Anyone watching how to get a council house on channel 4?

[cleoteacher]

Is this a repeat or another new series ? I remember this sort of programme being on before.

Can't believe Emma. How entitled is she? People are on the streets and she's refusing a flat because it's too high up and not a great place to live. Surely with four kids anything is better than the streets!

She says she wants to get what she deserves. But it's not explained why she's unemployed. Surely you wouldn't risk yourself and four kids on the streets for a dog either.

Omg, that couple with the dirty house and her crying. Clean your home you filthy bitch, it's not difficult!!

That couple simply did not take responsibility. Their poor, poor landlord! They had enormous rent arrears, house was filthy yet somehow it was someone elses' fault?

And I noticed them both fagging it too but couldn't afford to pay their landlord the money they owed him.

That's a very offensive word you're using Aye.

Oh look, the 'undeserving poor' for us all to gawp at and judge.

It's almost as if there's going to be a budget this week...

They aren't actors, though. They do actually exist and if they choose to portray themselves like this - their choice. It's rather patronising to suggest they are poor sappy victims.

I don't hate the poor. I dislike dirty, aggressive, racist skanks. If you haven't come across many you can consider yourself lucky and rare

Cunningplan it's not patronising when it's true. These tv companies twist and edit to whatever fits their agenda. It's naive to think this is any kind of real representation.
Yes where did it say the couple were 'junkies'? And oh my heart does bleed for their landlord with multiple homes whereas they have none .
If you live somewhere you should be able to keep it as untidy as you like as long as you leave no damage and it is cleaned before you leave. You should be able to live how you choose in your home even when renting.

itsbetter you honestly think that anyone who chooses to live in that filth is going to bother cleaning it when they vacate??

Did it say their landlord had multiple properties? Missed that bit. In all honesty, I find this programme a lot fairer than most. The council staff are honest about the lack of social housing and what they can and can't do.

That council guy with the ginger beard was awesome. So patient and tactful.

oh god that poor elderly homeless man

I was in tears

I was so happy when he got a flat at the end

and to be fair to emma, that flat was fucking disgusting

makes you realise how lucky you are

Did anyone see the programme before about the banks lending councils money?

I watched bits of this - I felt awful the older man didn't seem to be a priority at all? Not even the offer of a night in a hostel or something! And he had alcohol abuse issues - surely that would have put him into a vulnerable category. I was also shocked when they said 3/4 of homeless total were single men? Maybe I heard that wrong.

Emma was an interesting case. Perhaps some editing going on there but she did come accross as fairly "entitled" but then I think we can all lose the plot a bit when children are involved.
Can't understand the dog bit - but I'm not an animal person.
I do think it may have opened some peoples eyes to see the state of the property she was offered. "Fixing the damp" probably means "painting over it" IME!
I think some people think when you move into a council/HA property it's all new and shiny with magnolia walls. Not the case at all these days.

I don't think that Romanian man is typical of most Europeans coming here to work either. That will certainly help fuel many misconceptions!

lagirafe you head right 75% of the homeless are single men. I was pretty shocked too. I remember watching a programme with George what's his face about empty homes. One young guy was homeless after losing his home because he packed up work to take care of his terminally ill mother. He was only in his late 20s and when she died, he had nowhere to go, literally. It was so sad. Taking control of the abandoned homes in Britain needs to happen soon. That would eleviate an awful lot of homeless issues.

I must have missed him getting a flat - at least he got something in the end. Can't help but wonder how many like him were not so lucky though.

More men sleep on the street. More women sofa surf with friends.

I didn't see the programme, but these comments are interesting.

It never fails to astonish me how little responsibility some people take for situations entirely of their own making. And they make them over and over again.

I think taking responsibility may be the single most important thing you can teach your kids.

There's no helping some people.

I think the problem of single homeless men will increase. Women get a flat/house if they have children. A man is not only superfluous in many cases, he is actually a financial burden or obstacle. Thus many men move from one woman to another with no financial stake in the relationship and little personal one if there are children who are not his; the relationship is little more than a means to get a billet. It is a sad state of affairs for all concerned.

as always it is very hard to work out what is 'real', and as always I take my hat off to the council workers who have to put up with the abuse. And also with being unable to help many deserving people for whom there are simply not the resources. Overcrowded country (not just immigrants), poor financial choices.

Emma should certainly not have to move into a dirty house (and the entitlement of her predecessors revolts me in leaving it in that state), but equally as she gives her dog equal priority to her children then she must realise she is limiting her choices. Fear of heights I can understand, prioritising the dog I can't. Our social security system is for people, not animals.

as for the younger couple; I didn't know there was drug use beyond the legal (and very expensive) one, which clearly has higher priority to them than rent payment. But they also can apparently afford an animal, and you clean your home regardless of whether you own it without crying about it. Do we know what happened to them - I missed the end of the programme.

oh god that awful racist man

disgusting what he was saying

I felt so embarrassed for his girlfriend who looked mortified and seemed quite sweet

I was really baffled by the response of the woman who said she wouldnt clean "the mould" and the rest of the mess in her house i'm not sure who exactly she thought should clean it. And really what did they expect to be told? I know people have varying standards of what is clean and what is dirty but dog shit on the floor where your child plays? Mould? Some kind of sticky brown grimness on the floor round the toilet? That shouldnt need pointed out. I would guess her reaction was out of embarassment but to jump from that to "im not cleaning it and what happens when my children are on the street?" Well that is very easily preventable isnt it? It wouldnt have even taken 1 day to get that place sorted. Why would you opt not to do that to save your home? some attitude adjustment required there i think.

I watched this.

I think the reason Gordon got his nice clean small bright flat was because he didn't mind where he lived, he just wanted a roof over his head.

Emma was particularly indignant that she wanted rehoming ASAP (understandably) and given that she was adamant her dog had to come too I expect the number of properties available to her was minimal, especially as she was unwilling to move areas. There just aren't many council houses right on the edge of the city centre (where she was).

The flat was pretty disgusting but I thought it was interesting how her fear of heights disappeared quickly once she realised her options were so limited.

I think the council staff were very polite and patient, I'd have curtailed the interview much sooner when Mr National Front kicked off.

I doubt Gordon would have got his flat if it had not been on TV. Single people are usually entitled to nothing. There are sometimes hostels they can go to, but they are often scary places and so many prefer to sleep on the streets.