to wonder why the council is giving the ...

[drloves]

...neighbours from hell a new kitchen as we speak... when they destroy everything in sight , cause trouble. and generally dont pay for anything. They will just break it and get another one within the year.they had doors replaced 3 different times.
the police is never away from them and the son reguarly assaults people,steals things.
They are stinking feral scum and i resent that my council tax is paying for them to have this when everyone else who is a tennent must wait.
Why doesnt the council give the little old lady through the wall a nice new kitchen,?. she needs one , shed look after it . why put the scum first?.

im annoyed - aibu?

YABU to call anyone scum

I have no answers but can sympathise - a friend lives on an estate where the troublemakers end up being moved to better bigger houses or having their places refitted whilst she works, pays tax, looks after her place nicely and gets pushed to the bottom of the heap. It's unfair

yanbu to wonder why people can behave badly and apparently get away with it

but probably cos the little old lady through the wall hasnt moaned about hers yet, and she probably hasnt completely destroyed hers either - doesnt seem fair though does it

the squeakiest wheel gets the oil

found def for scum

1.A filmy layer of extraneous or impure matter that forms on or rises to the surface of a liquid or body of water.
2.The refuse or dross of molten metals.
3.Refuse or worthless matter.
4.Slang. One, such as a person or an element of society, that is regarded as despicable or worthless.

dont think it is polite to call any living thing worthless - but can agree with the despicable bit

pity, though that there is no legal requirement to look after your council home!

oldernotwiser ok perhaps im not being very nice with my choice of descriptive words about the neighbours.
Unrully ,destructive, jobless ,criminal substance misusing, layabouts would be more accurate abet more hassle to type.

agree it's not fair that those who seemingly least deserve get it first, while others have to wait.

My brother moved into his current council flat approx 13/14yrs ago. It really needed a new kitchen and bathroom then ('ve stayed with him twice in the last 8yrs and it both times it was awful because of said kitchen and bathroom) . He has finally had it done in the last few months.

if he'd trashed it he'd probably have got it done sooner

Another shining example of whats wrong with the country i think...rewarding the unwashed crims ...i think they should be fined for what they have done to the house instead of having it improved.

Any damage that tenant causes to that home they should be charged for. The council have to keep their properties are in a liveable condition and usually this will come by the way of improvement schemes for bathrooms, kitchens, re-wiring, upgrading gas boilers, damp proofing etc etc and usually they are not allowed to withold stuff like this for nuisance tenants or non-payment of rent, they have to follow the procedures in place for troublesome tenants.

Oh, and if your council is anything like the one where I live, the housing 'section' is run as a separate company to the council and non of our council tax goes towards any housing, it is a non-profit organisation and the rent which is collected pays for the the upkeep of the housing stock and the running of the housing company.

YANBU to resent people like this seemingly being handed all this on a plate when they behave despicably, but there are things you can do to draw attention to this family and begin to complain about them to the housing. The housing won't be giving these people a new kitchen, they are investing each property with a new kitche iyswim, it has nothing to do with the type of people who live there, deserving or not.

annoys me too

my friend isd a housing officer and my god it has changed her! some of the stuyff she tells me!

YANBU!!!!!

YANBU.

The guy downstairs, the second occupant to be murdered in the past 8 months which was directly related to their drug use/peddling, lost his key/didn't have it on him one day.

So he used a baseball bat to get in.

Brand new door the next week.

In the estate where we used to live, plenty set fire to their dwelling in order to get redecorating or a new place.

They had no problem setting their flats on fire.

That's right.

Nevermind that there are children living all around whose lives might be in danger in case of fire.

I've lost patience with a lot of people, I truly have.

And for some, scum's too good a word.

Our neighbour made our lives, and those of us around him, a misery with his behaviour.

And cared nowt.

louiselouise they do get charged for replacement doors/windows ect ....but it gets taken off their giros at £ 5 a week so they dont miss it.

expat i sympathies (spelling) with you.
truly awful what you have to put up with.

i think they should be fined a lot if they destroy a council house. ...and then evicted .there are loads of decent hard working families who would look after a council house and be over the moon to get one. why should they not get the chance of cheaper housing because of idiots like my eighbours have them.? why sould the idiots get to live in them if they destroy and ruin the houses /area.

I totally agree, drloves.

it gets taken off their giros at £ 5 a week so they dont miss it.

Some people have to account for every penny so i'm sure they do miss it.

YANBU at all I agree with every thing you have said OP

"I think they should be fined a lot if they destroy a council house. ...and then evicted"

Then where shall they go after they are evicted?

The council will have a duty to put them in a B&B at a cost to the taxpayer of £500+ per week

It's cheaper to leave them where they are, unfortunately.

But all wrong.

yes, well, if money is that tight, why trash out the kitchen?

my heart really bleeds for the drug peddling murderers who live in this block.

NOT.

especially the lovely mate of the murdered guy, whom i ran into carrying an air rifle around.

I don't know about England but in Scotland councils have a "duty of care" to house homeless people, even if they get evicted by the council .

My mum is a housing officer and is literally counting the days until retirement.

500 a week for b and b???

Council housing isn't paid for by council tax or any other tax. Housing revenue is ringfenced, so that council housing is paid for entirely out of tenants' rents and homeowners' service charges. Many Council tenants receive housing benefit towards their rent - but so do lots of private tenants and anyone else who needs it.

Social landlords have a duty to bring all homes up to the "Decent Homes Standard" which includes a kitchen and bathroom, and heating and weatherproofing up to an acceptable modern standard. Most Councils used their own funding (if they had it) or transferred their stock to housing associations which can borrow money to invest in housing (which councils can't directly). Only highly performing organisations which are separate from Councils received extra government money for decent homes.

All tenants get decent homes when their landlord can afford this and we do not give the skanky drug dealer priority over the little old lady. Why would we?

And tenants who deliberately damage their homes do get charged for repairs, and pay the full cost plus administration charges, and yes they can be evicted for deliberate damage. Landlords spend so much time and resource on dealing with anti-social behaviour that I often think Council tenants live in a different country to the rest of us, with regulations and rules that would never be tolerated by middle class people. Everyone seems to admire discipline as long as it is for someone else.

I'm not denying your annoyance at your neighbours, but it's a pity there are so many myths about council housing.

yanbu on your post - they sound like scum

Evict the "scum" from council housing, and where do they go?

If they have children, their council may still have a duty to house them.

Otherwise what? Their children are taken into care at great expense? They all get to live on the streets?

Or shall we stick them all in a ghetto?

I had two evictions set up for today.

I had to cancel one as for the (roughly) 25th time the tenant cleared his arrears on the day of his eviction.

I also got to lock change on another property that had £3.5k of arrears - it was clear they had left the property some months ago. Clearly far too much trouble to hand in the keys so we could get the property to someone else sooner.

As Altinkum says, a lot of it is down to decent homes standards and knowing how to be that squeaky wheel.

Unfortunately, especially right now and for the next four to five years, there will be neither the political foresight / will nor the money to address any of the long term problems with long term solutions.

Those who apply for council housing who have outstanding debts to the council do find themselves in "pending" until such time as their debts are paid.

And finally...

Can't vouch for other social landlords, but the council I work for starts everyone as an introductory tenant for the first 12 months - screw up and you're out with very limited recourse for arguing your case.