Living near Affordable Housing - Whats it really like?

LittleMax

Building_Surveyor wrote: »

affordable housing and social housing and two completely different things!!!

In planning terms they are not completely different things, they are all lumped under the umbrella term 'affordable housing', and that is what the developer will show them as on the plans. It depends on requirements in the area as to whether the properties will be rented, rent to buy (intermediate rent) or shared ownership.

Ranek

I am also in the process of buying a Taylor Wimpey home on a site with affordable housing.

I would advise you to take a good look at the site plan if you are that worried. The types of affordable housing are denoted on ours as symbols next to the plot number.
"*" denotes social rented housing
"*SO" denotes Shared Ownership properties.

My understanding is that the social rented housing is what would have been your traditional "Council housing" before Housing Associations bought up all the local authority housing stock.

Whereas the Shared Ownership properties are just that, people on lower incomes who part rent and part mortgage their property, often with the intention of "staircasing" to increase the % they own.

As with anything in life, stereotypes exist however you can get fantastic neighbours who are social housing tenants and neighbours from hell who own their own home.

My girlfriends' parents used to have huge problems, not with their social housing neighbours, but the owner occupier next door who moved out and rented his house to a drug dealer/addict for rock bottom rent to annoy his ex-wife!

Am I worried about bad neighbours? Yes. Is this because of the social housing? Not at all.

You simply cannot tell what people are like from their housing, to suggest otherwise is at best ignorant and stereotypical.

embob74

Until recently I was in social housing in a new build, modern and very upmarket estate.
The HA accepted applicants from the Council waiting list but they had their own criteria and the decision was theirs alone on who became a tenant. New tenancies are given a 1 year tenancy which is not guaranteed to be renewed and there were strict terms within the tenancy agreement such as not being allowed to repair a car on the estate, keeping pets and not having a washing line outside :eek:
The estate had 25% of social housing - some were shared ownership and some were rented through the HA. All residents looked after the area (a maintenance charge was made for gardening and lighting services) and I wouldn't have been able to tell who had bought and who hadn't.
I would be wary about buying a property on a new estate like that though. Not so much for the social housing but due to the maintenance charges (common with new build estates), lack of parking, shoddy build and the fact that they were overpriced and you'd start off in negative equity.

Due to it being a new build estate there were many couples buying a family home with a view to having children - I'm sure in 15 years it won't just be the social tenants loitering and shouting in the street.

Btw I can't stand Jeremy Kyle :rotfl:

MrParsons

Although it's a new build estate there is no service charge. The executive apartments do have a service charge for the common areas though which I understand is normal.

I'll try and get hold of the company running the letting of the homes again today and find out exactly the type of renting it will be.

LittleMax

embob74 wrote: »

Until recently I was in social housing in a new build, modern and very upmarket estate.
The HA accepted applicants from the Council waiting list but they had their own criteria and the decision was theirs alone on who became a tenant. New tenancies are given a 1 year tenancy which is not guaranteed to be renewed and there were strict terms within the tenancy agreement such as not being allowed to repair a car on the estate, keeping pets and not having a washing line outside :eek:

Housing Associations who use the Council's allocations list can agree additional criteria, however it has to be a fair and consistent, so it is somewhat misleading to say that the decision is theirs alone on who becomes a tenant. This makes it sound like an arbitrary process. Even Housing Associations that hold their own list would have to demonstrate a fair and consistent allocations process. That said, they will usually apply additional criteria for new build properties, some will have police checks etc.

Some housing associations will issue starter tenancies, but in general these are used for new tenants. If tenants are moving from another social letting, they will retain the terms of their existing tenancy and the HA would not be able to demote them to a starter tenancy. So again this is misleading, as you imply that all tenancies on new builds will only be for an initial one year.

You also only know the covenants that your own house association enforced, because you had these imposed on you. This is no indication that these would apply here. Some covenants will be from the builder.

LittleMax

MrParsons wrote: »

Although it's a new build estate there is no service charge. The executive apartments do have a service charge for the common areas though which I understand is normal.

I'll try and get hold of the company running the letting of the homes again today and find out exactly the type of renting it will be.

I would be very wary of the proposed apartments. Planning consent has not yet been given. Parking is restricted, and these are also likely to end up as rental properties.

MrParsons

How do you know they are likely to end up as rental properties? How do you know planning consent has not yet been approved? I looked at the council website but I cant make head nor tail of what its about.

the people taking care of the AH houses have just called. There are 3 shared ownership houses and the rest will be effectively council houses where people bid on them and the person who needs them the most gets them. this is base don children, income an other factors so i was told.

I'm unsure what to do now... love the house, love the area in general, there's just this one unknown which is bugging me.

LittleMax

MrParsons wrote: »

How do you know they are likely to end up as rental properties?

Because it is a general trend that happens with new build apartments. They are seen as a good investment by private landlords.

How do you know planning consent has not yet been approved? I looked at the council website but I cant make head nor tail of what its about.

Because on this page of the website it states "Status: Pending Decision"

Looking at the dates it looks like it went to Committee on 28 March and should be done and dusted in a week or so. The Planning Officer will be able to tell you whether or not it was approved and what conditions were made.

the people taking care of the AH houses have just called. There are 3 shared ownership houses and the rest will be effectively council houses where people bid on them and the person who needs them the most gets them. this is base don children, income an other factors so i was told.

I definitely wouldn't buy a property opposite social housing rental properties. *takes cover and prepares for accusations of being a narrow minded bigot*

I'm unsure what to do now... love the house, love the area in general, there's just this one unknown which is bugging me.

There will always be compromises to be made. Only you can decide what is most important to you in your property search.

Answers in red

MrParsons

Thanks for that detective

At least with private landlords it will be people who are working and reduces the risk somewhat. Of course, there's always exceptions to the rule and half this thread seems to have been around that discussion.

LittleMax

MrParsons wrote: »

Thanks for that detective

At least with private landlords it will be people who are working and reduces the risk somewhat. Of course, there's always exceptions to the rule and half this thread seems to have been around that discussion.

It has been granted approval ... draft minutes are published on the website

Now I think I'm properly entitled to the title detective