Are rough council estates scary to live on?

[CourtneyLane]

Thank you for the replies everyone! I'm feeling quite tempted to apply for one of these houses because it doesn't sound as bad as people (here) have made it out to me to be. I mean where I live now, there's kids being annoying (balls kicked against the house, stones smashed my window, throwing stuff against my door) and drugs (smoking pot feet from my window). Plus drunk people climbing ladders to wake their OHs up and scaring the shit out of me when I see them. I'm thinking if I'm having some of that here, why not do it somewhere where I'll be better off financially and have a secure tenancy! And where I'd be allowed to decorate and have pets. I'm going to ring them when they are next open and have a chat with them

 

[stephx]

I live on the outskirts of rough estate. Although i'm not really on the estate, I live in a street of 30 council houses and 7 privately bought. The council tenants are all friendly and chatty, the kids play out together etc. The people that have bought there houses don't make any eye contact, are stuck up and generally vile.

People hold a lot of negative stereotypes about council tenants and estates, but in my experience there is a great sense of community and just down to earth families.

Just as an example, I was rushing out the front door a few months back and managed to leave my laptop on the doorstep. Came home to find one of my neighbors had found it and held onto it for me. That's pretty awesome

 

[Dragonfly]

I think all areas are different, can be some nice places but well noted are so many you dont go in to here. Some of the rents in them estates are more than my place is. We have sectarianism to add in here too to certain estates.

 

[xcharx]

We live in a high crime rough neighbourhood (armed police on the streets last summer due to gun & knife crime) and during the day its fine. I wouldn't go out on my own at night & we have had trouble at our house 3 times.
i think it depends on your neighbours more than anything. Our neighbours are lovely but two streets away they always seem to have trouble?

 

[Kate&Lucas]

You can get good pockets. Just keep your eyes open really. I live on a bad street but only one end of it is bad, my side is lovely. I was given keys to a house a few years back, also on a bad street, before I'd even moved anything in local kids had smashed the windows, were playing through the house, starting fires etc. I'd only been in to paint, it happened within about 3 days of taking the boards down. It is literally round the corner from where I live now but it couldn't be more different.

If you can, when they offer you a viewing, do your own little 'viewing' before you respond to them. That's what I did with this place, once they gave me the address I came here the day before they were due to show me around, walked down the street at different times of the day, spoke to the neighbours, really checked the area out before I decided whether I should take it. After my last experience though I will say if a house is tinned, refuse it!

 

[summer rain]

I live in a 'nice' newbuild estate in a very posh area and it has improved somewhat now but it used to have terrible problems with ASB. Apparently there are still issues with people smoking weed and vandalism in some of the other blocks but as we are in the far corner this doesn't affect us and usually it's so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I used to live in moss side in Manchester as well as a really rough area in East Manchester and while I'm sure both have improved now when I lived there it was as scary as portrayed in the media so nowhere I could live now is as bad in comparison xx

 

[CourtneyLane]

Ooh I'm a bit scared now! I think I'll definitely have to do some scouting out of the area at different times. That's shocking about the kids breaking into the house! I'm beginning to think I'm a bit too wimpy to live somewhere like that

 

[Tasha]

It doesnt mean the area you are looking at will be like that, loads of estates have a bad rep left over from the 80's and 90's where no money was invested in them but in the 00's and 10's that has changed and things have changed. Go and check it out at different times and get a feel for the place.

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Yeah definitely check an area out before you accept anything. As I say, the place I'm in now has a bad rep too but it's absolutely fine.

 

[summer rain]

It doesnt mean the area you are looking at will be like that, loads of estates have a bad rep left over from the 80's and 90's where no money was invested in them but in the 00's and 10's that has changed and things have changed. Go and check it out at different times and get a feel for the place.

Tasha is right, although it unfortunately didn't go through, we were going to do a swap with a family on the World's End Estate in Chelsea about a year ago. The name itself sounds forbidding! I read some newspaper articles online from about 10-15 years ago and they really put me off but when I researched further I found most of the flats and maisonettes were now privately owned by wealthy people who had high expectations and the gangs were long gone. The estate was cleaned twice a day every day and when we went to view the maisonette everyone was really friendly, also the maisonette had a big newly installed playground just outside, the maisonette was on the 1st floor but the estate had various parks and open spaces on several different floors as the estate was built in reaction to badly designed estates where those on upper floors were isolated and cut off from services. It's such a shame the swap didn't go through because it was just perfect xx

 

[Tasha]

at the name! Kaysie was born in chelsea and Westminster hospital and so some of the buses to worlds end go past the hospital, I always thought I don't want to go there. Lol.

Chelsea is amazing though, twice weekly rubbish and recycling collection, use to be daily!!

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Oo we get two collections a week minium too! Id rather pay more for aread but I guess I've been sheltered!

 

[Mummy Bean]

I lived in some pretty rough south London council estates and tbh it pot luck. My parents own a house on one which was known for being truly awful - but yet it turned out lovely, they get on real well with the neighbours and there a true community feel with everyone helping out.

Our last house was on an estate it was empty for the year before we got it and apparently was a crack den- but never seen any evidence of it in the house we had a major weed dealer living next door and the nicest old man on the other side - but having the dealer there meant we NEVER had any trouble - like others said they don't shit on there own doorstep.

but on comparison my inlaws live in a very wealthy area of London and have had some real trouble with the neighbours - 'rich' people prob just as bad if not worse then the so called poor.