Local paper - £500K houses, half of estate possibly bought by housing association

Max_Headroom_3

Realy wrote: »

Well why did you not warn her.
Sorry but you have to take responsibilty for your life someware. Ignoring things is not one way.
Every HA as a website you can check out the other sites they run etc. If i was spending £XXX,XXX on a house I think i would do at least some reaserch.

Nope, you've lost me. I've learned from her unfortunate experience, so how could she learn from mine first?

Max_Headroom_3

ginvzt wrote: »

Well, people would buy a house without even seeing it (off-plan) or how the area will look, but yet - they would not buy a car without test drive.... And the latter usually costs less than 10% of the house price... (well, unless you park lamborghini in front of your sub £125k 2-bed mews)

And how do you "test drive" a house? If I were buying yours, would you be happy for me to move into it for six months, just so's I can check it out?

Realy

Max_Headroom wrote: »

Nope, you've lost me. I've learned from her unfortunate experience, so how could she learn from mine first?

[/quote] Max Headroom
Snobbery aside, I think it is fair to say that in the majority of cases, people who don't own their own homes (with or without mortgage) simply don't look after them as well. There are exceptions of course, people who rent and keep the place immaculate, and people who own and live like pigs. However, if you took 40 identical houses in 2 identical streets, one street owner/occupier and one renters, you would see a difference.

And I say that as someone who once rented and now owns. I used to look after the rented place ok, but not with as much effort and pride as the place I now own. It's simple human nature.

On another note, a friend of mine lives in a street on a new estate with some social housing. As I'd drive to her house of an evening in the summer you'd spot the social housing bit as the people living there would sit on the kerb with their feet in the gutter talking across the road to those from the social housing opposite sitting facing them in the same way. It was never a problem, but I always found it slightly bizarre.
[/quote]

As a good friend and some one with experience you could have warned her!
Was it hard to understand what I said in the last post?

Realy

Max_Headroom wrote: »

And how do you "test drive" a house? If I were buying yours, would you be happy for me to move into it for six months, just so's I can check it out?

Oh come on, you can check the other HA houses run by the same HA (as stated before) Are you just being a WUM?

ginvzt

Max_Headroom wrote: »

And how do you "test drive" a house? If I were buying yours, would you be happy for me to move into it for six months, just so's I can check it out?

You can at least view it! Preferably at different times of the day/weekend. Go around the area on different times of the day - make sure to be there in the evening. Going around the area on Saturday afternoon, Friday evening, some other time midweek. Visit local pub - just shows what people live there, and get friendly with some local who will tell you everything about the area over a pint. Local corner shops are a great place for a chat. Check reports - upmystreet and some people suggest OFSTED. We actually chatted with policemen in the area. You don't have to live in the house to find out what sort of area it is.

jamescredmond

Max_Headroom wrote: »

I really don't think that she believed that social housing would be the problem that it has been.

she gave me the impression that she was considering consulting m'learned friends (maybe ndgirl can provide her with a few contacts).

i don't want to get mired in the 'snobbery' argument but I guess that most people - given the choice - would prefer to live on a private estate.

not always the right call, though. I grew up on a council estate and can well remember a sense of community - much more evident than on the the 5- bed, double garage estate a couple of miles away.

and a lot friendlier than the 30's built private estate I now grace with my presence with..............

mewbie_2

Problem, is it's not always easy to judge an estate from the outside. I know before we moved in everyone said it was a really nice place to live and how friendly everyone was. I wish I hadn't believed a word of it. No one talks to us, its like they have sent us to Coventry.

I have tried everything - invites to our all night parties, booze, house music, and anything goes if you know what I mean. They are welcome to check out our second hand cars and caravans for sale (benefit of a long driveway), and our Rotties are friendly once you get to know them, and don't sneak up behind. I've even, at the request of one local busybody, started using the indoors toilets, instead of going al fresco.

People eh?

tomstickland

StevieJ wrote: »

Strange you don't mention your neighbours.

27/05/2006

I had a good chat with my next door neighbour and she's really nice. Quite cute too, which is even better. She's bought her flat and is doing good work in hassling the management company about getting on with things they need to do. It's quite a relief to find out that the neighbours are sound people, and they all have been so far.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=202286

I live in a flat and I love it.

It's actually got less noise potential than the terraced houses a few doors away. They have neighbours on both sides of a narrow house. I have a neighbour upstairs.

Two of the residents like gardening so we have loads of flowers in pots and I have a wonderful view out of the back into a much larger garden than I'd ever have in a house.

Heating costs are lower.

We're going self manage and buying the freehold, so reduced maintenance costs since we all share 1/9th.

People seem almost scared of anything communal, as if the mere idea means there's going to be problems.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=777809

Yes. Not nosey, but will say hello and have a chat. Street is tidy, no major noise nuisance.
Pretty much the most politically ignored section of society - people who go to work every day and who are surviving, but not living a lavish lifestyle.

I have good neighbours and I appreciate it. They take parcels in for me if I'm not there etc.

Where I live there are 9 1 bed flats and 5 small houses. I talk to my neighbours if I see them. I have ended up having very long conversations some times.

We've got a mixture of owners and renters and social backgrounds. Myself and my neartest neighbour are graduates. Chap at the top is disabled, ex manual worker. Other ground floor neighbour works as labourer. Woman above me is an office worker. It's more biassed towards non-professional occupations.

It's an up-together place. In the morning everyone goes to work (some start at 5am). There's no litter. There's some basic consideration for each other. I like it a lot.

So please stop the assumptions.

tomstickland

As a good friend and some one with experience you could have warned her!
Was it hard to understand what I said in the last post?

The point was that his neighbour assumed that HA tenants would not be a problem, but then found out that they were. Plus, Max couldn't have warned her, because this was his first experience of the problems.

neverdespairgirl

jamescredmond wrote: »

I don't want to get mired in the 'snobbery' argument but I guess that most people - given the choice - would prefer to live on a private estate

I'd rather not live on any type of estate, myself.