Do Council Houses lower the tone?

leftieM

I bought an ex council house 5 years ago. It's been a great place to live. Most of the neighbours own their houses and the ones that don't are okay (with chav undertones admittedly!)
We live at the end of a private road - they built council beside private which is unusual (and I bet the neighbours were raging at the time!)
You can tell by looking at a place whether it's nice or not. When people have a community spirit they keep their houses well, there is little graffiti etc.
Our council estate doesn't seem to have affected the house prices up the road but then why should it when there is little crime.

WhatKatyDid_2

So, we're not tarring anyone who lives in a council house with the same brush then???? I live in a council house - I'm hoping to be able to buy it - without the RTB scheme I wouldn't have a hope in hell of ever being able to. It's my home, I love where I live, and I look after it. There are rough people no matter where you look - just because you don't have much money doesn't mean you "lower the tone". Look at all the people who may earn good wages, but are thousands and thousands in debt - they're no better off really.

A_Nice_Englishman

I'm looking out of the window and can see a 4 bed one year old terraced house that is on the market for £184,950. Looking past that house I can just about see one the other side of the main road. That is 3 bedrromed ex-council terraced and would be worth about £80,000.

Iona_Penny

My OH grew up on a large council estate with a bad reputation then and a worse one now; some of the houses are privately owned but he wouldn't want us to live there now.
We do live next to a long row of council/ex houses and there is not a problem for us; for a few years we helped DD do a 'free' paper round and you really get a better feel for an area MY OWN PERSONAL VIEW would be don't buy a house in a road with lots of big woofy dogs/net curtains at front doors if you have a choice.

clutton_2

""Look at all the people who may earn good wages, but are thousands and thousands in debt - they're no better off really""

Well said, and isn;t this sentiment the essence of MSE ?

Mrs_pbradley936

Lots of people will have grown up in Council housing because it was very common at one time. What was uncommon was the amount of benefit claimants. I suppose they were filled by “the working poor”. People in employment but not on high wages, also you have to remember that there used to be a terrible stigma attached to having babies out of wedlock, living in sin etc. claiming of any kind was viewed as “charity” as was only available to the sick and the needy i.e. widows and orphans. Anyone else would not have dreamed of seeking it. There has been a huge change in social attitude since the 40s and 50s. Anyway then came the Council house great sell off and many people bought them and sold them on. From a practical point of view the only reason I would not buy one is because many councils have a cap on what they charge for repairs/maintenance for the original purchasers but that cap is lifted when the place is resold. That means that a place looks really good value for money as an investment but if the council decides to refurbish the lifts and only half the people are paying the cost it means that half pay twice as much.

LizEstelle

What seems to 'lower the tone' in this country is the presence of large-scale renting.

Whether it's council-owned or not doesn't appear to be relevant - sadly, it seems to be more a question of the type of person who prefers renting to buying - the 'it's up to the landlord' attitude is rife and the population seems to be shiftless, with very few wanting to make a real home out of their situation.

Added to this is the fact that many buy-to-let landlords couldn't care less about the state of their properties WHILE they're being rented and only tart them up prior to re-sale.

As a landlord myself, I always try to stay on top of maintenance, repairs etc and have tried to make actual improvements by installation of double-glazing and central heating which was not there under previous owner occupation - I always adopt the philosophy that this is 'protecting/enhancing the investment' and find it bizarre that many other landlords seem to think this is a waste of money.

clutton_2

'protecting/enhancing the investment' and find it bizarre that many other landlords seem to think this is a waste of money.

absolutely !!!!!!!!

cashdaddy

pbradley936 wrote:

also you have to remember that there used to be a terrible stigma attached to having babies out of wedlock, living in sin etc. claiming of any kind was viewed as “charity” as was only available to the sick and the needy i.e. widows and orphans. Anyone else would not have dreamed of seeking it. QUOTE]

Many now see benefits as an entilement and will choose them as any easy option. Some, also have no self respect and willingly expect those that have made some money, to hand it down to them. Having said that, some of the old traditions do infact ring true, such as 'Never buy on the never-never!'.

Pinklepurr

I looked at a lovely 4 bed detatched house recently for 340K, but when I looked out of the upstairs windows I could see that the garden backed onto what was clearly housing association homes. Each garden was unkempt and strewn with toys and rubbish and that completely put me off. Snobbish? probably - but I am not ashamed to admit it. The house is still unsold 2 months later and probably for the same reasons as I rejected it for.