Considering giving up council house and renting privately- am i mad?

WantToBeSE

I was given my 1st ever HA (housing association) house in 2000, and quite happily lived there until 2009, when i moved (into another HA house- via a mutual exchange) so that i could get a job.
The neighbours dog was unbearable, barking all hours of the day and night, so 2 years later, i moved to a council house ( agian, via mutual exchange) about a 30min drive away, to the small town i am in now.

The area is dodgy, the house is TINY, and the neighbours are drug dealing scum, playing music all night, preventing my children from sleeping, and dont answer the door so i can ask them to turn it down.

It just seems that apart from the first place i lived in, my experience of living in council/HA areas hasnt been very nice to say the least!

I am still going to have to stay quite close to this area, as both of my children are in school in this town, but nobody will exchange with me, due to my neighbours being well known for drug dealing

I dont want my kids to grow up in this area, or witness the things that go on next door, anymore (such as rowing out the front at 4am, kids screaming, beer cans being left all over our garden etc), so am considering giving up council housing to get a nice 3 bed in a quieter area.

am i insane for even considering giving up a council house (as some of my friends have suggested)?

mrcow

Of course you're not mad. You're trying to make the best decision for your family. I don't know anyone who would think your situation is an appropriate place to bring up a family.

Can you not ask for a transfer? I'm sorry, I don't know how it works.

Can you afford to buy/rent privately? Have you done the maths?

Dunroamin

Yes, I'm afraid that I do think you'd be mad to give up all your security by going into the private sector, let alone the cost.

If you can't do another transfer within the area, I'd try to move somewhere else unless your children are at a crucial stage in their education, like being in the middle of their GCSE courses.

Have you tried complaining to the council or police about your neighbours before you decide on a course of action?

LoopyLu

You're not mad. I gave up a council tenancy to get where I wanted to be and away from my neighbours. Sometimes in life we have to take risks to be happy.

BeenieCat

Just make sure you've exhausted all options before you do it, or you may regret it.

Have you tried the independent swap sites? Homeswapper etc? I was surprised at the amount of people who wanted to be in what i would see as an undesirable area.

Have you applied with housing associations directly? I know the council lists include them but they only allow around half of their properties to go on the council lists.

Have you put yourself on for a mutual exchange on the council list?

Have you checked out if any new developments are to be built near you? I got a new build HA house despite being adequately housed, they were giving priority to existing council tenants.

Or speak to some other neighbours, see if they have family who want to be there who would swap with you. Even if it means moving into a smaller place but a better area, you'd be more likely to swap from there than where you are.

WantToBeSE

Thanks for the opinions so far.

Dunroamin- i totally understand your point of view, and if i had nice neighbours and lived in a nice area, i would have no problem in staying in a council property.
I cant move my children AGAIN, as this is their 3rd set of school, and my eldest is in his 1st yr of high school, and my son has SEN and the school he is in is wonderfully supportive.

mrcow- i COULD afford it, only just, but i could. It would mean that i would have to keep to a very tight budget, but i feel that is a sacrifice i would happily make.

Alikay

You'll probably not get such a secure tenancy for such a low rent again, but if your neighbours are having such a negative effect on your family's life I think moving would be better.

Have you tried one of the national exchange sites for a swap as well as your own local council one? Might be worth a go - people moving into the area for jobs or to be near family maybe won't be so picky about the neighbours, and they also won't have the benefit of local gossip about them!

http://www.ukhomeswap.co.uk/portal.php
http://www.councilexchangesite.co.uk/

dramaqueen1973

Hi

I did this, my son had come off life support and intensive care due to sever asthma and pneumonia, docs wanted him to have easy access to garden, was living in 2nd floor flat with no outside play area for him to play, plus I had sciatica and could not get up stairs easily, but I could not be moved as list was huge and no one wanted to exchange to flat! Stayed for 2 years when son was constantly hospitalised with chest problems, Also the neighbours weren't the best, so I gave it all up and rented a flat with a garden...son amazingly become so healthy and we never saw intensive care again! Best thing I ever did!

Sometimes you have to go for it in order to move forward!

Drama xx

raven83

For me personally i would not do it, i like a risk, but it is just too risky as your tenancy wouldn't be a secure one like you get with a council/HA property. There is nothing to stop the landlord from wanting to sell and you would have to move again. I do see what you are saying though, i was in a bit of situation like that some years ago but i am glad i didn't go ahead and rent privately as it turned out for the best in my situation. Like said before have you tried homeswapper? I would definitely not do anything rash and as said before it should be as a very last report IMO. I would try and move again maybe increase the amount of areas that would consider moving to, or perhaps go straight to you HA and see if they have a transfer list.

I hope you manage to sort something out, i know what it is like to live around scummy people like that in a rough area, i am just so greatfull in my case i now live in an area i really like that is nice to bring up my kids.

BitterAndTwisted

If you go into a privately-rented property there's absolutely no security bar the initial fixed-term. You say that you've moved three times now but in a private rental you could be on the move every six months if you're unlucky. Also, rents in the private-sector are rising and benefits being capped, so you could be in danger of finding yourself in a very uncomfortable financial situation at some point.

savingmummy

I am going through a similar thing living with neighbours from hell :mad:
I can`t afford private renting here and need to stay in the area so its not an option for us.
BUT mutual exchanges are the way forward if you would struggle private renting and need to stay in the area its an ideal solution.

Definately give it a try, you can sign up for free and are under no obligation to move unless you spot a perfect place, you may be lucky and find somewhere very quickly as a lot of people do.