Lovely house -crap area ( and possibly crapper)

[TheRemotePart]

I just need to confirm that this is a daft purchase

We don’t have a huge mortgage available to us and a small deposit, but we’re hoping to get on the property ladder for our forever home( or at least 10 years!)

We can afford a small flat in the nicer part of the city, but want a home with a garden/ space for our family - so we’ve been looking at areas close to us, but a bit “rougher” than we’re used to.

We found a lovely big home ,in its own new estate( a few streets really) , a little away from the direct rough part and DH in particular ,loves it. No work needed. Perfect.

BUT

Theres 2 large blocks of flats going up, practically on top of the street and it’s social housing

Now, the hippy leftist knows how important social housing is BUT in my city, a lot of these estates and blocks are like the Wild West

Should we risk it ? See if any half decent people move in?
Or no chance: if it becomes rough you’ll sell at a loss

Anyone done similar?

It's very different buying next to existing flats where you know what it's like and one yet to be built.

I was looking at houses in established estate with lots of green space built in. It was covered in beer cans over drives as well as the green space.

My sister is in the edge of a bigger new estate with flats and house and lots of green space and its lovely. Clean, well kept house, no litter. But until its built you never know. One bad family can make a hundred peoples life hell.

@Northernsoullover och that’s a shame isn’t it?
Yes DM was offered a house swap from her nice little home into city social housing and the guy showing her it said “ there a nice view of the XX bridge so you can watch the people who have to live here, jumping off it”
Besties DM has left social housing last year, where she put up with awful neighbours for years and is now in lovely granny flat in small town.
It’s a shame the decent have to suffer because of the few.
There just happens to be a fair “few” in this city.

I bought a lovely barn conversion on a side street in a really shitty area. Never again. Location every time for me. Social housing or not, if you don't like the area, don't buy a house there, regardless of how much you like the house.

My DD lives in a social housing flat, new-build which is lovely and all her neighbours are really nice.Ours isn't social housing - we had lovely neighbours for years then a couple of them changed and not so nice at all now. No guarantees with neighbours.

We had no choice at the time, but that 1% can cause you so much stress. I'd look at all times of the day, particularly around 9pm. And look at the people currently living there and see if you blend in.

I think its worth going round there at different times or days. Going to the nearest cafe or shop.

I was brought up on a council estate and went to local comp so I feel quite realistic about it and I think there are pros and cons.
I think the outskirts of estates can be a good idea. You can get good value for your money without being in the middle of it.
I very much doubt flats being put up are going to be full of junkies. You can get trouble anywhere. Most council places are for young families or people with disabilities or other reasons they cant get a private tenancy easily

Yup. Swapped a victorian detached townhouse in a good area for a modern (30yo) detached in a run down ex mining town. Loving it - no dry rot, draughts, leaks. Easy to maintain. Neighbours, who've all lived in the street for years, are great - friendly but not in your face. And we're literally five minutes from beautiful countryside. I just wish the 'levelling up' promises would bear some fruit because people round here deserve a bit of attention and the town deserves some investment. I remember visiting in the late seventies and it was thriving. It would be nice to see a bit of pride restored.

I live no where near social housing and my MC neighbours are right arseholes.
But in fairness they don't have drug-fulled fights on their front lawn.

I think if you're nervous / your gut is saying don't do it, then don't. The house will always be there (or one on its road) so you can always buy it in a few years

Be careful. We moved into a house surrounded by social housing and it was awful. Neighbours on both sides with feral kids who used to steal toys from our garden. The mum of one family had no teeth. The dad was an aggressive drunk. The mum on the other side had noisy parties. Dirty unkempt gardens. People standing outside smoking at all hours. It was not nice. We were only renting so able to leave. Be extremely careful about buying. You’re the one who has to live there and live the reality of potentially awful neighbours.

Having said that we also lived on an extremely middle class street and our downstairs neighbours were utter, utter cunts. I don’t say that lightly. Truly horrible people. I pity whoever lives there now.

I always think it’s a shame there isn’t some kind of trip advisor for properties so people can get an honest idea of what their neighbours are like. It’s one of those things you only find out about when you move in - when it’s too late to do anything about it.

I wouldn't. With that many households, you are playing problem family roulette, dreadful as that sounds.
Because it only took one household to ruin a village I lived in.

We all wanted social housing included in the new building that was taking place on an old farmyard, as it seemed only right. The younger people could stay in the village instead of having to go to town to buy affordable houses and the new young families integrated well. There were increased numbers at the village school, previously in danger of closing.

But with the arrival of one household, and their numerous visitors, all of the issues mentioned by other posters arose. “ graffiti on her car, litter, dogs free roaming & crapping everywhere. People parking in front of her drive, sofas dumped, parties etc. “ and more, with occurrences becoming daily and constant.
It became unbearable, with constant burglaries, drug dealers and harassment of neighbours. You couldn't leave anything in your shed, have garden ornaments, even washing went missing.

I know I sound like the worst snob, but this was one household of six people.

Don't do it. I lived in a council house for four years before moving into my own place, it was a small estate of 30 houses, we looked out for each other and took care of each others kids, after I moved there were more houses and a block of flats added, friends still living there said everything changed, they don't feel safe, kids are kept in except the ones being taught to deal by the parents, the area used to be clean and tidy but look awful now. And yes, private houses in nearby estates have lost value as a result. I'm so glad I was able to move when I did.

We have one house in our street which is owned by a social housing agency.
It would be fair to say most of the tenants, most of the time are perfectly nice people, but every drama in the street has involved that house. Like, a pregnant teenage girl being bashed by her partner in the street, screaming fights, hungry kids left to run wild while the mum is out drinking, a roped out man weilding a golf club up and down the street. No effing way I'd want dozens of them.
DSis also has one housing commission house in the street and the whole neighbourhood lives in fear of them and their Pitbull. It's like they have nothing to lose and are accountable to no one.
There are some very disfunctional and anti social people and they congregate around social housing. There are reasons social housing devalues an area.
When police and neighbours intervened to help the girl being bashed she turned on them screaming abuse. God only knows where the poor baby ended up.

Don't do it op. I bought near an estate. Drug dealing in plain sight has taken place and losers speeding down the road. It's a dead end street yet it's Tokyo drift on a regular basis.

Buy elsewhere and save yourself the headache. And I say that as someone who grew up on an estate.

Location, location, location!
Do not move to an area you don't want to be. I did this once and spent the whole five years waiting to move and never settled.
I agree with a previous poster that it can't be just between a tiny flat in a nice area or a massive house in a crap area - you need to keep looking for that someplace in between.

Sounds like Bristol to me. OP, I wouldn't buy either if the properties - you need to find a happy medium. Maybe a house in the nicer area that needs some work? New builds, like new cars, carry a premium.

@Hoppinggreen

Nope And don’t listen to any virtue signallers who criticise you not wanting to live near a load of social housing and accuse you of snobbery. We naively did it , thinking any reservations were just Mc angst and that it would be fine. Yes the majority of people just wanted to get on with their lives but it only takes a few problem residents (or the council using some of the houses as temporary accommodation for families evicted from elsewhere for anti social behaviour in our case) and it can be a bloody nightmare.

This.

I bought my first place in a converted house owned by housing association. Half were privately owned, half weren't.

It was not neighbours from hell exactly but it was an eye opener and there was a decided gap in what was considered acceptable behaviour. None of it retrospectively is particularly horrendous but I found it very stressful to live with.
Things like...
letting your dog fowl on communal lawns, dumping your rubbish next to the bins and ignoring it when not collected, loud music and parties until 3am on a Tuesday, smoking in communal halls, drug use, arguing aggressively and loudly, screaming at your children etc.

I was just shocked people chose to live like this.

Location location location. Buy the shittest house you can afford in a nice area and do it up (slowly if necessary). You can change a property but you can’t change the area you live in.

Don't do it. I lived on an estate for 5 years with a mix of social housing and private homes. The decent families had it ruined by the majority of the families with anti-social behaviour. Despite the influx of new builds in the area, it only became worse over the years.

The police aren't interested in hearing your complaints of neighbours dealing drugs/speeding on residential roads/vandalising parks and buildings etc.

Worst/best case scenario, move out of the county if it means your children live in a decent area that's affordable to you.

I wouldn't do it.
I bought a semi that was attached to social housing. To start with I wasn't phased by this despite my DH's reservations but it soon became hell on earth when it became apparent my neighbour had very different ideas about what was acceptable including blaring heavy metal music for 7 hours a day, piling sofas, mattresses, and about 100 black bin bags in their front garden because they didn't recycle and couldn't fit it all in their black bins which stayed for months until my DH couldn't cope any more and rented a van to clear it for them. Apparently this wasn't the first time they had done it either and another neighbour had cleared it after getting fed up.
So NEVER EVER AGAIN would I buy near social housing. I know the vast majority of people who live in them are fine but that one rotten egg has tainted my opinion forever.

Now that I am older I would say area is more important than house. As pp say, anti social behaviour can ruin lives. Think of where you want your kids to hanf around or have to walk and the potential friends they might meet in the areas too.

Don't do it. Ask yourself whether you'd want your children playing out. We live in a block of flats that were all owner occupied 20 years ago. Gradually they've been sold and most have ended up as BTL and a lot are now short-term HA accommodation - only 3 are still owner occupied. Our retirement has been ruined by loud nasty dogs, rubbish and turds everywhere, music and car radios all night. Our flat reeks of weed - I hate it.

Area every time.

Worst house in the best area, every time. You can change the house, not the area.

@TheRemotePart…those flats sound familiar…did they have a swimming pool and gym to start with?