For all those living in privately rented houses....

[Rhubarb]

I hadn't realised quite how many other people were in this situation and it does help just knowing that.

I have 2 kids aged 9 and 6 and we've been living in rented accommodation for 5.5 years (not the same house).

I hate it, I loathe it, I detest it! The lack of security - knowing that the owners can give you notice at any time and probably will sooner or later when they come to sell it.
The lack of a home - ours is inspected every 3 months and the first time we got an official letter telling us off for hanging up the childrens pictures in their rooms with blu-tack.
We can't paint the walls, we can't put up shelves, we can do nothing to the house. It's not a home at all, it's just somewhere to live.

I really feel as though I've failed my children. They should be able to have their own space. I long to paint their bedrooms for them, put up shelves, buy them lovely curtains etc. I feel that the security they should have in their childhoods of having their own space has gone.

I fear that we may never own our own home, that we'll always be renting, moving from house to house. It's hugely expensive too and we are just throwing money away.

I realise this is a situation of my own making but the longer we live in rented housing the more depressed I get. I am desperate to get a job to increase our chances of a mortgage, but despite applying for around one a day, I very often never hear back from them. I used to always get an interview at least. It just serves to knock my confidence more and feel like more of a failure.

It would be nice to find out how other people cope living in private rented housing.

'I would love to be in social housing'

You wouldn't if you had neighbours who peddled drugs, or blasted music all night so the walls shoook, or whose kids hung around in the communal areas till late at night swearing and throwing stuff at windows.

'I would love to be in social housing'

You wouldn't if you had neighbours who peddled drugs, or blasted music all night so the walls shoook, or whose kids hung around in the communal areas till late at night swearing and throwing stuff at windows."

I think what she meant was decent social housing - it DID used to exist.

The reduction in stock has meant only the most desperate can get it in many cases. Unfortunately, this often means families with parents with severe problems with drugs, alcohol, mental health, learning difficulties, prison stays etc..

This as you know, is lots of fun for those also living on these estates and who are simply down on their luck.

No, obviously that isnt a great situation, but the one I'm in is far from ideal.

I would stand a far better chance of having maintenance done and would get us out of a great black financial hole.

I was in social housing many moons ago and although it wasnt great, there was a huge problem with anti-social behaviour in the area, the flat was properly maintained and we could afford the rent without leaving ourselves borrowing just to feed ourselves if work was slow or the washing machine needed repaired.

agree good well-maintained social housing is the ideal. Sorry to hear of your situation expat but you haven't failed your kids! So many parents these days struggle financially with the cost of property.

As amber says the poor fund the rich to own property...and it's a generational thing too. Buying only became so outrageously expensive in the last 10-15 years. thus people aged 45-50 own most of the property in this country, which they bought dirt cheap and now make a profit on out of the next generation. And of course we're the ones trying to house young kids. It's shite. Viva la revolution indeed...what we need is a massive price crash I reckon to make it worth buying things again.

Sorry that should read 45-90!!! or indeed anyone over 45...

'I think that is a very valid point Rhubs - although this is someone else's property, it is MY home. '

There have been soooo many threads on here in which landlords make it very clear that the place is first and foremost their property.

Renting here is bullshit.

I0 brought when prices were cheap (I'm not that old though) and I completely agree we need a massive house price crash. People like me might be rubbing their hands in glee but our children will be stuffed.

sign my petition-

petitions.number10.gov.uk/Childlands/

The worse thing is I feel so ungrateful for wanting to own my own home. I feel like I should be lucky that both DH and I are working (which we are) that I choose to be part-time to raise the DC (whole other debate ) I do not consider us to be poor by any other standard other than we currently cannot afford to buy our first home in the area in which we live.
For that I feel I failure.

The market has to change. 1/4 million pounds for essentially 2 1/2 bedroom house is crazy. Isn't it????

bigbadmummy thanks for the pointers, it's good to know. We would definitely have a case for making the property look better if the LL ever said anything. Don't think he will because our (his) house now looks so much better and would be far more appealling to prospective tenants when we decide to move.

We too would much rather be in social housing (without the naff neighbours of course) but have been told that we have to wait at least 6 years. It's annoying when we know we'd be so much better off financially by paying about half of what we pay now

I fully expect my children to immigrate.

The thing is, there is crap social housing, and social housing in crap areas - but lots of people in the same areas are privately renting the same kind of property at double the price. Even if we were renting privately, we'd still be renting in the same area. Plenty of people who own their own home still have to put up with anti-social neighbours.

I rented privately on an estate in Hackney a couple of years ago - my downstairs neighbour was a council tenant and paid £70 a week for her flat, my identical flat cost me £200. And that was for exactly the same area, neighbours etc. £200 a week would not have stretched to a flat in a lovely, quiet gated community.

I'm in both camps - we had to move last year for DH's job and did not want to sell our home (chocolate box thatched place in a brilliant village) - so we have rented a place here and rented our home out.

View as landlord - I would expect the tenant to ask if they wanted to paint anything and have it done profesionally - if they wanted barbie pink I would say OK - but you will have to repaint it when you leave back to the original colour. I did call in after the tenants had moved in as they found the underfloor heating difficult to get working right and it was a lot messier that I would live in - and the agents have told me it is quite messy when they have inspected it - but I said that was fine as long as it was clean and damage free when they left - it is their home while they are there and they are entitled to live as they want (as long as no consequential damage).

As a tenant I was lucky enough to find a house on a prvate estate where there is an estate office - so if I have a problem I can pop in and see the estate manager. I am in the land of magnolia but I figure I can live with it. I would not dream of putting shelves or anything up without asking first - we even aked about picture hooks.

I think both sides need to be reasonable and show some empathy.

Alot of the problem is that private rents are so high, therefore leaving more folk classed as "working poor".

I am in the same situation as Missus, I would be looking for social housing in the area I am moving to. One of the houses I went to see was ex-council and my friend lives a couple of doors down (still council).

Private rent on the house I went to see was £900 pm, my friends rent is £218!

I hate gated communities.

Thing is, amber's right, when you get into social housing now, it's almost a given it's going to be some dire place.

And tbh, I'd go back to paying high tariff for not having to deal with constant anxiety and anger from anti-social neighbours.

Every single night, you lie down with your anxiety ratcheting up, the walls throbbing, or tense with listening to someone argue and thud around, kids screaming obscenities to each other outside or just wondering if you'll get a decent night's sleep without it being punctured by someone else's noise.

I'm so fucking sick of it.

The only thing we'd ever be able to buy is an ex-council house in a place like this.

No way.

agree missus84- renting should be subsidised in a lot more cases, especially for families with children.

plus3 you are not a failure! the housing market is loony and has failed everyone, especially kids.

Where I live in SE London I do own half of a house (but ex h maneouvred me out of actually living in it). It's a 4 bed semi (loft extension, nothing enormous or fancy) and cost us 550k in 2007. He's a very wealthy man but that's a considerable burden even for him. It is ludicrous that only people like him can now buy the kind of house that my dad (a university lecturer) could afford 25 years ago. The problem is not so much overpopulation as the massive inflation of the debt market and the use of property to ballast our loony financial systems...

Most of the houses in our village are owned by older people (50+), at one end of the village are some council house, half have been bought (so again people who are 50+) and these are mainly 3 bed houses so only 2 and 1 bed houses left with the council . There are no houses for families which is reflected on the school which is only taking 2 children this year , we just don't stand a chance of staying here as there are no plans to build and more houses.

The only houses being built are in the towns and are mainly flats or small houses crammed into a tiny space which causes problems like expat has (anti social behaviour and noise). Years ago (30 years ago) council houses were large family homes with big gardens but then people were offered the chance to buy there council houses leaving the council short of nice family homes.

We have been looking to rent a 3 bed for a few weeks and so far have found nothing in our price range , there seems to be a huge shortage of property to let here and soon as a house is advetised it is taken.

To be fair though, a lot of social housing isn't dire at all - I'm in social housing now and it's fine, just as good as anywhere I've rented privately, and many of my friend's places are the same.

If there was more social housing, there'd be more choice of nice places, more stable communities, more money for maintenance, and most importantly more of a mix of people. Some places where there is such a shortage of social housing it can only be used as a last resort for the most difficult to house people, and that's where you get sink estates.

If there was more social housing, then it would be filled with normal, working families.

Yep Marne right to buy policies (bloody Tories eh) were another factor in concentrating property in the hands of older established people and away from the younger 'working poor' with families.

the way things are in this country I'm actually amazed that the birthrate is going up. There is hardly anywhere decent for the poor babies to actually live...

"agree missus84- renting should be subsidised in a lot more cases, especially for families with children."

allegra - renting doesn't need to be subsidised. Social housing pays for itself with tenants' rent, the rent is set to cover maintenance, staffing costs etc. In fact, my housing association made a surplus last year. The rents are a lot lower than the private sector because the profit margin is taken out.

In fact, having so little social housing is hugely more expensive for the tax payer, as people in private accommodation have to claim housing benefit to cover their rent where they wouldn't have to in social housing - effectively tax payers paying private landlords' mortgages.

'There are no houses for families which is reflected on the school which is only taking 2 children this year ,'

There was a proposal around here to build some shared ownership houses in a village.

All the auld codgers showed up and got it thrown out.

They flat out stated they didn't want houses or families.

"agree missus84- renting should be subsidised in a lot more cases, especially for families with children."

Surely that would just push up prices even more?

We seem to be creating a 3 tier system:

1. Those who don't give a toss about where they live and ruin the area for everyone else
2. those who take pride in where they live and would like to live somewhere 'nicer' - not necessarily 'posher' but bigger garden, more convenient to town, in country - we all want different things
3. Those who can afford somewhere they like (but probably still have a wish list)

Used to work for a housing association and some of the houses I would not put my dog in. And some were lovely but being ruined by the people who had them.

Social housing is not always the full answer - you need social responsibility as well.

Too right, WkdSM!

That's why, too, to be quite frank, I would never buy an ex-council home.

I'd rather just rent for life.

Because if I bought one, first of all, I'm lining the pockets of someone who got a deep discount courtesy of my taxes.

Secondly, if there's any council housing left around it, there's every chance we'd get stuck with ned neighbours like here and it'd be nigh on impossible to get out.

SOmething else that might help would be longer leases for renting, so that people could feel secure with the idea that the place they rent is home for say five or ten years. Well, that and the developers being encouraged or even compelled to build fewer studio flats and more 2 or 3 bed homes - yes, more people are unmarried and childfree or at least living single lives due to divorce/separation, but many of these people would quite like to share housing with friends/siblings, as well as there being loads of families who need homes.