Would you buy a house right next to a council house?

[nappyrat]

When I say right next door, it's one half of a semi. The other half is the council house. Most in the (small) avenue seem to have been sold off to private ownership, but the one attached to the one I like, has not (I don't think).

It's £400k FFS!

[SingleMummyof4]

I'm so absolutely gobsmacked at your post that I have just signed up to Mumsnet just to respond!!! What you're really wanting to say, is that you don't want to be living next door to riff raff council dossers on benefits!!!! Don't judge every book by it's cover!!! I am currently in the process of being made homeless for the 3rd time since 2012 (not my fault-landlords selling up!) EVERY private let will not rent to me because I'm on benefits!!! So I'm automatically classed as a benefit dosser who will wreck there houses and be a nightmare neighbour....all because I'm no longer able to work and am therefore claiming the benefits I'm legally entitled to do and I'm not ashamed to do so. So whilst I'm being labelled as 'DSS' by estate agents who seem to have forgotten that term is no longer in use....this is 2017 FFS, and them refusing to let me explain my situation to the landlords in question I'd like to point out that I did not CHOOSE to become a single mum nor did I CHOOSE to have to claim benefits!! I even still own a property with my Ex Husband. Due to that I am not eligible for a Council House or Housing association house so my only option is private rent which thankfully I've managed to find by sheer luck but as I said the last few years the drop in landlords allowing 'Benefits' has dramatically dropped. I've contacted agents for 62 properties over the last 2 months and all replied "Sorry No DSS"....They refuse to let me explain my situation directly to the landlord and that I'm not the stereotypical benefits claimant they think I am all because I've found myself a single mum needing to claim Housing Benefit etc. One even had the utter cheek to say "The landlord will not accept DSS, He'll accept a Zoo if necessary but No DSS under any circumstances!!!" Im LIVID at this attitude. So I'm not a 'typical' DSS Benefit dosser, just a mum who has found herself in this situation through no fault or choice of mine. Just because I claim benefits doesn't mean I will be a nightmare neighbour or any of your other 'Concerns'!!! Pure snobbery on your part.😡 Oh and for the record I've had nightmare neighbours on benefits....they OWN the house!!!! So it's not just Tenants who can be nightmare benefit dossers!!!!!😡

[frankiesamson]

"I really like the house. It's bloody ugly, but the inside is really great."

I actually love the 70s retro look of council houses, and they're practical & solid, but after living in several I'd never do it again. Too many aggressive / small minded people around, no matter how much u love ur home u end up just wanting to escape.

[frankiesamson]

"I'm so absolutely gobsmacked at your post that I have just signed up to Mumsnet just to respond!!! What you're really wanting to say, is that you don't want to be living next door to riff raff council dossers on benefits!!!! Don't judge every book by it's cover!!!"

Nope that's not what I said, looks like you wasted your time signing up.

You shouldn't assume people on benefit(s) to be "riff raff" or "dossers", and many of us will take exception to use of those words.

Not all of us came from backgrounds able to live off mum & dad before getting a job, unlike yourself. I myself was on benefit before I got my first job after uni. Get your facts straight before you presume.

[frankiesamson]

"Pure snobbery on your part.😡 Oh and for the record I've had nightmare neighbours on benefits....they OWN the house!!!! So it's not just Tenants who can be nightmare benefit dossers!!!!!😡"

The snobbery is on the part of yourself & people like you. Just because someone happens to be educated differently or from a different part of the country, doesn't mean they deserve to be bullied, harassed or attacked every time they come home. I also never said nightmare neighbours were restricted to being council tenants.

As for your experience with troublesome neighbours, if the way you interpreted my post is anything to go by, it sounds like you're the nightmare neighbour, not them.

[MamaOfTwos]

No. People in council housing cross all spectrums and I wouldn't risk living next door to scummers. (Note- I KNOW this is generally not the case!)

[HamSandWitches]

My experience of living on a typical northern council estate is nothing like what you describe, people don't get harassed in the street for wearing a shirt or talking differently and there are not gangs walking about in hoodies. It was maybe more like that in the 90s when the council were lax when dealing with anti social behaviour. Many council estate where I am have a mix of homeowner's, private renters and council tenants, some people work, some don't. Most antisocial behaviour is stopped as the introductory tenancy allows the council to seek possession for breaking the tenancy, they can also now demote a secure tenancy.

[Ttbb]

Maybe maybe not. If the neighbors (occupants of the council house) seem pleasant and the house is well maintained and not built in that hideous sixties style then sure. My main qualm about council housing is just how goddamn ugly most of it is.

[SingleMummyof4]

Excuse me??!! Is your post aimed at me??!! I'm saying that just cos you're on benefits does NOT mean you are riff raff or dossers as the OP was insinuating so don't go off at me!!!!

[Haint]

I’ll tell you another benefit. We’re half of a semi, the other side being HA (lovely neighbors). We had a leak around our shared chimney. I got a few quotes. It needed scaffolding and was over a thousand ££. The HA came and fixed it, they asked if I’d be willing to contribute. I said ‘of course’ they billed me £70.

[candlefloozy]

Wow. Such snobbery. I live in a council accommodation. Soon to be moving to
My own bought home! Shock horror!
We got a council property because it was close to family. The area was too much for us to rent and buy in when we first moved here. I have a degree and have always worked and my soon to be hubby works full time. Claim child benefit but that’s it. You cannot tar everyone with the same brush. I’ve got some horrible horrible neighbours who have bought their houses.

[OutandIntoday]

Not read all the comments but for me it would be concern about what, if any, future use the property was subject to. It is the council's asset to do with as they will - at the moment everyone is assuming it is being used as a long term rental property. However, its use may change to support any number of council services- temporary accommodation, asylum accommodation, probation support - not that any of these are in themselves negative, but it highlights that is may come with a high degree of risk of change to a use you may not like.

[allegretto]

Surely you run the same risks (of having bad neighbours) if you live next door to an owned house?

[fudgefeet]

We were those annoying neighbours when I was young. Six children, always climbing out windows and down drainpipes, police constantly at the door, huge arguments and music blaring out until 4.00 in the morning. My parents owned our house.

I now rent and have been at the same place for nearly 10 years. We are all in bed every night by 10 and have never had a party (other than children birthday which is over by 6.00). I wear earplugs because the "homeowners" upstairs like to have their tv on loud and the "homeowners" next door have a piano right up by the wall where our bed is and like to have a late night sing-song if they come home drunk.

You can't judge what your neighbours will be like by their financial status.

I really am so shocked by some of the comments on this thread.

[Knittingnoodles]

I bought a house next to a newly refurbished council house. A year later the council house is a disgusting shit-tip. I mean like something from a Daily Mail neighbour from hell story. It’s an utter disgrace.

Scumbag tenants aren’t limited to council housing, but in this case the local authority seems reluctant to fulfil its duties as a landlord, as this would mean putting an enforcement on its self.

[Lookingforadvice123]

I think it’s far riskier to live next door to a privately rented house to be honest! Much more likely to be short term, whereas council tenants have often been there for years.

Surely it’s the area that matters, not the type of housing? I live in a very naice area, the majority of the houses are owner occupied but some privately rented. I used to own an ex council house next, the area wasn’t fantastic so there was quite a bit of crime around but the houses are very much a mix of owner occupied, private rented and social housing - there’s no way to differentiate and I never cared to. The only neighbours on the street who caused problems (screaming rows, locking each other out so they would bang on the front door at all hours, police/ambulances outside regularly etc) was definitely privately rented or owned as the house had been up for sale when we bought ours, and it’s now up for sale again.

[frankiesamson]

We lived in an ex-council house for decades without problems but it was in a very educated neighbourhood where all the houses were basically privately owned and lived in by educated non anti social types.

We then had such glowing opinions of ex council houses that we bought one in another area. We checked it out thoroughly before moving in but literally it turned out in good weather and all summer to be like living in a zombie apocalypse film in terms of gangs, druggies, anti social types.. etc.

It was like chalk & cheese.

Our friends were afraid to come over. So much racism & nasty types !

We'd never risk it again. Could be nice or bloody awful.