New build on a new estate and social housing. I expect I’ll get torn to shreds but can I have your experiences please?

[ohwhats]

We are looking at buying the last house on a street that backs on to an area of the new estate that will be 50 plus houses owned by a housing association.
The house will be a real bargain, they are throwing all sorts of incentives in as I’m sure they want it sold asap as it will be ready in about 6 weeks time.
The sales advisor explained that the tenants will all be working and they won’t be misbehaving as they will lose their tenancy if they do.
DH thinks it will be fine and we should take a chance but I’m really not sure. Had anyone bought next to AH on a new build estate?

We live on a new build estate with social housing.

There's some dodgy behaviour at times but it's similar to a town in that most people are nice, some are not.

Luckily for us, the nice outweigh the not and keep it mainly in check i think.

We actually live next door to 2 social housing families. One is absolutely lovely, kids in grammar school, kind, helpful people. The other family is troubled, to put it lightly. Lots of police visits, family now broken up, cars drop the teens off at full volume at all hours. But, they dont make noise outside in the garden, they keep to themselves and its generally ok. Could be a lot worse.

I live in a street with a mix of 18 house s ( 4 of them are private ) the rest are HA

on the other side 22 houses and only one council houses

I’ve lived here for over 20 years and the council Tennant was absolutely the worse one ever ( he eventually got evicted )

we also have a hostel 2 streets away and have had no problems

It just depends
I love my house and my neighbours are fab and I have no regrets in buying it years ago it’s worth a small fortune now

however I think it’s how the houses have been designed

big 3 stories with the kitchen downstairs
big gardens each house has a double drive

the living room overlooks the back garden on the entrance floor you can have it as 3 bedrooms or possibly 4 as the kitchen is huge so it would be easily to make it a living room/ kitchen

so no one is watching the front of the houses and the street and I think this make a big difference

most people stay a long time , we don’t get a lot of people moving in both the HA and the private houses

My home owner NDN was given 8 years in prison for drug and fire arm offences. All behind respectable closed doors though.

I live in a house that's ten years old, and since moving in to it when it was brand new, a number of council/affordable homes have been built nearby.

Absolutely no issues or problems whatsoever.

I must be dreaming then because I am a social housing tenant, surrounded by other social housing tenants (with some private and bought too) and it isn't my reality at all.

The worst neighbour I had was when I was a private renter living next door to someone who had bought their house. They were a nightmare to the point the police were involved.

Bad neighbours exist in all types of housing.

We had council tenants next door to us in London. No judgment initially. They were an absolute nightmare. Straight out of Jeremy Kyle - fights in the street drug dealing gangsta rap weed smoking in garden Staffordshire dog jumping the fence and shitting in our garden. No thank you. Moved out of London to a nice cul de sac next door to retired doctors. 18 years of peace. Bliss. Yes I am a snob now sorry not sorry.

I'm an HA Tennant though not on an estate, I used to live on one though and never would again.
The bad ones are the minority, but they make life hell for everyone around them.

What was the name of the estate? It would be interesting to see if it is still like that.

I work for a housing association doing repairs, and there are a number of houses not far from my own home.
So a private house was up for sale 575k later reduced to 550k then removed from sale, because it backed onto one of 'our' tenants who was not living in her home, but with her partner🤷🏻‍♂️, but they had drawn a large p*#is on the back wall of the home along with 'c u next tuesday' it's been reported but the last I knew nothing had been done, so imagine opening your curtains in the morning and seeing that........??????
Apart from that I would never ever buy a new build, again same estate different lady, over 500k she paid for her home, half a million!!!!! and she has asked me to go in to fix the same issues I have to sort day in day out for our tenants, the materials used are useless!!!!!!!!
Good luck and run!!!!!!!!

The estate is called FREE HOUSE estate.

No in my experience it will not be the large majority just trying to live their lives quietly and enjoy themselves peacefully with consideration. It will be quite the opposite.

Our opposite neighbours are 3 shared ownership/key workers houses - lovely families and a young couple who are teachers. The next road behind them are about 10 shared ownership and HA houses - we couldn’t hear them at all, no police visit, tidy enough front gardens, maybe some weed smells very occasionally.

But in your case is 50 plus houses and no shared ownership? I would walk away OP

Absolutely not. Keep saving, but somewhere else

I live in a council house, the worst neighbours we have had in 38years were the owner occupier. Drugs, teenage feral son. Our windows were shot at with an air rifle. Teenager bullied my middle son, and taunted us that we 'couldn't do fuck all as his dad owned'.
Our neighbours now are owners, drug smoking pensioners! We just ignore.

I work FT, DH is retired, we live quietly.

Social housing is not the issue, individuals are.

25 years ago my parents-in-law, who were in their 70s at the time, sold their large rural old house and bought a new-build house on a new estate in the nearest town, as they thought being nearer shops, hospitals, etc would be easier in old age. One side of the estate was social housing, they were on the other side.

It was an absolute nightmare. The level of anti-social behaviour on the estate - noise, vandalism, drugs - my poor sheltered PIL were really shocked.

The final straw was the night teenagers climbed on the garage roof outside their bedroom window and were banging on the window and throwing bottles down into the garden while my MIL cowered inside and FIL was on phone to police.

They only stayed a year before selling again and buying a bungalow back in a rural village. It cost them a fortune to move twice in a year but they just couldn't stand the stress.

In the rural town where I live they keep putting up new developments on the edges. A colleague lives on the one with social housing and it's already notorious for anti-social behaviour.

I'm not generalising at all - but I wouldn't buy in a similar situation.

There are dozens of FB groups full of people asking a similar question - the advice is overwhelmingly to avoid houses like these. Perhaps have a read through those before making a decision.

Agreed!

I know someone who bought a lovely new house on a mixed development, the private houses were targeted. There was a brick thrown throughout a car windscreen, garden fences pulled down. They moved as soon as they could, such a shame as the house was really nice.

I lived in an ex council house for years, the street was a mix of privately owned ex council houses and HA houses, it was lovely for years until two of the HA properties had new tenants - then there were groups of men fighting in the street, parties throughout the night. We moved - I really wouldn’t buy this house

Don't do it.

We bought a newbuild townhouse in a street of 18 properties, there were two of us who were owner occupiers, the rest were bought by a landlord who let them back to the housing association as short term accommodation. First people we had next door was a single mother with three kids whose teenage daughter played her music full volume all evening, the mother then sublet the garage (!) to three men. Did a moonlight flit one night and we were glad to see the back of her. Then there was the woman who flushed nappies down the loo and blocked the entire street's drains. A bit further along was the local drug dealer and his partner, who had a constant stream of hoodies on bikes back and forward to the door at all hours and who house was raided by the police one lunchtime.

Housing association just do not care.

My brother and his children are social housing tenants on a new mixed estate and they moved in 2.5 years ago. It's lovely and everyone has made their new homes very nice. It's like a Dr Seuss town at Christmas as so many sparkly decs and lovely children around.

They all really love it there.

Noooooo please don’t do it

Just to echo what others have said and also as someone who’s worked in the social housing sector for many years, I wouldn’t ! When I started out there was a genuine good economic mix of social housing tenants, now demand is so high that only those in absolute dire straits are housed which often brings with it folk with severe needs and often problems and very few who are working.

I have a friend who lives on one of these estates, in the road at the bottom of the HA road. The main problem is cars. The HA people seem to have a lot of cars and vans - not all of the cars and vans are actually running, so they park them permanently wherever possible, basically taking up all the 'visitor' parking in the surrounding roads with their non-running cars and vans.

Another friend lives in a road that used to be all council housing but some is now privately owned. There have been some problems with one of two of the council tenants - noise, mum screaming at kids calling them all the names under the sun etc. One family has finally been moved out after lots of complaints. Car parking not as much of a problem as on the new build estate.

So I would probably avoid if you can.

Back when I lived in an area covered by HA building development ( Ive moved rural now ) developments were sold, X % shared ownership, x % special needs ( probably wrong term but disabled living, single person units etc, and the last x % - social housing

If its a totally mixed development there wont be a problem, it is those that have sectioned it all all that can cause problems ( IMO )

My first house was an ex council house ( I was the 3rd private buyer ) on an estate of over 3000 council / ex council houses. You didnt know if your neighbour was renting or private unless you lived there during a period of council tarting ups

If you can afford it, like it, and it suits your needs, go for it

Wow. I live in a new build that is technically social housing (market rent rate with a few intermediate rent properties on the next street). It’s quiet, lovely, and the best place I’ve lived. Everyone looks after their houses and gardens and feels fortunate to be here. I’m surprised by others’ negative experiences.