Council housing questions...

threedee

I'm worried about standards of offerings. I have two children to look after and we were offered a house in terrible state, no floor, walls full of holes, ceiling is well damaged, shower smashed, sockets and doorhandles missing. Declined of course...I cant afford the almost complete redecoration....
House offered is in Dungannon.

Is this sort of thing i should be expecting ? I have seen much much better offerings, but not to us...

Any info on general standards of housing ?

What can i expect really ? Me and my wife are unemployed (i was made redundant), children are 3 years and 5 months.

Housing Exec staff dont really talk much about how to get the best.

Going to talk to them again in two days, need to prepare for that...

tomitma

You will only get what housing stock they have, these days the council don't have the money to do the houses up before they relet, they do give you vouchers for B&Q, to do some decorating, you cant go on refusing houses either, I think it is 2 houses they will offer, and if you dont accept any, you go back to the bottom of the list.

Housing assocciations offer the best of the houses and they do the house up to relet, they have a bigger stock of houses than the council. I may be worth your while to apply to them.

threedee

More info on this ? For northern ireland. How does HA differ from CH ? Does rent-to-buy policy stand ?

tomitma

I dont know how the councils or HA work in NI

rozzeratti

In my experience I would have taken the house and demanded that the repairs are done, Things like holes in walls and missing door handles they should repair and fix, A shower however, is an extra that the previous tenant had installed. You certainly will not have carpets and curtains laid down for you.

toadyfrog

Your lucky you can refuse a house, in London I got offered a flat on a rough estate and had to take it or I would have made myself intentionally homeless and would be offered nothing else. Mind you that was 20 years ago so it may have changed now.

Mupette

toadyfrog wrote: »

Your lucky you can refuse a house, in London I got offered a flat on a rough estate and had to take it or I would have made myself intentionally homeless and would be offered nothing else. Mind you that was 20 years ago so it may have changed now.

if you are on home choice which most councils are doing,
turn down a property and you go down a band for 6 months.

my last place that i recently moved from, water was seeping through the ceiling in the upstairs landing, i called the council repair about this, they didn't bother dealing with it,

which i think was wrong, having MS, and packing, boxes everywhere, if the electrics had gone i would be in complete darkness and could of had an accident, which i told them, they were all yes we can't have that on the phone, then denied they received such call.

Jowo_2

When I was offered social housing, the previous tenant had Alzheimers and the property was in a terrible state of decoration, stained heavily with nicotine. The council fixed the bare minimum, replacing a broken window and taking out her furniture. The bath was stained (could not be cleaned off) but they refused to replace it as it was functional. It didn't take much money to repaint it, got cheap carpets and I made it very homely within a week.

Find out what the HA's responsibilities are by contacting Shelter but you may expect that they fix just infrastructure defects and you are responsible for all decoration and new floor surfaces, not any of the repairs. A social housing landlord must surely not be able to hand over a property to a tenant that has health and safety issues, such as damaged electrical sockets and loose/missing floors.

I think you may have been hasty in rejecting the offer of that property without checking first what the HA would remedy. Make sure in future you get in writing from the HA ahead of signing the contract the repairs that they will undertake before you move in.

See if the following applies in your area

http://www.decenthomesstandard.co.uk/about/standard

Do some research, too, to see if the HHSRS is in operation in your area, too. Again, this focusses on hazards and safety rather than fixtures/fittings and quality of decoration.

Housing Health and Safety Rating System

lukieboy96

If i was you i would refuse to have it unless they do the repairs as they are responsible for the property before you move in. When you leave it they will expect it to be in perfect condition!!

I was offered a house and they had replastered all the walls and just left it like that. I complained and said how do you expect me to move in in 1 week with a 5 year old boy and just plaster walls!! Also, the gas wasn't connected and they said i could survive until it was connected! I refused and won. They did the painting and i moved in once the gas was on.

Why should we move into properties which are disgusting, just because we are in need of somewhere to live it doesn't mean they can treat us like animals.

When you leave that property, they will expect it to be perfect!!! But if that is the case, then they should make it so it is inhabitable.

I do not expect them to be carpeted etc! but i do find it frustrating when you see them go into a property and clear it out taking the carpet. This could help out the new people. They could just clean them and it will save money1

Bryando

If I got this house and that sort of work was required it would be done before I got the keys. Tenancy agreement lays out what the Council are legal bound to sort and WHEN it must done by.

Never had any problems with council house. In fact some friends whom live in new houses have issues, can spit through the walls as I keep hearing etc

Bryando

I've also noticed recently the council leaving things in the house and asking the incoming tenenat if they wish it. If not Housing Officer arrange for it to be lifted or removed.

I had blinds when I moved in, horiable things I add. However ticked me over til I got my own, plus better in terms of security!