My social housing looks dirty despite my cleaning work – it is broken and I cannot repair it
A mother living in social housing thinks it always looks dirty, even when it is scrubbed endlessly.
Nicole explained that the problems with the house, According to her, the parishioners who refuse to repair it are responsible for the fact that it looks so neglected.
Open in a video on her TikTok pageNicole said: “Why social housing can leave your home looking dirty, even after you clean it.”
The first problem is that the window ‘falls off its hinges’.
“It’s just hanging there,” she said.
“You can’t even close it properly!”
Then she ends up in the bathroom. There she sees a bath panel that is poorly mounted, while it should be “brand new”. There are also broken tiles that she can literally pick up with her hands.
In the bathroom, moisture seeps through the walls, literally causing the wallpaper to come loose.
And that’s because they “don’t have a window in the bathroom that opens and the fan is broken.”
“But that doesn’t seem like an urgent problem to them,” she sighed.
There are broken and sagging floorboards due to water damage and ‘exposed pipes everywhere’.
“The list is endless, it’s endless!” she said.
Nicole added that people always tell her that she should do the repairs herself, but in reality she is not allowed to do that at all.
“That’s actually not allowed at my housing association,” she said.
“You have to use their contractors and try to get them to actually do the job.
“It’s a nightmare!”
“I’m not saying other properties don’t have these issues,” Nicole added in the video’s caption.
“But if we are not allowed to solve these problems ourselves, then they will have to become better at it.
The reality of living in social housing
LEANNE Hall, digital writer at Fabulous, spoke about what it was like growing up in social housing and why people living in such homes are often judged…
As a child I grew up in social housing and was not aware of the discrimination that came with it until I became an adult.
In my younger years I would run up and down the stairs of my apartment, meet other friends who lived there and enjoy the communal garden.
But now it seems that regardless of circumstances, everyone has something to say about why you shouldn’t be there.
Living just outside London, rents are still high and with my mother at home raising three children at the time, it wasn’t easy to find a job that suited that.
People in social housing are often portrayed as ‘profiteers’ or ‘lazy’, but that is absolutely not the case.
Most families in social housing struggle with overcrowding, and that’s not even mentioning the enormous amount of damp and mould that results from living in old social housing that has not been renovated for 50 years.
For many people it is not ideal, but it does provide a safe home without the fear of the rent going up every year, which I think is essential for children growing up below the poverty line.
“Nowadays the town halls are literally falling apart!!!!”
People were quick to respond to Nicole’s plight in the comments. One person wrote, “That broken window is ridiculous.”
“It’s still there and they still haven’t gotten out!” Nicole replied.
“We have a similar problem with ours,” said another.
“Our front door is rotting, it has been reported several times and we are still waiting.
“As long as they get their rent, they don’t care!”
“And then you’re not allowed to withhold the rent, haha!” Nicole replied.
“What irritates me most is that my house was empty for 8 months before I got it,” fumed a third.
“The kitchen is falling apart – I was homeless and had to accept it. Five years later it’s still not fixed.
“It feels dirty and gross!”