Buying Next Door to Social House

It's not prejudice if ones opinion is formed from actual experience, as is the case throughout this thread. The OP asked for people's advice based on their experience. That's what people have given. If those experiences have been mostly negative, well then, that's just the way it is.

As I said earlier, I've lived beside social for around 12 years, the first 6 were great, the last 6 have been hell. We've decided to move and as soon as the right house comes along we're out of here!

Yet they've been described by one poster as all five bullets in a game of russian roulette with only five bullets.

I thought it was pretty obvious that this was an analogy that, even if you cannot have certainty, you can give yourself a much better probability of a good outcome. You knew that, and when someone's only contribution is wilfully and repeatedly misrepresenting the other person's argument, that's the surest sign they know they're wrong but just can't admit it.

You are advocating that since you cannot have no bullets, you might as well have five. That's your entire argument. And you want the OP to spend hundreds of thousands of euro on the heavy gun. It's madness.

You're personally affronted because, as a former council tenant, you don't think we should be saying mean things about any of them. Fair enough, but it doesn't change the facts. If you did grow up in a council estate, you'll know all about the social problems that can arise due to problem neighbours.

Political correctness and indignant self-righteousness is all well and good when someone else is paying for it.

When it's your own money and your own family home, you need to live in the real world.

I don't think it's so much about council tenants but more so the area.

Then I personally wouldn't hesitate but that's just me and my opinion.

lols...russian roulette - the clue is in the name...it's a gamble, a game of chance...if you can't work out simple probabliity from the analogy given then really you should just stop as you're probably arguing from some point of misunderstanding more than anything else.

Run away. You shouldn't have to live next door to scumbags when you're paying for the house yourself.

FYI for anyone buying in a new build, you can generally look up the planning documents online and they will have the Part V houses marked on the plans. If they're not explicitly marked out, then it will tell you what type of house is Part V and you can see where this type is located on the plans.

Just if you want to put some distance if you have the choice of houses.

Just want to throw my own hat in the ring here, we have friends who live beside a terraced social house, the neigbours who live there are absolutely no problem at all although they are very quiet

The issue is if you want to get anything like repairs done on a shared wall or chimney stack be prepared for a big bill as the council only want their own, more expensive "framework" builders working on it

I have suggested the OP to buy a villa with no neighbours within a shouting distance, but somehow my advice was not taken seriously.

Let me explain. If the OP has no budgetary constraints, then why would we discuss this? The best neighbours are not social tenants, or owner occupiers, or AirB&B guests. The best neighbours are not heard nor seen unless you want them to be seen. Their kids do not bounce footballs off your car. Their teenagers do not smoke hash hiding behind your house. You don't want to find some neighbour's guest car blocking your house when you come back from work.

So we can assume that the OP has a limit of €XXX K to buy a house. It will not be an ideal house, some compromises will have to be made. Would you buy a damp house, but without a social house next door? No space to put your car, but with owner occupiers on both sides? No suitable school nearby? Unless you already know that the social house has troublesome tenants already, I would consider the risk of having bad social house tenants to be less important than choosing things that you can actually have control over (location, state of the house, etc).

If an owner occupier or renter lived next door they could have a much bigger impact on your life also... But with a council house at least you have an outlet to complain to (the council housing board) if the tennants need turfing out

I'd hate to have no neighbours. Get on great with mine and adds to my appreciation of my house.

We live in a really lovely quiet part of Dublin close to the city centre and I've unfortunately some social housing across the road from me.

It's a beautiful end of terrace house that was done up by the council not too long ago. Has a great big side garden on it too which none of the other houses on the street have. On the open market you'd probably get 450k for it. Would be a lovely family home for a couple starting off.

They have it in an absolute state. Garden totally going to waste. Fencing around the garden has all but fallen down and just left to lie on the ground. Been like that for months. They routinely dump bags of rubbish and broken toys/other household waste on the streets around their house, which I've to log a call with the council to get rid of as it just sits there otherwise.

It's the only council house on the road, everyone else are owner occupiers and take a lot of pride in their homes and the road. Between us we put a lot of effort in cleaning the place up, deweeding, planting flowers etc.

It's a real case of people getting something for free/next to free and not having any sense of it's value or pride in it. Really sad to see.

I do yes, sort of a "prejudice" you have?