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

Ames

I wouldn't recommend buying it to sell on. Who's going to buy a house with neighbours like that? You'll end up stuck in it forever! Plus it'd be a real faff to repay the discount, as you can't sell it on within a certain time otherwise.

BeenieCat

Also i think you have to live in it for x amount of years before selling it otherwise something happens to the discount? Think you have to offer it back to the council who will buy it at same rate, until after 5 years or so.

Edit - Oops you just said that too, i must finish reading before i engage my fingers

Toomuchdebt

jellyhead wrote: »

:eek: I think it's only around £100 here for a 3-bed HA house! You can rent privately here for £150 a week if you're not fussy!

I've literally just been on gloshomeeker website(been on the list for a council house for 4 years and despite having 6 children in a 3 bed house I'm still waiting to get anywhere) and the only house I am eligible for has a rent of 190 a WEEK...that's more than I pay now!!I was shocked.

wonderwoman_3

Hi I'm in the same boat and am thinking of giving up my tenancy. I made a huge mistake swapping the last time. I think if you're that unhappy and for the sake of your kids you should give it up, but try and hold on for a swap as long as you can. Please let us know what you decide

Sid_Wolf

I would stick it out if you can, my parents exchanged into a dodgy area when i was 8 and my brother a baby, noisy druggies one side, and loud generally annoying neighbours the other and dotted around the close. My parents didnt k ow it at the time but the close we moved to was notoriously bad in that area.

Buy fast forward a few years and the place is lovely, both sets of neighboura ave moved and so have other noisy ones and now the close is quiet and my parents have become friends with the new neighbours and evwn have them feed the cat when they go away. My brother has loads of friends in the same road and its quiet and safe enough for them to play out

they've also spent a fair amount on the house and its gorgeous, doesnt seem anything like a council house anymore! Even though it was horribly decorated when they got it. As another poster said you dont usually have that option in private rents.

It took about 4-8 years for everyone to move away but it was worth putting up with it in the long run!

embob74

As PP said areas do evolve. If next door are teenagers they will grow up and leave and the area improves.
I had a HA house and I would have hung onto that with my last breath due to being made homeless previously and having to live in a hostel. Renting privately will never give you the same security and if you think it's bad living next door to druggies you should view a hostel and the inmates that are housed there :eek: you'd soon be wishing you still had your house then.
But saying that I have also lived in a rundown area and next door to social delinquents and it can make every day seem gloomy and will impact on your life immensely. I have had friends who gave up a council tenancy to move somewhere better and they have never looked back. They both stopped smoking and the money they saved covered the difference in rental costs but they were lucky they stayed in the same place for a few years at a time.
You will have to bear in mind the potential costs of moving each year (letting agents fees are expensive) and having to put down a deposit before you have received our old one back. And even if you don't move you could get charged approx £120 each year to sign a new agreement!
As your son is in high school you will need to prepare for the day he leaves school/ turns 18 as you will no longer receive child benefit or tax credits for him and you could end up subsidising him at a time when your rent has increased and money is tight.

Good luck OP in making such a hard decision.

embob74

Just to add that as you have 2 boys could they share a room? You will have far more choice in swapping homes if you downgrade to a 2 bed and somebody benefits from a 3 bed. Check the new area thoroughly though - at different times of day and night, weekdays and weekends.

WantToBeSE

Hi everyone.
I just thought i would update things.

Just to clarify, i already live in a 2 bed, and am looking to swap (or move) to a 2 bed as well.

i havent applied to any HAs directly, as i didnt know you could do that...but thats something i will be doing, so thanks for the suggestion.

I am still seriously considering private renting. Since i last posted, i have been burgled (came home to find people in my house stealing my stuff) and now i am on edge 24/7. Things with the neighbours arent getting any better, in fact they are out there arguinig as we speak...again.

The neighbours on the other side of me have moved out into private rented as they have had enough of the police calls etc.

Its all very well saying to keep on contacting the council, but when it gets back to the neighbours that it was me making the complaints (which it will, as i am the only one attached to them directly), it will be MY house that has broken windows and voilence instead of their own. I feel incredibly vulnerable as i am a single person with 2 kids, and am just beside myself with worry.

I have also now been told by 2 different people that things will be getting a whole lot worse, as the people who are moving in on the other side of me, are a nightmare. The bloke is in and out of prison, beats his GF regularly..and the best bit...has frequent fights with my neighbours.

it sounds like a bl00dy joke doesnt it, but i am actually sat here in pieces at the thought of things getting any worse