Alas

Scoobyangel
Appreciate what you say as you can see from my post above where I was brought up.
I made the choice to leave though as no way was I going to end up as some of my mates were(by the way, some are still my mates).
Joined navy etc. When I came back went to work in an area where I could afford a house. Appreciate what you're saying but there is always an alternative.
And one other thing - you will be regarded as a snob if you try to make your own way on an estate by some of the scum that live there. I know - its a fact of life. Do what you can for yourself. Sod the rest.
Alasdair

Esoteric Beast

Scoobyangel

I dont know what area you live in but could you not go further north to afford somewhere that you would like to live and an area that is good to live in?

I visited some folks I know in manchester a while ago and they back on to manchester citys football ground, while I was there was scanning through papers at house prices I know its not somewhere I would want to live or even park my Scooby overnight but if I sold my house down here and my business I could buy a street or 2 up there.

scoobyangel

i dont want to move "up north" like i said, i have a baby on the way and already live an hour from my family and dont really wish to be any further.

i dont even know yet if i can get housing, i have only just applied and i suspect that as i work i wont be able to, although once baby is born the cost of a nursery here is more than i earn a week!

i have worked all my life, since the day i left school, i have never asked for any help before and now that i need some it seems the hardest thing in the world to get, yet if i was 15 and had never done a days work i would be handed everything on a plate.


i understand what you are all saying, that there are alternatives etc, that i could move to manchester for example... but then what??? i'd have no job, no family and no friends... is that really best??????

at present i live with my b/f and his mum, though she is away working as she is away working we are taking care of her house, and yes, she would let us stay after the baby is born, but it isnt really suitable for a child here, also i am sure many will undersatnd the need for your own home when u have a family.

i know i will not have to be in council housing forever, if i do infact get anywhere at all with my application, but right at this moment in time there is no way we can afford a house of our own

Esoteric Beast

Sorry to hear that, trouble is there are so many in your shoes with the cost of houses as they are...

the problem is also if you get more work now you will have to stop when baby born.....can i ask your age now?

Hope you get it sorted

ProperCharlie

All this stuff about council estates being like the lebanon is a bit exagggerated in the main. In most big cities there are some 'bad' estates where most people wouldn't want to live, but there is a fair bit of 'social' housing that is perfectly ok. Not all people that don't earn 50k a year are carck addicts and muggers.

SA, there may be Housing associations that can help you. Peabody is a good one in the London area. It will usually involve being on a waiting list but the fact that you are staying with someone else and the baby may help.

As for me, i'm with Kimera on a mission to create a few more welfare mothers. I reckon if i wait for the next eurostar to come in I can join a family of Kosovans and get a semi in Hampstead and free BUPA too!

Charlie

[Edited by ProperCharlie - 8/31/2002 12:59:18 PM]

scoobyangel

im 30, and live in Devon... lovely part of the UK, so u understand why i wouldnt want to leave!!

we have applied to housing associations rather than "council" as council has some really bad areas here, though tame compared to London i guess!

i have owned my own home, so know the pride that goes with it, unfortunatly when my husband and i seperated he kept the house and all that was in it including my 2 dogs... bearing in mind i owned the house for 2 years b4 i even met him, u can imagine how hard it is for me.......but i dont regret leaving him, no matter how hard i have to fight and struggle now, in myself i am happier, and i also have the pride of not being a gold digging bitch etc that alot of women gat labelled when they come out of divorce with all their husband worked for!

i am only contracted to work for 20hrs in my job yet most weeks work at least 30, though this is getting harder and harder as the pregnancy progresses, and i have to put the health of my baby 1st right now.
i would rather anything than live in a "scummy" area, i am proud, and it is a real blow to have to ask for help, but i do need to have a roof over my head etc for when baby is born, i dont want to bring my baby up in poverty, i want it to have the best of everything as i am sure all parents do, and i will make the best of whatever the situation is.

it is a shame that people label everyone the same if they have to live in a council area.... and i know alot of people desearve the label... working for the post office for 14yrs i have seen the scum of the scum kicking off about their giros, the unwashed etc... just bear in mind tho when casting aspertions... we arnt all like that, some really have to swallow all their pride just to walk into that building and ask for help, some of us cry night after night wishing it was different, and some of us work our **** off not to be there and feel like complete failures when there seems no light at the end of it all.

we arnt all "scavs" and "bums" and "scum"

Olly

Can't stop laughing at this thread.

We must have posh council estates in Macclesfield. Just bought a cheapie ex council house as a renter, and am busy doing the place up ready for a tenant. 2 doors down own a MY97 Scooby 5 door. Across the road a guy owns an E36 BMW M3.

They still wear tracksuits though.

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Scoobyangel,

I'm certainly not labelling all council house tenants as scum sucking society leaches. My post did examine the fact that some tenants treat thier homes with pride. What I am trying to understand is why do the one's who wreck thier homes, do so.

If I were lucky enough to get a council property when I was starting out on the property ladder, I would have looked after it (and then probably bought it cheao and sold it for wads ).

F

CC

tell you absolutely winds me up beyond belief...

I work damn hard all week and pay a good amount of tax. I am careful with money; the only vice being my car, but I don't p1ss my money up the wall, do drugs etc etc. Haven't had a decent holiday for years...

...I am struggling to buy a house. I don't expect anything grand; just a decent smallish semi in a normal area. No lusk up to now and £1000 in fees later .

But someone I know, has just got a 'housing association' semi detached house, about 6 years old, driveway, good condition. Him and his g/f are paying about £8 a week. F&^*&&&**!

They have a 6 month old kid, i think they had it to get the house. They know that they're better off not working and signing on. The get giros, free food tokens, free milk tokens, pay no council tax. He works on the side, getting a few £100 per week cash in hadn He could easily get a job as he has good electrical skills.

****ing winds me up. Whats EVEN worse, if in 10 years they decide to buy the property, she/he gets a job to pay the mortgage. The mortgage will be the value of the property less the rent the housing benefit association has been paying for the last 10 years!!!!!

So not only do they get the vast majority of the rent paid, they'll get this knocked off a mortgage too.

People, this is a BIG reason why teenage pregnancy is so high in this country. This system encourages babies for houses. It's ****ed up.

Luke

When a girl get pregnant today ..when friends ask her what she wants boy or girl?? she will reply " 2.bed flat".

Eagle7

ScoobyAngel,

I too live in Devon and grew up on a council estate where some of my family still live. The estates i know down here are not quite as bad as the 'Beirut street' places that you find in other parts of the country thankfully.

There is no shame in taking help if you need it. If you get a place, which I hope you do, take care of it and dont be ashamed of where you live. From most of the council areas I know around devon, they are not too bad so you should be ok. Like you said, it is hard enough to get in one so i would cover all your options reagrding housing associations, council etc.

hope all goes well.

skiddus_markus

When my parents divorced they sold their house and I moved with my mum into a council house where I grew up.It could have been worse as there are several worse estates in my town.Now I own my own house I still appreciate that there are normal working people living in this type of accomodation but.....I work in a job where I visit probably 50 council/housing association properties a day and I'd say 30% of them are a sh*thole,wipe your feet on the way out,mushrooms growing on the wall,grease all over the kitchen,walls waiting to be papered with writing from 1995 on them.The worst thing I find is when they keep animals though.The smell is disgusting when coupled with the perpetual central heating which serves to keep the doggy aroma wafting around at nostril level.Cat/dog hairs are everywhere and form a living carpet.
SA-a tip.If there's anything on the road other than cars(on wheels)or tarmac,walk away.

scoobyangel

Eagle.... i live in Plymouth too, but have only been here for about 4 months having moved from Exeter, and i know Plymouth isnt "that" bad in comparison to some places... my partner was also brought up on a council estate here, but certainly isnt "scum"!!!

we have chosen areas we would live in carefully... and if we are lucky enough to be able to get a place then i will certainly look after it, i cant bear to live in a tip, and paint dosnt cost much, keeping it clean and tidy certainly isnt expencive!

i know some will look down their nose at me still, no matter how nice i keep my home, nothing i can do about that... just saying before people tar every council tenant with the same brush think about the ones who arnt bumming off the state, who pay tax etc and who are ashamed to have to ask for help... we dont all keep burnt out escorts and sierra's on our front gardens!

Eagle7

Good stuff. If you want advice on any of the areas around Plymouth feel free to ask me. I have lived here all my life so know most areas pretty well.

If you still have your scooby, be sure to come to one of our meets too, they are usually a laugh

cheers

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

Another observation I've made (sounds like expedition journals!) is that this way of life is hereditary. The kids tend to do the same as the parents and get council houses.

It must be lazyness - they did't work at school, so no qualifications meant **** jobs or none at all and the sponging begins. They don't look after the houses because they are still lazy. Then they have kids and they do the same as they don't know any better.

Something needs to break the cycle. Perhaps sending them on nice holidays actually does show them what they could have if they tried.

F

Stueyb

The council estates round our areas are real cr*p holes. Some are really nice. What really gets me going though is that my g/fs brother is getting a council flat. He earns more than me (ie £25K-28+) and he gets a council house with his g/f and combined makes more than 40K. Why the f*ck should they get a council flat. The cheeky sods are asking for money off people to furnish their flat. They can fsck off if they think they are getting anything off me, an honest hard worker who doesnt want to rely on money they aint entitled too.