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Original poster

Living in a development with social housing

28 replies

ButteryJam · 22/09/2013 10:03

Hi,

We are thinking of living in a relatively new development in london that has over a 1/3 of properties belonging to social housing. Would this be a problem?

OP posts:
VestaCurry · 22/09/2013 10:05

No

scarlettsmummy2 · 22/09/2013 10:12

Are you buying or renting? If I was buying I would give it good thought as it may make re sale harder.

Original poster
ButteryJam · 22/09/2013 10:18

Renting, not buying.

OP posts:
FrussoHathor · 22/09/2013 10:19

If you're renting then what difference does it make?

NatashaBee · 22/09/2013 10:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WorldPeaceAndFreeProsecco · 22/09/2013 10:23

Oh god no. Poor is catching, you know.

RhondaJean · 22/09/2013 10:24

Seriously?

WitchOfEndor · 22/09/2013 10:25

We do, its mixed between affordable housing and sheltered housing ( not sure of the correct term) and the people in the sheltered housing haven't caused us any problems but our next door neighbour is always getting blocked in by the carers who look after them and I think relations over the last few years have soured. When our neighbour phoned the council to complain she was told that " they deserve to live in nice houses too" which missed the point that she didn't have a problem with them she just didn't want the carers to park so that she couldn't get off her drive. They still don't park in the allocated parking for the houses but now our neighbour parks on the road too. A solution of sorts.

Tbh I think all big developments will offer an element of this these days, in order to get planning permission from the Council.

Original poster
ButteryJam · 22/09/2013 10:40

I've just looked through google (damn google!) and there's a news story of a man from the development who was sentenced for mugging Hmm

OP posts:
FrussoHathor · 22/09/2013 10:53

Bad things happen in naice developments too

deepfriedsage · 22/09/2013 11:49

We live in a non social housing area and the renters of the house opposite ran a cannabis factory.

PeteCampbellsRecedingHairline · 22/09/2013 11:52

I live in a mixed development and I'm not sure how you would know who privately rents, owns or lives in social housing.

Btw, people who own their own house can behave just as badly as anyone else!

gotthearse · 22/09/2013 11:53

Renting = ok, if you don't like something you can move. buying I would not, if the properties are in the same block or closely overlooking. I'm jaded tho, having spent the last 3 years in a job doing tenancy enforcement for anti social behaviour. Don't get me wrong 99.9% of social tenants are great, but if you get the one that is not, it will take months (or years if a mental health problem in the mix) if the behaviour cannot be resolved by supportive interventions and it all goes down the repossession route.

hettienne · 22/09/2013 11:55

Oh no not poor people!

hettienne · 22/09/2013 11:56

If you have nightmare neighbours who own their property you can't do anything about it.

WorldPeaceAndFreeProsecco · 22/09/2013 11:56

That makes no sense, Gotthehearse.

Arseholes and antisocial fuckwits do also BUY houses, as Pete says (love you name btw). And then you'd have no chance of getting them evicted so you'd be fucked.

gamerchick · 22/09/2013 12:06

Why would it be a problem? Social housing doesn't automatically mean poor or scum.

I'm pretty sure all new builds have to have a few social housing anyway.

StiffyByng · 22/09/2013 12:10

Where on earth do you live that people don't mix? I live on a road with houses currently selling for £800,000 and at the end of the road is a council estate. It's life, surely?

LIZS · 22/09/2013 12:10

Even if more private housing, many will be btl and you have no idea who those tenants might be either.

youarewinning · 22/09/2013 12:12

Nope. I live in a similar development. We always hear stories about how the trouble comes from the social housing tenants.

I just silently seethe laugh because I live in that bit and there is no trouble here. Grin

HometownUnicorn · 22/09/2013 12:15

most anti-social, music blaring at all hours on a school night, couldn't give a fuck neighbour, owned her own house worth over £500k (we were renting a tiny studio conversion next door). we then bought on a mixed development and all of the neighbours with exception were considerate.

Wiifitmama · 22/09/2013 12:18

We bought (unknowingly) next to a housing association property and have had endless problems with the neighbours. They could just as equally have been private tenants. The plus side is that as they are not, we have been able to deal with and enforce the landlord (housing association) to deal with them. If they had been private, there would have been little we could do. Would I buy here again? No. But equally I would be a lot more careful before buying anywhere, spending time at the property (outside) in the evenings, weekends etc and listening and observing what the tenants are like.

solveproblem · 22/09/2013 12:36

All new developments need to include affordable housing now.

BranchingOut · 22/09/2013 12:48

We had massive problems caused by neighbours where we were living before - on one side we had a house which looked like a squat (broken windows, huge piles of rubbish outside) and other problems which I wont go into as they might be identifying. On the other, we had neighbours who caused structural damage to our property and we eventually had to threaten to take them to court in order to get recompense, over a year later.

Both were owner occupiers living in private housing in an expensive area of London.

Rent and give it a try. Who knows, they might not like you!

specialsubject · 22/09/2013 12:50

I did some surveying of people a couple of years back. I found two houses where the neighbour said 'there won't be an answer, they are in prison'. One was on a very scary council estate and one was on an ultra-exclusive, very expensive, gated development.

It was an educational day!