Do people in social housing or housing association homes make alterations like new kitchens or loft conversions?

Posted by Then-Fortune-3122@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 25 comments

I was wondering how this works with social housing / housing association tenants who rent and don’t own the property. Do people still spend money on things like new kitchens, loft conversions, or other renovations, and is there much of a point if they don’t own the home?

Do housing associations or councils ever do these upgrades themselves if needed / requested by the tenant?

Also, what happens when the tenant leaves? Do some houses end up with better features because previous tenants paid for improvements while the rent stays the same as lesser properties, or do housing associations/councils usually reset things back to a standard spec?

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National-Jump-8066@reddit

I have a life long tenancy and can do anything but structural.

Kitchen and bathroom replacements are on a schedule but my 2008 house isn't due for another 10 years..

If we do change kitchen or bathroom we become responsible for all matinence linked to it

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ReallyIntriguing@reddit

Yes they do. Ignore all these online folk on here whi aren't in the real world.

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

You mean all 'these online folk' who have all basically said the same thing? 😂

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ReallyIntriguing@reddit

Every single person I know who has a council property have gutted both kitchens and bathrooms and had them refitted, same with plastering and such.

Internet people are busy bodies and karens, all virgins mostly and have no idea how to interact and communicate in real life

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

you do know where you are posting this right?

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ReallyIntriguing@reddit

Absolutely. I work for government. Majority council property have been gutted kitchens and bathrooms with no permission.

Real world isnt reddit people.

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

Pretty much everyone in the comments have said people have gutted kitchens/bathrooms - no one has really disagreed...I think you're arguing with yourself here.

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SilyLavage@reddit

The online world is the real world now for many people.

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Accurate_Dot542@reddit

In my previous home my dad paid a couple of grand for all new fences and decking and the garden fully doing, it was beautiful! Because the state of it when i moved in made it unusable and the lack of fences meant I had people just walking into my garden! And next doors dogs coming into my house. I obviously left it all when I moved. I hope the council didn't remove all the decking and stuff but they might have.

When I went to look at the house I moved to it had decking all out the front, when I moved in the council had took all of it and just left an enormous mess of mud and weeds. I've redone it all and I'll leave it nice if I move. Also done the back garden and decorated everywhere. It was still decorated how the previous tenants left it when I moved in, I think if it's left in a decent state they will leave the inside how it is. But if it's manky they'll rip all the carpets and flooring up and paint everything white.

My kitchen counters were awful, I called them at least once a month and after a year they let me pick new ones and came to replace them. They're quite good like that, well the one I'm in I don't know about others.

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Boggyprostate@reddit

In my home, new HA tenant. They do the kitchens every 25years, same with bathrooms. My kitchen, to me is amazing, I love my home but it's really not! Top cupboards are different than top, really badly fitted bottom units, honestly it's like a child has done it! The handles need changing and I can't get 2 of them off at all, the screws have been messed up so badly, they don't even resemble screw heads and a couple have been glued on, so getting g them off would just damage the door! I can't complain because I am so grateful but I do know from the neighbours it has only had a partial update in 25years and HA say it was fully done 😕

I have done a few things and hopefully in a few years I might be able to afford a new kitchen, it's only tiny.

They really did a fantastic good to get it ready for the next tennent, it was beautiful and clean and all freshly painted and siliconed.

My HA is amazing though.

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Swimming-Plastic-398@reddit

I have lived in both council and housing association properties for almost 30 years. You can do the basics such as decorating and flooring (as it will be bare floors when you move in except for kitchen and bathroom) anything other than that you need written permission. Generally they will allow you so long as you're not knocking down walls. They will say that you have to put it back to how you found it if you leave.

If there is a garden you will also be responsible for that. In my experience they wont even sort out a tree that was in danger of damaging the property and they were the ones who planted it when the estate was built.

If you were to for example change the taps and then one broke theoretically they could refuse to repair as you fitted it. On the other hand the repair person probably wont know what should be there and might fix it anyway. If you're lucky enough to actually get them to come out and fix a problem let alone having it done to a decent standard that is 😂

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BeaksFalcone@reddit

You can make improvements to the property within reason

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Great-Activity-5420@reddit

Where I live that housing companies do the upgrades. But the tenants don't get to decide. You can't do it yourself as it's not your house. And there's no point paying to make changes when it's not yours. Small things like decorating yes but not any major things Even if you rent privately you need permission to do anything to the house but since it's not your house it's silly to do any improvements as if the private landlord decides to sell up you have to leave

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Shot-Disk5958@reddit

You can try to make the place livable enough for you but not so fancy

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non-hyphenated_@reddit

I grew up in a HA house and my dad is still in it (52 years & counting). The deal is pretty much they maintain the physical structure and my dad looks after everything else. As you can imagine in 5 decades that's a couple of kitchens and lots of decorating

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seadoubleyou73@reddit

You need permission but they're generally happy for improvements and most contracts state that the current tenant is responsible for the upkeep/repair of new fixtures and fittings. People are happy to spend the money as they'll have a lifetime tenancy agreement so know they'll never be kicked out. On the otherhand some tenants will wait for the housing association to replace kitchens and bathrooms, something that's set to a regular schedule (anything between 10 and 20 years iirc). When properties are empty they're stripped of everything decor wise, and also have the kitchens and bathrooms replaced if it's close to that timescale, even if the previous tenant has replaced it themselves. Just makes it all standard and cheaper to maintain if everyone has the same taps etc. Rents are set for the size of the property, not the condition of it, i.e all the associations 2 bed houses will be the same rent.

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jolittletime@reddit

Based on my in-laws who lived in the same council house for nearly 50 years until recently. As tenants they did decor, including tiling, carpets and flooring and maintenance (their house was immaculate). New kitchen was done by the council (the appliances were not built in and belonged to them as the tenants). They could have had a replacement bathroom but refused it as they would have had to retile (the council would not have tiled) When you move out the council used to rip out everything including carpets, but I believe they leave good condition flooring now. They do repaint I believe. I dont think you would be allowed to change the house to do a loft conversion or knock walls down as it would involve changing the structure too much . They expect you to put it back to its original condition when you leave.

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C0nnectionTerminat3d@reddit

Some people intend to live in their housing long term so taste is part of the reason.

Another would be that it needs renovating but the council refuse to help as, even though it’s well worn, not within their guidelines for them to pay for it (and even then you rarely get a choice on what it looks like).

Sometimes it’s to interest other people on websites like homeswapper (pretty much the only way social housing tenants are able to move house, unless they can afford their own.)

I’ve lived in social housing my whole life and personally never understood people who pay for a full renovation and refittings, or to get a conservatory installed. If it makes you happy though…

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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

With lifetime tenancies you can pretty much do what you like to the property if you get approval for structural stuff and many people do, especially as you say kitchens!

The council has a disabled facilities grant which might pay for adaptions such as downstairs wet room and converting a dining room to a bedroom etc.

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RiceeeChrispies@reddit

It's a tenancy for life, so as long as you don't piss off the neighbours enough to get thrown out - then some tenants do make self-improvements to their propert.y

Councils have a maintenance schedule where they should replace the kitchen/bathroom every X amount of years. They are standard, nothing fancy.

When the tenant leaves, councils will often revert it back to standard spec. I've never heard of a council doing any conversions other than for adaptability (handrails/stairrails etc).

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TrifectaOfSquish@reddit

You can't make structural changes but you can redecorate a lot of stuff is then striped back to make a blank slate for new tenants

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Total_Rules@reddit

You can make structural changes if you get permission.

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OwineeniwO@reddit

Yes, this person discusses it a bit https://www.instagram.com/alexandremiwren/?hl=en

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Total_Rules@reddit

Usually not.

You’ll need permission from the housing association as well.

The housing association will often repaint all the rooms and replace the carpets when the tenants change.

My neighbours had an extension built on their shared ownership property. When they sold it the valuation ignored any additional value the extension added so they didn’t lose out.