Mother turns ‘stinking’ town hall into home, but ‘it’s a complete nightmare’
A mother has revealed how she was forced to carry out work on her social housing property after finding it a ‘dangerous mess’.
After moving in with her husband and children, Rebekah claimed her carpets smelled, her floorboards were collapsing, and her walls were in desperate need of repair and painting.
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Rebekah, 31, who has four children with her disabled husband: two boys aged seven and three, and two girls aged five and 11 months. She was moved to tears when she saw how much needed to be done.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, she said: “We were devastated, especially as our children had to move into a home that we felt was not safe.
“My husband became disabled after being medically discharged from the military due to a back injury. At the same time as all of this, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
“That was also a struggle, because neither of us were in a state where we could do much about it at that time.
READ MORE ABOUT TOWN HALLS
“I also had a C-section, which meant I had to recover for several weeks while caring for my children and husband.”
Rebekah was offered social housing after her husband, who previously worked as an aircraft technician in the military, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in June 2023.
At the same time, she was heavily pregnant with her youngest child and was about to go on maternity leave.
She says: “We were given three months to move out of our military accommodation and find housing.
“That’s why we couldn’t get a mortgage to buy a house and couldn’t pass a credit check for rent because my husband’s health is so bad that he can’t work at the moment. I have to take care of him and my young children.
“Actually, neither of us had a permanent job, which was necessary.
“Our only option was therefore to consult the municipal and housing association registers.”
The day Rebekah and her family moved into the property, they saw the house for the first time, apart from the photos sent by the housing officer.
She says, “There was a safe on the door with our keys in it.
“When we first walked into the house, there was a strange smell, which we attributed to the fact that it had been empty for a while.
My DIY journey so far has definitely been filled with plenty of tantrums when things don’t go according to plan
Rebecca
“However, when we walked into the living room, the entire carpet stank; it smelled damp, like a dog breathing in your face.
“There was also glass all over the floor, near the front window.
“We continued walking around the house.
“The kitchen was fine, but there were sticky substances all over the cupboards. I assume it was e-liquid. There were also pregnancy tests and all sorts of junk in and on the cupboards.
“There was a random wire hanging from the ceiling in the hallway, which turned out to be a telephone wire or something.
Floorboards have collapsed
“The garden was a dangerous mess; the fence was falling over and the garden was overgrown.
“When we went upstairs, we saw hundreds of butterflies hibernating in the corners of every room.
“It stank and my foot immediately went through a broken floorboard in my children’s room.
“We literally broke down and cried because of the situation we were in.
“Since all of our furniture arrived within 20 minutes of viewing the house, there wasn’t much we could do at this point.
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“One of the first things I did was call the housing association and ask if there was a minimum standard the house had to meet and make a formal complaint about the glass etc.
“The next One day two people came to look at our complaints, they said it was just cosmetic and that it was fine.
“They arranged for a carpenter to come and look at the broken board that my foot had fallen through and fix it.”
B&Q’s problem wall paint saved me
Rebekah felt she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands as soon as possible and begin the DIY process.
Now she regularly uploads useful videos to her TikTok page @justbeckii to help others with their housing projects.
She says: “My DIY journey so far has definitely been a learning curve, and without my grandpa’s help over the phone it definitely wouldn’t have gone as smoothly, that’s for sure.
“I am very proud of what I have achieved so far, even though I am only just beginning.
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“I don’t think DIY is a cheap hobby, but it certainly saves money compared to hiring professionals.
“However, B&Q’s problem wall paint has saved me a fortune as my walls now look fantastic without having to re-plaster the entire wall or re-wallpaper.
“With some good preparation, my bedroom has been transformed from Barbie’s abandoned dream house to where it is now, and I can finally start decorating.
“I am learning a lot and am proud of myself for what I have achieved so far.
“We are lucky to have a house that we can make our own. If we were to rent it privately, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”
Repairing the bubbles on the wall
Although Rebekah did have a few nightmares during her DIY process, including air bubbles on her wall while painting.
She says: “A few things went wrong.
“I’ve never decorated or done anything myself, except for putting together some furniture.
“When I first started repairing the walls in my bedroom, the paint I used started bubbling everywhere and peeling off completely.
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How to renovate your town hall cheaply
- Get inspired by more expensive stores and go to B&M, Home Bargains for interior decoration.
- Visit YouTube for easy-to-follow tutorials on how to decorate your home yourself without hiring professionals.
- Want to light up your floor or tiled floor quickly? Then choose self-adhesive vinyl to save costs.
- A lick of paint can work wonders and make a room look like new again.
- Replace kitchen cabinet knobs with modern ones instead of buying brand new cabinets
“Although it is the horrible pink paint that I tried to cover up.
“This happened a few times and I still don’t know why it kept happening, but I just used Toupret ready-made filler on these spots and repainted over it!
“It probably wasn’t the right decision, but it worked!
“My DIY journey so far has definitely been filled with plenty of tantrums when things don’t go to plan.
“Our biggest nightmare was hiring a local handyman who didn’t seem to know what he was doing.
“Eventually we gave up and decided to do it ourselves and start my TikTok channel.”
Rebekah now has over 19,000 followers on TikTok, as many DIY fans log in to watch her handy videos.
She says: “We hope to help others who are moving into a house that needs a lot of repairs before it feels like home.
“We try to keep it as realistic as possible, by showing all my little disasters and triumphs.”
Go to Rebekah’s TikTok page @justbeckii for more insight into the renovation of its town hall.
What it’s really like to grow up in social housing
Fantastic reporter Leanne Hall tells what it’s like to grow up in social housing.
I grew up in an apartment building in a social housing district and can therefore tell quite a few wild stories.
From the neighbor throwing dog poop at the janitor for asking to mow the lawn (I imagine they ended up on the Jeremy Kyle show later in life) to arguments over missing packages, I’ve seen it all.
Although things often go wrong, I think it is usually because families living in social housing get to know each other so well that they forget that they are neighbours and not family.
Yes, things can quickly go from zero to a hundred, but you know that no matter what, you can count on your neighbor to lend you some milk or to keep an eye on the kids playing outside.
And if you ask me, it’s much nicer to live in a close-knit community where boundaries can be crossed than never knowing your neighbors’ names while living on a posh street.
