JayKay

But on the other side of the coin, what if people have saved up that little bit left at the end of the month for ages and ages to decorate said council house to a high standard, and then have to re-decorate within a few months?

Fair enough the council have spunked a lot of money on improving the house, but if Mr & Mrs A have spent the past 2 years saving up a load of money and within 3 months they're back to square 1, I could imagine they would be pretty pissed off?

ronf42

iTrader: (2)

an example of someone I know.
They had recently decorated their house and then they were told it was to be rewired and a new heating system to be put in.
The council gave them £25 of vouchers for every room needing done. needless to say they were out of pocket as they had to put more money into the decorating items needed to bring it back up to standard

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

T no one is saying people in a council house cant have a nice home. You just have to pay for it like everyone else. And if people cant afford to then tough, thats just life. People the last 10-15 years have got used to a massive increase in living standards. that costs money. so someone has to pay if we as a society expect to maintain that new higher standard of living. Personally i think a lot of people need to readjust thier view of normal living standards.

Not saying poor people should live in caves But wheres the incentive to work hard, study etc to get a better career and hence better life when you can have just as good a life on benefits doing fuck all than you can working???

Theres many people on low income jobs who cant get council housing and cant afford a decent place to live living in far shittier houses than any council place paying far more rent. Is it any wonder many of them look at doleys and get pissed off?? Is it any wonder some of them then quit work and go on the dole???

The fundamental flaw is weve bred a system where you can be better off both financially and in terms of standard of living/quality of life by being a "career" unemployed person/family.

And thats where the problem lies.

Psycho Warren

iTrader: (5)

of course theyd be pissed off.

Thats a prime example of a flaw in the maintenance management system. If they are paying to fix the house the council should leave it in the state they found it.

That specific example is a case where the council should put the damage right.

But to give out vouchers as a matter of course for improvement is IMO excessive.

JayKay

And I think Warren, thats where me and you have our wires crossed

My example on the previous page was the same as above - nicely decorated house saved up for years and then messed up with necessary improvements - fair enough new kitchen etc was lovely but £25 to decorate 6 rooms was a piss take.

With regards to the spongers though, I do agree that they should be told to get a job and do the work themselves - its a prime example of why this country is in the state its in now, with all the UNNECESSARY handouts.

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

I don't think people realise WHY you get given vouchers.....

Basically someone moves out of the house it then becomes vacant...

Now the council have 2 choices...

1 - decorate the house themselves at their cost.
2 - give some £££ in the form of vouchers to the new tennant so they supply the labour in their time FOC.

The cheapest option is to give the new tennant the £££ to make the house better.


The other thing is when the council have t odo internal works - new kitchin, bathroom, heating, wiring etc... Now the house is woned by the council so any of these works must be made good so do they do it themselves at their cost or again give the tennant the £££ for the materials and the tennant supplies the labour FOC.


Now in the last 9 years of having my house I have had the following donbe by the council....


House was suffering subsidence - 12 weeks
Complete rewire - 4 weeks
Heating completly replaced - 1 week
Kitchin, toilet and bathroom completly renewed - 4 weeks

Now I didn't pay for this but being a council house they have government standards to abide to and I don't have a choice about having it done or not they tell me it has to be done and they then come and did it....

Out of all of this I have received £250 to redecorate when we 1st moved in and that was to repaint EVERY painted surface in the house (3 bed)...


Steve

Escy

Too right. My missus is Brazilian and the poverty over there is bad. Wonder how sorry the people in the favelas would feel for people over here with a council house that have had a brand new kitchen fitted but 'only' £25 vouchers for decorating. Such a sob story there.....

Council should give out fuck all for tarting up houses. If you want paint on your walls, pay for it yourself.

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

Sorry if it sounds like I'm singling you out mate but I just can't believe how short sighted your being in all this,look at the work you've had done over the last few years,that's 10's of thousands of pounds all in all.when someone rewires your house,you don't expect them to redecorate it for FREE,that's part of the quote,or should be.
I can understand anbodys annoyance at the inconvenience etc but unless they damaged say your carpets etc through negligence then I'd say to simply redecorate then I think it's a fair deal personally.

Mrs T

My vouchers done 2 rooms and painted the hallway that was it, my mum brought carpet for my little girls room and the rest was just floorboards and it stayed like that for over a year untill I could afford to carpet the rest, the councils dont pay for things like that anyway, they look at the house and how bad that the other people have left it and they give what they think you will need, i was just glad I was given a home..

Some people have no other choice then to be in a council house, I couldnt get a private rented home because I just had a baby and was on low wage and there was no way I could find the £1,500 I would of needed before I could even start looking for somewhere, plus most private landlords will not take housing benefit so alot of people are stuck!!

I do agree that you do get some scum that live in council houses and just take and always want more but it really aint the case for everyone..you get scum through all walks of life

There is no thing to get people back into work but its the person's choice if they wanna be a bum all there life, I know full well I dont want to be and I will go to work when my little girl starts school and thats another year, when I do go back to work part time 16hrs I will be £20 a week better of..

Mark_

i really cant believe some of the attitudes on this thread...............

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

When did I say thy were scum? And if you need a council house (I.E no other option) then no, it shouldnt be fashionable, but functional.

Or

3 - If it's still habitable and safe, leave it as it is and safe money.

Lee Reynolds

Thats the whole point though, to make people who have got less have a bit more in life so they dont have to just 'make do'. What a stuck up arsehole of a comment.

Escy

If people want a bit more in life, it's up to them to go out and earn it like the rest of us.

JayKay

But what this thread is saying is that not everybody in council houses are on the dole; many of them do work for a living? So therefore they are working to get a bit more in life. Just because they live in a council house doesn't mean they are scummers!

As SteveB hit the nail on the head above, the council have standards they need to meet with regards to their properties and its not as though tenants have a choice on the refurbishment work taking place, they just get told its being done.

Mrs T

But the money doesnt even come close to doing the whole house up let alone making it fashionable.

Ok when I moved into my house the wallpaper was hanging of and had holes in places I had a 6 month old baby with no money all I had was a few items for the house that was it,

( I needed everything but I got it myself in a few years )

You saying I shouldnt of been given any help to help build a home for her?

That is the reason they are given, you cant spend them on anything else but wallpaper and paint and you dont get the money in your pocket either!!

Escy

You and your daughter had help by getting the home. If the aesthetics aren't how you'd like them, any alterations should be funded by yourself. That's my opinion.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

Stuck up? How? My family went through this, my dad was made redundant and we were up to our necks in debt. We got our house repossessed. The council house we were put in was a dump, horrible stained carpets, holes in walls etc and we had to make do. We didn't go scrounging for luxuries, all we wanted was the essentials. Luckily my dad got another job and we got out of the shit hole and into a private rental. We had to make do, why don't they?


Too right

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

If it was safe and functional, then it's fine. Just because it's not got nice wallpaper or tasteful carpets doesn't make it unsuitable for a family. Many people dont even get basic housing and are left on the street, I'm sure they wouldn't mind the house with wallpaper hanging off the wall.

Mrs T

For one there was no carpets in the house when I moved in, nor was there any decent wallpaper, I used the vouchers to do her room and the front room to make it a home for her,
I wouldnt of classed wallpaper hanging of the wall safe for a 6 month old who could of easy put that into her mouth??

Before I got my house I didnt have a home, I was staying at my mates out of one room with a 4 month old child, and if you read my post's before you will see I couldnt get a home because I didnt have £1,500 to even start looking..

Its not liked I walked into the house and said this is shit I want money to do it up..
I took the house as it was and it was nice that they gave me something to help..

Lets hope when your old enough you wont need any help from the council to house you or anything...

I do understand what your saying, and I have done everything else on my own apart from 2 rooms

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

Rip it all off? You do know you can survive without wallpaper, not essential.

No carpet? Buy a rug or cheap carpet, doesnt have to be soft, fluffy, comfy stuff.

All I'm saying is if it's not essential, the council shouldn't supply it. Think about it, if the council stopped giving decorating vouchers for luxuries, they cant help those who can't afford essentials.

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

Apart from one person,who's said that people in council houses are scum?the only person who said that was describing an incident that a woman complained that her free shed wasn't big enough,cheeky cunt!!!it was a few on here getting upset about it all saying they live in scummy council houses,90% of my mates do!!the whole argument about the thread is that while our country is on it's knees then why are we still handing out decorating vouchers to anyone?as I've said before,I'll bet no more than half of those vouchers actually get used on decorating products,I know cos I know loads of people who scam the council all the time so I don't see why this will be any different.

Last year I was offered two boilers and whatever I wanted from a council house as the family were doing a runner.I just laughed it off as a joke but I drove past a few days later and they'd stripped the fucking lot out and gone,but guess what?they've been re housed!!!

There's a family who live in the sandfields estate in port Talbot called the wooden tops due to the fact that their always burning shit,wood,coal etc but when that ran out and they had no money they burned what ever else they could,the kitchen units,staircase,garden shed etc.re housed again.those people IMHO are scum but certainly these people exsist in all walks of life and I for one can't believe how out of proportion this thread has become all due to the fact that some young lad trying to get on with his life was shocked at the fact that people get money to decorate the properties they live in,something I totally disagree with as well.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully I won't, but put it like this, if I was in council housing, all I'd want is a warm, dry, safe place to live. If there are no luxuries handed to me, this encourages me to work hard for them rather than expect everything on a plate. Surely this is what needs to be done to encourage the minority of people on the dole who are too lazy to work to get a job as they will realise life isn't easy and you have to earn luxuries. What will happen next? Will the council give vouchers for mirrors? For games consoles?

Mrs T

If you wanna belive that carry on..

Lee Reynolds

Oh fuck off ya narrowminded Cunt. Some people can't. Dont tar everyone with the same brush.

Lee Reynolds

If you went through all that then you should KNOW that genuine people are sometimes without and help like this is needed!

Why should they have to make do?

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

Because if you are given luxuries rather than essentials, then this would discourage others from work as the council are giving it to you for free

vaughant

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Lee Reynolds;5003265]Oh fuck off ya narrowminded Cunt. Some people can't. Dont tar everyone with the same brush.[/

It's getting a bit silly now lads,it's a public forum and were all entitled to our opinions granted but the original post was all about free vouchers ffs!!!!

Mrs T

Im not sure if they are given to everyone, I got mine when I signed the tennacy, so not sure if its just a one of thing..

On the vouchers it tells you on the back what you can buy, and it was only paint and wallpaper and the bits to make the walls ok to do that.
You dont get change from, but I bet some people have found a way around it

Lee Reynolds

[QUOTE=DarylC;5003272]Because if you are given luxuries rather than essentials, then this would discourage others from work as the council are giving it to you for free[/QUOTE

Luxuries? Getting a bit of wallpaper to brighten the house up?

Get a grip.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

When someone has no valid point to make, they resort to insults

So say someone on a council estate really wants a Escort Cosworth, under this logic they should be given one for free as it's unfair they have to go without rather than working for one.

Lee Reynolds

Exactly its a public forum so if i think hes a narrowminded cunt ill say so.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

[quote=Lee Reynolds;5003281]If you had no wallpaper, would you die? No.

If the carpet isn't a good colour, would you die? No.


Council houses should be basic, functional and cheap. If you want wallpaper in the house, fine, buy it yourself but dont expect others to pay for it for you.

SteveB

iTrader: (3)

Did you miss the highlighted red bit???? When in a council house they TELL YOU when they are doing works to the house not ASK YOU..... due to new government guidelines.

I haven't had any vouchers since living here we were given a £250 credit on our rent account when we moved in as the guy before us had lived there since the house was built new in the 50's and looked like he hadn't decorated since the 60's....lol. He had died of old age in the house (in his 80's).

At the end of the day if I rent my house for 50 years I could have bought it at least twice over (when I moved in 9 years ago the houses like mine were around £60k to buy) but it's not mine that's the difference between buying and renting the council have to keep to government guidelines.


Steve




Steve

Escy

You class that as essential? I don't.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

Maybe because they own the house?

Less.

[QUOTE=DarylC;5003286]You dont get vouchers for carpets

Thing is most houses now are housing assoctiations which are a buisness,so giving someone £200 of vouchers rather than paying say £1500 to a private contractor to paint it makes perfect buisness sense

Lee Reynolds

No valid point? and what point is the whole thread you have posted making? Making a point that you have to whinge about people without anything getting help to have a slightly better life while they are struggling?

Its insulting that cunts like him insult people like my sister who grafts her arse off everyday working all hours just to pay the rent and put food on the table for her and her 2 kids. She does this and she also gets a little help then from the benifit system, So according to people like you and Escy she should abandon her kids and go out and work even more hours or she is a scumbag? Like i say, narrowminded Cunts.

JayKay

[QUOTE=Less.;5003295]And this is the point i think a lot of people here are missing.

Its not so much providing "luxuries" to the people - its a way of the housing associations keeping THEIR properties PRESENTABLE and at the same time SAVING MONEY.

Darylc.

iTrader: (1)

[quote=Less.;5003295]If they are paying someone to paint a room with £20 worth of paint £1500 that needs to stop also. I'm looking for summer work, I'll paint them homes for a lot less than £1500

JayKay

Its not getting painted with £20 worth of paint though pal. Its a CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS THE COST of redecorating. They aren't covering the full cost!

Whichever way you look at it, the Housing Associations are saving money this way and keeping more in their arse pocket - its how business works.