Offered council house in a not very good area?

[rhinnq]

I got a call today from the council to advise me that I have been offered a property.

The property isn't in a very good area to be honest and the rent is on level with a private rent.

I am not sure if I should take it.

AIBU?

Just take it

Booking a flight asap.

Have you double checked with the council that turning this property down would definitely mean you getting taken off the list? I wonder if there might be an exception where the rent is so high - if it’s at market rates, surely they can’t expect everybody to be able to afford this unless they receive full housing benefit. If not, then you’d be better off accepting it and then applying for a transfer if you can’t manage the rent or if the area turns out to be really dodgy - if you’re classified as vulnerable then they’d have to take that into account.

Good luck OP, I was in a similar position many years ago and it was unbelievably stressful, but I now have a lovely flat that I’m very grateful for. Hope it works out for you xx

Please check that the new Renters Rights Bill does not outlaw paying rent up front as I have a feeling that it does.

Me? …..l own my own home ( mortgage paid off) and another that I Airbnb? Why would I want a council house? …where did I say I lived in a council house ??
but I stand by my opinion…..what ‘system to abuse’ are you talking about ? Council houses are homes for life or as long as you want them..,,always have been 🤷‍♀️…. Get to the top of the list and you have a home as long as you want it…… that’s the way it works

I agree with this post….also because people are buying in what we’re once less than desirable areas

I saw OP's update. People are getting burgled. You can't fix that yourself.

My husband and I don't qualify for social housing - on a good month we earn about £3.5k between us but well over 1k of that goes on our private rent. The only other
income we receive is CB.
We've been privately renting for over a decade now as we simply have no choice - we need a minimum of a 3-bed and we simply could not get a suitable mortgage.
We are not protected by the new legislation re rentals as that only applies to SH, and we could be served notice at any minute. Always a worry with a 5 year-old.
I love my house and our village, but I always worry we could lose it all at any point.

My brother in law & sister in law live about 15 minutes down the road in a different town which is considered very posh and upmarket and even on their road there has been multiple burglaries and break in's at night time.

Apparently gangs from this town are now going to the posh town and doing the masked break in's, it's getting really bad.

It would be amazing to move back it really would be a dream come true to be close to friends and family again but it is the safety aspect that really puts me of accepting the house.

@rhinnq Burglars will often go for affluent areas. When I was married to my ex we lived in a wealthy area and there were nice cars on drives. We were broken in to one night whilst we were asleep in bed - they were looking for car keys. It was incredibly traumatising as my sons were tiny.
I now live in a less affluent area, have a shitty car on the drive, and feel so much safer.

"just to avoid having the responsibility & cost of private renting?"

You're conflating two separate issues.

For lots of people (as op has demonstrated in her post) the cost of social and private housing are on a par. So the issue of finance is a non issue. Because in theory anyone who can afford to accept social housing would also be able to afford reasonably priced rentals.

The issue social housing addresses is SUSTAINABLE tenancies, where people have more security, can properly embed into a community and take ownership of their community and for people with added vulnerability or trauma or displacement (which we know op has experienced) they can feel safer knowing they are secure tenants. The responsibility for social housing and rental are the exact same- contracts are very similar around maintenance, payment and behaviour.

We also have many homeless who would not be ready for social housing as they have other complex needs that would mean they would struggle to maintain and sustain a tenancy so it's not as simple as just offering any homeless person a roof. Op obviously has points and will be offered based on points merit.

There's a lot of misconceptions on this thread about the purpose of social housing and tenants.

This depends on the intentions of the intruder. Lots of disillusioned teens will look for older cars with less advanced alarm systems if its just for a joy ride as opposed to more organised crime. Its 6 of 1 really.

If you were served eviction through no fault of your own you'd be entitled to social housing.

Lots of people in social housing have mortgages on those homes which they will one day own. Also legacy tenancies exist within social housing where tenancy could be passed to an adult child or a child in trust to still ensure them secure accommodation. Can't get that with a rental.

@Lavender14 Unfortunately not as we would be deemed to be able to afford to find another private rental. Of which there are none suitable in our surrounding area (my mum does all school runs so I can work and she lives in same village). We'd be scuppered.

@Lavender14 The difference being I couldn't care less if they nicked my shitty old banger! 😆 I've never owned a car worth nicking in my entire life!

Op speak to a charity or similar service that advises on housing or a citizens advice service first, maybe shelter. Housing officers are put under pressure to move in 'good' tenants such as families into problematic areas so they will want you to move in because that benefits their catchment area and the housing provider. The more 'good' tenants move in to an area the better the area becomes and the easier to keep the tenancy filled being the logic.

What you need is impartial advice on how you can best argue your specific case as to why this particular tenancy is unsuitable without being removed from the list. Which means you need to prove unsuitability.

Me either!! I think it depends on council area but from a quick Google (I'm not on mainland so maybe sightly different here) it seems like length of time living or working in certain areas can create eligibility as well as housing need. You just might not be as high priority. Its definitely a stress, I've rented for years and thankfully only had one landlord who gave notice in order to sell but the security of buying or social housing is just gold. Especially when you've kids to provide for and get to school etc in a specific area. It's one thing for a single or adult couple but it's much, much harder for a family to just go where the houses are now.

Not true.
My DP was served a Sec21 after 14 years in his privately rented flat. He approached the council for help. It was a no. My local council means tests people to even get on the housing list. He takes home £2k a month and that is considered too much to eligible for social housing where we live. A couple are not eligible if they have a joint income of £40k (it might have been £45k, I forget).
He is now stuck paying half his take home on private rent. It took him months after the Sec21 came in to find aa place. He was 1 of 30 or so people viewing each property, and he formally applied for most of the ones he viewed. Always someone better was accepted.

I think you need to prioritise and consider what it felt like living with being stalked - it sounds like the council house might put you back into a similar predicament/feeling. Which house/area would you feel safest in, which is best for the whole family's health - you being main carer for 2 toddlers & OH works full time you'll be in the house the most & will probably feel vulnerable/not wanting to go out so you'll feel trapped.

We were homeless a few years ago, our landlord sold the house - we had to delay the sale/refuse to move out until we were able to bid. We picked a house on the nicest street close to where we lived - it was stripped bare, nothing except kitchen & bathroom, it was disgusting - all the available properties were the same. As if that wasn't bad enough we inherited neighbours from hell, one harrassed us in ways you wouldn't imagine and it continued for 6 years. It's soul destroying having bad neighbours.

So peace of mind and safety with your family is what I'd choose any day.

You need to speak to a housing charity because they won't accept feeling the area is terrible (even if it objectively is) as a reason to not remove you from the housing list. There are no other housing associations or councils of other areas nearby?
Your problem is refusing means off the list

@Onceisenoughta
I agree with this 100%.

After careful consideration we have declined the house and have advised the HO that we had a walk round etc and we didn't feel comfortable especially with young children.

On the street there was also drug paraphernalia, I can't move my kids from a lovely area to this.

The crime rate is medium - high as in the area alone there were 100's of sexual and violent offences in September.

We will just keep on looking to rent privately and I will have to speak to family about guarantor options.
I am also ramping up my job search in the area as well.

I feel proper gutted but it's just the area.
Thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences.

@rhinnq Why would you need a guarantor?

You have put a lot of thought into this and I wish you all the best.

If you can afford to privately rent, then do so. You don’t have to live in an area where you don’t feel safe or comfortable. I guess that puts you back to the bottom of the housing list now?