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?

I live on a new build estate, which is a mix. On our road one side is owner occupied (I suppose they could be private rented), and the opposite is SH. Mostly it is fine, the police are only here two or three times a year for knife possession and drugs. Also a couple of times for welfare. But it doesn’t feel particularly unsafe day to day. The biggest problem is a young single lad moved in opposite us and he is noisy.

They are most definitely not being honest with you when they tell you "they will lose their tenancy" it really is no where near as simple as that. For anyone to lose their tenancy it has to go through a court. And to get it to court there has to be evidence and the evidence comes in the form of neighbours complaining and if you have reason to complain, it tends to be because of pretty awful behaviour. And when you do complain, your evidence will need to be recordings, diaries etc. And from that, it tends to then cause issues with the problem tenants, sometimes serious ones. The problem tenants will be given numerous warnings etc and the housing assicuation have procedures to follow and eviction is the last resort and it takes years to get to that point. And that's only if a court agrees to evict. And the evidence in court will be your complaints, diaries, recordings etc.

So many people on MN claim to work in the SH sector

That’s because a lot of people do work in the SH sector and particularly women. Not sure it’s something people would falsely ‘claim’ as seems to be the implication ! People are just sharing their views and personal experience as requested.

Well yes. This pretence that as a cohort those who work to buy a home are the same as those who did not makes no sense.

People who have put in the effort to plan, to save, and to invest in their future are a different group to those who did not.

Oh behave.

There’s a new estate near us (about 6 miles away) that has SH then houses for £8-900k

They have had loads of issues with antisocial behaviour but this could be the case on any estate really, SH or privately owned and if people own them and are a nightmare that’s a bigger problem.

i have always wondered tho, why? I mean, if I had £8-900k for a house I wouldn’t buy on a new build estate I’d go for “non-estate” most definately.

Mmm think the “fucking” illustrates the point nicely.

Oh no. Only SH tenants swear. 🤣

You're right, the private renters are the ones who play loud music in the middle of the night and let their kids run riot.

I live in a new build of 16 owner/occupier houses and there are 6 adjacent SH. There is noisy selfish and unruly behaviour from some residents which involved police visits, and some badly behaved children who vandalised property and cause havoc.
Ive also lived in all private housing estates and some residents are unruly and selfish with similar attitudes.
if its possible I suggest you go for a walk around the estate at a weekend and couple of evenings when people are likely to be at home and see what’s going on for yourself before you make a decision.

Hi, worker here who works to pay her social housing rent because house prices are fucking astronomical. What is the difference in the money you earn to pay your mortgage and the money I earn to pay my rent? Is your money specially bejewelled or solid gold?

The pretence that life is that black and white is what makes no sense.

Plenty of people work hard but still can't afford to buy a home.

The houses that your housing association owned must have been in a dog rough area. I do not recognise this as social housing in my county. Many tenants are working, and pay their own rent, and treat the property as if it's their own. Well, it is their home, so why wouldn't they?

Like a few others here, I am shocked to hear these horrific stories of all these dreadful people in social housing. It's certainly not the description of any social housing tenants in my area. It is a nice area though, so maybe that's why.

It can't be easy living in a rough area. Makes me grateful to live in a nice area/a nice county. In many cases you can't tell who is in social housing and who is in a privately owned property.

Solatory tale.... The Homes England built an estate next to ours - said they were going to be shared ownership, but housing market crashed and it went up for rental. God awful people moved in - not everyone was bad but may 5 or 6 families. Kids firing bb guns are kids on our estate police being called all the time, just awful.

We sold up and moved. A few weeks ago a man was shot on the estate.

I appreciate you don't know who your neighbours are going to be no matter where you move, but...

Well yes, a particularly deprived area of south london.

This thread is the gift that keeps on giving isn't it? 😂

Walk away, OP!

It's like SH bingo 🤣

the tenants will all be working and they won’t be misbehaving as they will lose their tenancy if they do

Yeah right. Do you know how hard it is to kick people out from SH? I do. We live next to one (bought before it was built) and I have a friend who got an appartment there (3 rooms for her and her 2 dc- she pays 200 £ a month having deducted the housing element). Her partner moved in with them just after- he works for cash in hand. She's not the only one claiming to be a single mum getting social housing just to have a partner move in the week after. The worst is all the antisocial behaviour in the streets- it used to be peaceful and quiet here with lovely neighbours. Now people are screaming and dealing drugs. Littering is a huge problem- they just throw things outside between our roads so we have to pay for that as well.

Police raids are frequent. The majority of them are probably normal decent people but you don't see that because that's what you are used to in the neighbourhood. But I would estimate 20% are antisocial thugs. And those 20% kind of makes you forget the 80% who are decent. It's not fair because they suffer from it even more than we do.

@ohwhats DON'T DO IT.

Broken britain . What has happened to this country .

I fucking well agree with @LilacDrift . Love, a mortgage-free owner occupier.

Eta: I live next to a council estate. Some houses are privately owned some are still council. I can't tell which is which.

Nearly all new estates MUST have social housing. It’s a condition of pp. So no one on a largish estate will be far from social housing. If anyone doesn’t like it, don’t buy there.

The thing is you get it everywhere. I live in a council house and I’m a nurse, most of my neighbours work and are quiet, then you’ve got all the people that sit at their door steps (with kids in touching distance) smoking cannabis, loud blaring music sometimes and petty arguments but I feel safe, people don’t tend to shit on their own doorstep so to speak, but I’ve also lived in private rentals with shitty neighbours. But all of us in social housing aren’t the same, the majority of people in my social circle that live in social housing also work

i don’t however think it’s strictly reassuring them saying any antisocial behaviour is a breach of tenancy cos in my experience it’s an absoloute headache and long time putting up with misery before problem people are evicted especially if they have any vulnerabilities. That and the fact that if you sell and have issues you’ll have to declare them. They might all be lovely but if it is causing you apprehension I’d look for somewhere where it is just mostly homeowners because it’s a big investment to make

No don't do it. The SH tenants don't want your sort there. Your kids violin practice will drive them bad. Not to mention the wine drinking and pizza oven parties. Or the 4 x 4s taking up all the parking spaces.