Right or wrong? Social housing on new builds

[JB!]

tombrown11 said:

I've lived on a new housing estate with social housing. Initially I didn't think too much into it but over the past 2 years I can't wait to get the hell out of here. My neighbour (privately bought) put their house on the market 4 months ago (like many private owners) and just can't sell which scares the sh** out of me. Here are some things I have to put up with:
- Endless cigarette buds, beer cans, crisp packets, dog sh** and gum on my front lawn (I live down a cul-de-sac)
- Young kids who can barely walk left to run around on the roads on their own yet the drivers speed like crazy with their drum and bass on full volume
- Endless aggressive gazes whenever I step outside. People can tell I bought my house privately. When I first moved in I used to say "hello" to everyone as I walked by my neighbourhood but now I dont even bother as I was just confronted by disgusted looks
- Feral gangs of teenagers spraying dicks on front doors late at night of families with young children
- Incessant barking of massive, overly aggressive dogs
- Single mothers with 5-6 kids (who you can tell had different fathers) spit on the pavement infront of you as you walk by. Never seen one without a cigarette in their mouth. God help those poor children and their lungs
- Wheelspinning motorcyclists at 2am whilst their girlfriends cheer them on
- Waking up to teenagers shouting swear words on your road in the early hours on a saturday morning when you have guests visiting
- Knowing that I will undoubtedly struggle to sell my house at the same price I bought it and that if I'd bought in a private area I would be more financially secure and generally happier. No way in HELL would I ever consider raising children in this environment.

Look, I'm all for helping the poorest and most vulnerable in society and I do not advocate demonising anyone who is on benefits or lives in social housing but these are just my experiences. However it is the attitude and behaviours of these people which are the issue here. People these days manipulate the system, lie and cheat in order to have access to certain privileges most people work their whole lives to have. The same people who do this are typically bad parents, bad neighbours, bad citizens and over time the communities they spawn into turn to sh**. Just look at Milton Keynes.

errrrrrrrrr that'll be the MK that's nicer than Luton, Northampton, Bedford?

The design of MK means you can literally avoid the "council" areas.

Like always, some a really nice.

Most are scummy, generally because the residents give zero fks.

[anonymous-user]

We have a few social housing properties on our estate that are bad enough, but on another estate nearby they have a privately rented 5 bed that houses all the staff from a local restaurant. I'm sure they must sleep in shifts.

[cb31]

My first job out of university was in London and we rented a 4 bed townhouse in Wapping, 4 young lads working professional jobs and we could just afford the rent. It really didn't seem right that families all around us in identical houses got them for free. We never saw any bad behaviour but it did get on my nerves.

[S100HP]

Similar here, which is why I'm trying to move. Wild children with no boundaries. They parents don't give a st. The council will come and sort stuff out for them as and when they need it. They are currently missing a back wall as the kids knocked it down.

[bazza white]

They have just built 22 new units in cardiff designed for ftbs which I was tempted at. Went through the chat with estate agents and booked to go to the open day, I decided aginst it last minute and glad i did, reported All 11 sold on the day, the other 11 are social housing. Im glad I didnt go.i would be pissed scraping by every month knowing the single mum next door gets a free ride.

Another new estate being built there is a facebook page full of mums moving there. I dont mean a few its a huge group. Cardiff council are spending a fortune on council houses currently.

[rambo19]

As my dad used to say;
"instant slums".

[Nickbrapp]

God no, the estate I live on now has part rent part buy which is ok, but no way in hell would I want one with a council house

Taylor wimpey are building a large estate near me that I’m intrested in buying on and I specifically asked if there was any social housing and she told me no, as they had done a deal to put it else where.

Thank god.

[hyphen]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's a bit ambiguous nowadays.

Instead of stating amount of social housing, they just seem to say x amount will be 'affordable'. And that seems to then be either social, part ownership, reduced market rate buy or rent and so on.

Then in the resident survey's during planning, they put in questions such as 'do you think the development should have affordable housing' and people tick yes thinking their kids may get a cheaper home, and then the local Greggs ends up expanding to cope.

Edited by hyphen on Tuesday 17th April 20:49

[jurbie]

I wonder if the new build estates are becoming a bit of a dumping ground for the troublesome council tenants, the thinking being that if you give them somewhere new and nice they might take care of it and try and fit in a bit with the neighbours. Obviously a flawed idea but the sort of thinking that might come out of some councils.

I chose to buy a property on an old 1960's council estate because I'm not a fan of new builds which all seem a bit cheek by jowl, cram as much as you can into as small a plot as possible. My place is a big 3 bed semi with off road parking for 3 cars and a huge back garden but the house is probably worth about £120,000 because of it's location on a council estate in a grim northern city. The thing is before I bought it I had a good look around the area and noted the tidy gardens, the clean street, the 10 year old cars that were clearly looked after because they were big and important purchases. I also noted that there were no kids on the street after 9pm.

I agree there are plenty of dodgy estates you really wouldn't want to go near but mine is quiet with decent residents many of whom are renting from the council but working and doing the best they can. This wasn't difficult to work out, just a bit of time exploring the area before I bought.

Before I moved here I lived in a terrace in the centre of town, it started quietly with most of my neighbours being retired but as they died off and their kids flogged the houses to dodgy wannabe landlords the place became an absolute hellhole with the obligatory sofa on the street where everyone would hang out all day. For a while I felt like a scientist living with some remote tribe but the novelty soon wore off when they decided that my neighbour, who also happened to be the chief chav, was a pedo. Things got nasty pretty quickly and I was glad to get out. My council estate is a real oasis of peace in comparison.

[monkfish1]

Nickbrapp said:

God no, the estate I live on now has part rent part buy which is ok, but no way in hell would I want one with a council house

Taylor wimpey are building a large estate near me that I’m intrested in buying on and I specifically asked if there was any social housing and she told me no, as they had done a deal to put it else where.

Thank god.

Thats what they say now. Until they have sold a bunch then decide to move the social housing close to you. Old tricks are the best!

[hyphen]

monkfish1 said:

Nickbrapp said:

God no, the estate I live on now has part rent part buy which is ok, but no way in hell would I want one with a council house

Taylor wimpey are building a large estate near me that I’m intrested in buying on and I specifically asked if there was any social housing and she told me no, as they had done a deal to put it else where.

Thank god.

Thats what they say now. Until they have sold a bunch then decide to move the social housing close to you. Old tricks are the best!

Get it in writing, that you can back out of any deal if this does happen. She may be correct, as often if they have 2 developments in the area, they will stick all the social on the cheaper one and council ill agree to it, but always get stuff in writing and also read the planning application.

[monkfish1]

hyphen said:

Get it in writing, that you can back out of any deal if this does happen. She may be correct, as often if they have 2 developments in the area, they will stick all the social on the cheaper one and council ill agree to it, but always get stuff in writing and also read the planning application.

Good advice. But not sure there is much you can do once you have actually bought it?

Of course the sensible way is not to buy a new house. Whilst there are always exceptions, for the most part ive still no idea why anyone would do it?

[aka_kerrly]

Nickbrapp said:

God no, the estate I live on now has part rent part buy which is ok, but no way in hell would I want one with a council house

Interesting point, far too often people talk of "social housing" and include all aspects of council houses , sheltered houses, housing association properties, affordable housing schemes, right to buy/help to buy and seem to think that all are occupied by unemployed scum with rampant kids.

I can only say I've had a positive experience of using a Housing Association scheme to buy my first property around 12 years ago. It has worked out well, my other neighbours on the scheme are all young/middle age professionals/nurses/teachers and one single mum with two working daughters. The other flats are a mix of BTL and owner occupied and the place is kept well.

The big shift came when housing benefit started being paid to the claimant and not the landlord as this meant that a lot of the greedy landlords who were charging the maximum amount HB would pay were suddenly finding themselves with trouble tenants and no money. I believe this may have had a positive impact on some developments which had a large proportion of HB claimants.

[troika]

I can’t imagine how disheartening some of the problems highlighted must be. I think the main problem is that if something is free, it has no value. If no private buyers bought into these developments, surely this would make developers and planners realise it’s not working? If people keep buying them, expect more of the same.

[Nickbrapp]

monkfish1 said:

Good advice. But not sure there is much you can do once you have actually bought it?

Of course the sensible way is not to buy a new house. Whilst there are always exceptions, for the most part ive still no idea why anyone would do it?

Help to buy is a big part of it, another is that all the older houses I’ve looked at cost the same but need a lot of work, some a whole referb including boilers etc, others new kitchens etc, so you have to then live in a project for a long time, and I don’t want to have to waste money on stuff you get with a new build like good windows, good insulation etc, dead money kinda, it saves you money but it takes an age to get it back.

An older house that’s done up is a option, but again they tend to be more expensive again, and often they’ve done the kitchen and the bathroom but not the windows. Or they’ve done it up quickly and shoved in a cheap bathroom and kitchen so again you have to hange it all.

New builds you get to pick your options, carpets all, it’s quite exciting like getting a new car and choosing all the stuff.

[stinkyspanner]

My first house was an ex council house, and coming from a stty flat it was quite a step up. Huge garden, driveway, garage, quite a nice looking 3 bed semi. Immediate neighbour was a nice old lady, other side a family who were a bit council but seemed OK. Other neighbours looked a bit scummy but all in all it was a good house.
Eventually the councilness of the other houses did start to pee me off greatly: late night racket, bonfires seemingly daily, drug taking and dealing, stockcars in the garden, shouting, 'KYLE, GET IN HERE NAAAAHH!' etc.
Worst was that they just did not give a fk, but had the whole place decorated and new carpets twice in 3 years, new kitchen, all the council houses got new roofs for some reason. Couldn't be arsed to mow the lawn though..
They actually seemed oblivious to the fact that most people should work to pay for things, and once asked me if I bought my house outright and didn't really understand that I had to get a mortgage to pay for it.
I firmly believe that council scum should be forced to look after their free accommodation, and not be a bunch of bds. If they can't do that then they should be evicted and sent to live in some ghetto with all the other s, maybe then they might realise how lucky they were.

[Dog Star]

Ashtray83 said:

Somewhere st.
Where normal hard working people don't have to put up with them

I've kept my head below the parapet on this one, but this is basically my opinion. This forced mixing of social and private is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard of - more ridiculous social engineering.

It's obvious to anyone that most council estates are total stholes, it's bad enough that most towns have them dotted all over the place instead of in one massive area (with a wall around it and some gates, maybe have a permit system where those with jobs are allowed out? Just kidding about the walls and gate) - but the then create little micro-council enclaves in the middle of otherwise desirable developments is just plain ridiculous with the number of entitled scrotes around. I wouldn't buy a place with this in place at any price.

[troika]

Dog Star said:

Ashtray83 said:

Somewhere st.
Where normal hard working people don't have to put up with them

I've kept my head below the parapet on this one, but this is basically my opinion. This forced mixing of social and private is one of the stupidest ideas I have ever heard of - more ridiculous social engineering.

It's obvious to anyone that most council estates are total stholes, it's bad enough that most towns have them dotted all over the place instead of in one massive area (with a wall around it and some gates, maybe have a permit system where those with jobs are allowed out? Just kidding about the walls and gate) - but the then create little micro-council enclaves in the middle of otherwise desirable developments is just plain ridiculous with the number of entitled scrotes around. I wouldn't buy a place with this in place at any price.

Have to agree. Per my previous post, if something is free, it has no value. People should want to look after their home and keep it and the neighbourhood looking nice. I don’t know what the solution is for those who screw it up for everyone else, workhouse maybe?! There is no way I would spend my own hard earned cash on a house in a place where others get it for free. I genuinely don’t understand those who choose to do so, there are plenty of other houses to buy.

[CPWilliams]

If you don't mix it, you risk creating ghettos.

I spent 5 years in Toulouse (Airbus), and the banlieues had socioeconomic problems unlike anything you'd see in the UK; problems which were quite deliberately ignored by the authorities

I empathise with the points raised though

Edited by CPWilliams on Wednesday 18th April 12:27

Edited by CPWilliams on Wednesday 18th April 12:28

[troika]

CPWilliams said:

If you don't mix it, you risk creating ghettos.

I spent 5 years in Toulouse (Airbus), and the banlieues had socioeconomic problems unlike anything you'd see in the UK; problems which were quite deliberately ignored by the authorities

I empathises with the points raised though

I can only imagine. If we accept that there will always be issues, what is wrong with keeping the issues contained to one place rather than allowing them to infiltrate everywhere?