Pros and cons of moving from council accommodation to private?

snuggles09

Hi,

I don't know if i'm in the correct Forum so mods feel free to move:)

Myself, my husband and 3 children are currently living in a council house, we've been here nearly 6 years. Over the last year or so with the children getting bigger I can see that it's not somewhere that I would like to raise them indefinitley ( houses getting burnt out, drug dealing going on, kids with mouth like sewers when they are out playing ), in essence we want better for them.

When we were first given the house we were very glad of it as we had been living with my parents with a new baby and don't get me wrong, i like my immediate neighbours, the children have made friends and the house itself is nice.

I feel lately though that we are out growing the house, it seems a lot smaller these days with the children getting older and they my 10 year old has said it to me on a few occassions how she would like her friends to sleep over etc but there really isn't any room ( and i feel so sorry for her).

Myself and my husband are both working and within the next year we would like to leave here but while in one sence I'm very excited at the idea (nice big house, plenty of room ) on the other hand I'm very wary.

I don't fully understand leases and how they work and at the moment I know we can never be asked to leave where we are as it's a council house, it's ours for as long as we want it. What if we move to a beautiful house, get settled and then we are told once the lease is up that we have to move? It's the uncertainty of it all..we wouldnt qualify for a mortgage at the moment on our earnings ( plus we do have loans outstanding) so we were hoping that if we were to rent for a couple of years that we could use this as proof towards a mortgage application that we could afford to pay a mortgage?

I don't know what advice I'm looking for really..has anyone been in this situation where they have moved from a council house to private renting..did it turn out ok or did you regret it?

foxy06

Personally I believe council housing should be only a temporary measure. However if you feel that in a few years you may be able to purchase rather than rent then I would hold off and wait until you have the funds saved up and have improved your employment prospects and then go and buy somewhere. Im not going to say renting is dead money because the opposite is the case at the moment but privately renting will obviously cost you more so this will result in you not saving as much.

It doesnt really matter what rent you are paying if you go to the bank looking for a mortgage and have not got the funds for a deposit. If I were you I would work on doing some serious saving and use getting out of where you are as an incentive.

snuggles09

thanks for that, you've said what I've been thinking in my head..save hard this year and hopefully have a deposit by end of next year..my only problem is i have no patience at all and that daft.ie is a curse at the moment..i sit here day dreaming half the night of the lovely houses i could be living in..it'll be worth it in the end though when I'm in my *mansion in 5 years

*replace with 4 bedroomed bungalow with lovely kitchen and nice decking out the back, i'm easily pleased:D

MariMel

My own personal experience of handing back a council house is that it is no easy thing. Even though while here I had my house set of fire by teenagers and the same to the house next door a few weeks before. I had to get letters of support left right and centre. But i suppose i was looking to leave a council house then to be able to apply for rent supplement which is a no no if you hand back a local authority housing. But I was thankfully deemed to have exceptional circumstances that had nothing to do with the fires/drinking outside my house otherwise I would still be there.
I will say though, that it was a life saver for me. I went from living with curtains closed all day and only leaving when noone was about, to coming and going and loving opening the curtains first thing in the morning and not worrying.

But I get from your post that you are going to go from a council house to privately renting and not looking for rent supplement. Use your time wisely, whether it be to get a deposit and a regular significant savings history behind you to be able to buy or to find a house to rent that would suit your needs long term. Being content where you live does wonders for the soul. The best of luck to you.

ShaShaBear

If you plan to buy, I would definitely stay where you are until then. Private renting is VERY shaky at present, and you really don't know what could happen. You could be there for a year and have to move, your landlord could decide to sell the place, you might find the place is in worse condition than you thought and the landlord refuses to help, paying full rent prices of anything between 600 and 1000 per month will really hinder your saving idea and if it all goes to pot, you won't qualify for rent allowance because you left council accommodation, and they likely won't give you another council house.

Definitely stay put and work on getting your own place, it's somewhere you can call home, which unfortunately can rarely be said for private rented accommodation. Plus you'll be in a position to make renovations/extensions if you decide to add to the family, be it more kids or an elderly family member.