not taught you anything about socio-economic growth and community cohesion?

FFS I could cry

Talk about a race to the bottom! Why shouldn’t council houses be nice?! I suppose some PPs will suggest anyone using social housing should be in a workhouse

@LydieL The government doesn't reward people who do the right thing.

I'm a working class person who saved up since my early 20s. I haven't led the same life as most of my peers did (expensive smart phones, contracts, exotic holidays, travelling). Didn't even drive until I was in my 30s, held a full time job for most of it, and yet, when I applied for a home buyer loan /shared ownership scheme with my local authority I was given a flat 'no'.

The reason?

I'd saved too much.

I should have enjoyed life more when I was younger, spent a lot more, travelled and had more fun. If I had, I'd have fewer savings and would have been entitled to more government help. I would have been entitled for universal credit when I got made redundant just before Covid, and got zero furlough. I got fuck all except for a little job seekers allowance that's tied to your national insurance contributions.

Because I did the right thing, because I sacrificed and did without, I get nothing.

However, beside this gripe, I'm not surprised that some people think that some Council housing is good. Around here, they are larger on average than many tiny miner's cottages. They also typically have larger gardens. During the 50s & 60s, Council estates in many part so of the U.K would have been quite sedate, good places to live, whereas today it's more a mixed bag.

What an amazingly ignorant comment..

Your “strategy” would create areas of complete deprivation, which would be highly detrimental to people and the country.

This isn’t true.

if you had too much money to qualify for shared ownership, you would’ve have had enough for a deposit to buy outright, and it is therefore not right that you should be able to take a shared ownership unit.

but unless there is a lot more to this story, it didn’t happen the way you presented it

This so reminds me of when I worked for a housing association. We built a small development of 8 social houses in a small village with the most spectacular views. There was a clause on these houses that meant only people with a local connection could apply for them (so people who's family had lived or worked in the village for 10 plus years).

At the opening even the chair of the parish council made a very long speech about how lovely the view was from these houses and how lost it was going to be on the numpties (yes his actual words) we would be housing there who didnt deserve to be housed somewhere nice!

For someone that works with people needing social housing I find your comments very bigoted. Should they only live in places with damp on the walls and broken down cars in the street!

Also shared ownership and home buyer loans are completely different things and not through your local authority

So she should live in a hell hole in a rough area? Why are you doing that job, you sound deviod of imagination and empathy. I think that everyone should live in decent housing in reasonable areas, why? because they are human beings and most people tend to live up (or down) to the environment they inhabit. The area I live in is pretty vile because the council is broke and has basically washed its hands of many of the inner city areas, BTL landlords have swoped in, bought up all the houses that people can no longer afford, do not maintain them and cram them full of far too many tenants. We have a housing crisis which means that many people are having to put up with sub standard accommodation so it is good to hear about someone getting a decent home.

You'd hate me then. I live in a new build in a v nice posh village where houses go for half a million. It's HA.

It may be that the council has been bequeathed the property and couldn’t sell it if it wanted to. Like everyone else, I think you’re in the wrong job.

Oh yes let's blame the council for building decent houses rather than developers building substandard ones.

No, everyone has got carried away with the op’s unpleasant attitude towards a bereaved family moving into a nice council house, receiving ‘all flavour of handouts’ when the tenant hasn’t done enough to deserve such lavish treatment.

And by the way, I grew up in a council flat in a nice area, went to a good school as a result and now have a great job. By investing a little in me when I was young, the state is quids in.

I am not surprised at the quality of some council housing.

I am bloody shocked by the quality of some people employed to support vulnerable people.

Especially ones who have just posted more than enough identifying information about their client.

I do very much hope that you get what you deserve for this appalling thread. I am disgusted any charity employs support workers like you. Vulnerable peopel who have lost close relatives deserve so much better.

Hi @balloonraces . Thank you so much for your lovely kind words xx

I don’t think you should work for a charity. You don’t sound very nice.