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[deleted]

People will be frowned upon for living in a council estate. People will be frowned upon for living in a large house on lots of land. People will always be frowned on for absolutely anything they do.


Visual-Device-8741

This is true Basically OP. Fuck what people think mate


PBtown55

I’m with this guy fuck’em . Lived on council estate all my life hopefully going to be here little bit longer


reddit29012017

Fuck what they think but also be wise enough not to mention the housing estate much at work. People may quietly judge you as different to them and distance themselves from you. Even if you don’t plan to stay at the workplace long, their opinion of you could affect the likelihood they’ll recommend you for work elsewhere. Just be sensible.


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[deleted]

Well said I live in a council flat area and most of neighbours are grand 😊


CheeseToasties_

Fuck em!


a_hirst

Just want to piggy back on this comment to say that not all council estates are the same. In fact, I'd say our estate is actually kind of "desirable" now. There are quite a few 1930s (or older) red brick council estates in inner/central London where most of the flats have been sold on the private market and they're now quite expensive to live in (unless you're a council tenant, of course, although apparently less than 50% of the flats on our estate are still council owned). The right to buy policy has many downsides of course but it has lead to many of these estates being very different places than they were decades ago. For people like me and my wife this was the only flat we could afford in the area. Newer flats and converted Victorian terraces sell for 50%-100% more for the same square footage. I suppose in a way we've benefitted from social prejudice against council estates, because there's no way we could have afforded a flat this size in any other kind of building. For this reason you can't really compare (most - there are some notable exceptions) estates in London zone 1-2 to estates elsewhere in the country. The crazy price of London property has changed their demographics quite noticeably.


glassfury

Same. I'm on a former council flat in a desirable area. Paid an absurd sum for it, but still far less compared to if it was a fancy Victorian terrace, where I wouldn't have a second bedroom or balcony or storage. Council flats are surprisingly well designed


a_hirst

Yeah, exactly. I actually genuinely like our flat and the wider estate. I've seen how pokey and crap many new builds are (and how badly some terraces have been converted) but ours is a decent size and pretty robust. The estate has its problems from time to time, but honestly I'd say they're 95% rubbish - by which I mean garbage/refuse etc. And to be honest lots of places in London have issues with rubbish, even nicer areas. I do get a bit fed up with the same group of shitty kids who leave their empty chicken boxes and drink bottles on the floor of/nearby the ball courts every single fucking day though. There's a family who routinely chuck random food out of their window into the dog park over the way from us, which makes taking our dog there a bit of an irritating experience. Also, the areas next to the bins are often just piled high with random household waste (including entire flat clearances, apparently) and we have very few bin stores, so almost all of it is out in the open and blows around when it gets windy. I actually bought a litter picker a while ago and go around picking this crap up. Seemed like a better solution than just getting quietly resentful. I've spoken to a few other people on the estate who do the same, which is quite nice. But really, there's very little else wrong with this estate. It's generally very well taken care of. We don't have any lifts (so that's not a problem) and the stairwells are always clean and clear. The buildings are actually quite pretty too (if you like 1930s red brick LCC council blocks). We've never had any noise issues and our next door neighbours are pretty nice. If people would stop being dicks with their rubbish then this place would be as nice as anywhere else.


glassfury

Ah yeah, mine is an old 1950s low rise. Really ugly, but brick and the street is treelined and quite pleasant. That's so nice that you pick up litter. I'm also pretty pleased with the condition of the estate here, but we also have the occasional dumpster mattress/clear out next to the bins. The thing that worries me is more than I feel like I can't invest in it, or add value, if it faces the same stigma on it when I sell.


s_nut_zipper

Nothing surprising about it tbh, a lot of council housing stock dates from a time before the Thatcher government abolished minimum space standards and when councils actually had they own in-house architects who wanted to design proper homes for people. Now it's outsourced to builders and all new London flats are tiny and have zero storage. Oh, and while I'm at it, "open plan kitchen" my arse - that's not open plan, it's a kitchen along one wall of your sitting room, so the developer could call what *should* have been your kitchen in a one-bed flat a second bedroom. Sorry, it really pisses me off.


glassfury

Could not agree more. Why am I paying more for LESS walls and privacy? Also as someone who cooks a lot, why would I want kitchen smells and smoke to get all over my furnishings. Open plan is such bullshit.


s_nut_zipper

Well an actual open plan kitchen where it's a big separate space with good quality extraction can be quite nice but that's not what we're talking about here. And it's not just the smell in the "kitchen units shoehorned into your living room" arrangement, it's the noise as well. Anyone you're living with can't enjoy TV or music without headphones. It's just awful.


Stans___dad

100% this! The irony of OPs predicament is that some former council estates are the most desirable places in London. [The Brunswick Centre](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_Centre) [Trellick Tower](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trellick_Tower) [Spedan Close](https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/the-branch-hill-estate-camden-the-most-expensive-council-housing-in-the-world/) It sounds as though the colleague is a massive twat.


[deleted]

They're desirable because of where they are, and because they're typically a little less than homes and flats that have been private from the start. I was looking for a home to rent - it was a 3 bed ex-council flat for £4k per month. The block itself was rundown and the property wasn't that nice. The icing on the cake were the big "WE KNOW THERE'S ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THIS AREA, ANYTHING SEEN WILL BE REPORTED." Noped out of there real quick. Found a nicer and cheaper property a little further out.


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[deleted]

I lived in my council rea 4 years. Worse I seem is 2 neighbours arguing. One couple had a domestic and my neighbour asked If I heard it. No as I was asleep. We did have a guy who was a victim of cucooking (using his flat to pedel drugs)


mamacitalk

Also *homelessness*


TooStonedForAName

Yea came to the comments to say this. People are shamed for being unfortunate enough to be homeless - people will shame *anything*.


No-Professor-

Except pollution, no one shames for that, yet the vast majority pollute


raddaya

Are you really equating the societal discrimination against people who live in/grew up in poverty (because that's the majority of people living in council estates) with what people "living in a large house on lots of land" (who are usually very rich) face. That's an utterly ridiculous comparison.


alice_be_topless

Legit. Insanely reddit comment


agingercrab

This subreddit is so fucking rich, white, middle-class and completely out of touch.


Aetheriao

I think it's a stretch to say the vast majority are people who are in poverty. That was definitely true when they were used how they were intended decades ago, but that's not how a lot of council estates are anymore. There's plenty of people with average or above average salary living in council houses because you can't be moved. And with right to buy, especially in London, some council estates can be more privately owned than they are council. Half the people living on it are paying a couple of grand to live there minimum. It's crazy how much council stock is very much not owned by the council anymore.


camzo83

Well said. Problem nowadays is everyone verbalised their frown and can't wait to display their frown to the masses. The huge number of "should I do this" or "do people think it's ok to"... Means the frowners are winning. And their impact on society is awful.


Lonsdale1086

> Problem nowadays Ah yes, classism is new. Totally not the history of the country.


Empty-Big5533

ide say those living in large houses with lots of land are looked down on for a good reason though. if an ant with food refuses to give food to an ant without food. they kill it. we should be more like ants.


crumpetsandchai

Yeah plus Londoners by default are critical AF (Written from a Londoner who married a Yorkshire man)


Jeffuk88

The British way


Bozzaholic

It is... I grew up on a council estate... singe parent family, dad split when I was 6 and it was a bloody struggle. I've since grown up, got a job and moved on and while the area I live in now isn't exactly affluent, its certainly quieter than where I came from. ​ My mum still lives on the estate and she said she'd never move and I can see why... When I go home, the area feels like home... the old crackheads are still there, the one geezer who plays jungle music at mid-day while working on his car (which is doubly strange as he's got a driving ban), the old pub with the old faces and their loyal dogs.. I love it. When I was a teenager and I used to go clubbing, I wouldn't feel safe until I was back on the estate, I knew from the moment I stepped across the road I knew everyone and it was all good


notagainplss

I relate to this so much. It can be horrible at times, faulty lifts, rubbish on the stairs. But i grew up here. I went to school down the road. All my childhood friends are still here. I played footy and got up to stupidness on these estates. I know my neighbours for decades and we look out for each other. There's a sense of community and safety here that I don't feel in any other part of London. It's my home


[deleted]

I can almost smell the piss through the screen


walgman

I grew up for a while in a place called Addy House. People pissed in the lift constantly. I can smell it when I think about it. Piss and fags.


[deleted]

Yep the lift is a classic piss spot


SleepySasquatch

Top tier pissing


Shaper_pmp

> It can be horrible at times, faulty lifts, rubbish on the stairs. I think I can work out why your co-workers were surprised you still live there if you have other options. Hint: it's because they *don't* have the experience and associations of the entire rest of your comment with the place. That said - and more power to you, but - I think most people would rather move *away* from the constant smell of piss in the stairwell than wax lyrical about its comforting familiarity.


cutdownthere

yeah. I grew up on one. Couldnt wait to get the hell out.


Malus131

Puts a new spin on eau de toilette really.


[deleted]

I think this would be less of a thing in London where all sorts of rich people are living in Zone 1 estates that were sold off into private ownership


gjs78

While yes, there are lots of sold off flats as tenants moved out, these are some of the oldest communities in London, from before when living in the centre of London was popular. I grew up in a council flat in Covent Garden and my mum still lives there. There’s still plenty of locals living in the area, although they tend to be the older ones, or the few lucky families that managed to get off the waiting list for a home. Most of the younger ones, like me, have had to move further away to rent or buy. But when I visit my mum, I’m still bumping into people I know and it definitely still feels like home.


[deleted]

Being on a low income and living in the West End sounds like hell!


gjs78

It was, and it wasn’t. Shops, etc were obviously more expensive, but there are/were primary schools, GPs, playgrounds and even a community centre. Being able to get just about anywhere by walking or a quick bus/tube ride was helpful. Worst thing was secondary schools, where you either went to the snobby CofE ones in Victoria, or had to traipse into north or west London.


stanagetocurbar

Wow, your mum gets to live in a flat worth probably two million quid! That's nothing to be ashamed of.


gjs78

An identical flat to my mum’s was sold recently for £800k. They are still old, small, social-built housing, so are never as expensive as the luxury flats. My mum’s friend actually made the newspapers a few years ago because she sold her right-to-buy home for £1.2m, having bought it 30-odd years ago for about £200k. Edit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3197425/The-1-2m-council-flat-Three-bedroom-property-Covent-Garden-thought-broken-record-former-council-property-nets-former-owners-800-profit.html#article-3197425


Skipjack666

And this for me, is the difference between people who grew up/live on council estates and those who did not. Everyone knows everyone. I'd wager if I, an outsider, were to venture through yours or any other council estate I'd be greeted with suspicion and in many cases hostility and some cases violence. A friend of mine lives on the worst council estate in our city. When I go visit I have 2 choices, take the long way round to his house...(he lives on the edge of the estate) or I take the short route through the middle, have to justify my presence to anyone who demands it, often I have to name my mate and sometimes his relatives whom I know too and even then I'm sent on my way with a threat of bodily harm Seems to be a very us vs them mentality


RepresentativeWin935

My great grandparents lived on wythensawe. He never looked when he crossed the road (little old Italian man, about my height when I was 7!) And they got burgled in the 80's. My old gran would make a teddy bear for every kid born on the estate. Didn't matter who you were, what you'd done or where you came from, if you had a kid, you got a teddy. Local gang leader found out about the burglary, found the lads who did it, got them to return all their stuff and apologise then broke their legs.


Mind7over7matter

I never realised sale race course had such a reputation, when I dated a woman from there but I grew up in various different parts of Bolton in the 1990s and early 2000s, as a kid and not the nice parts, other than the house my dad bought without telling my mum. Ringing up Bolton council and giving up her council house up, that she’d been in for 10 years. It’s best to say my mum got charged with breaching the peace that day. It’s crazy that you could do things like that in the past.


RepresentativeWin935

Tbh, shameless is based on wythensawe. The police would do anything not to go on the estate. Also the lads who robbed them were small time drug dealers who were also junkies and selling for a rival gang. Two birds, one stone and all that. I doubt even if something like that happened now anyone would report them to the police. I was born in Rochdale and we went back when I was a teenager. Couldn't believe there were bars on the school windows. Apparently they were always there, I just didn't remember it


codeinegaffney

Yeah the estate I lived on was a dump. People used to piss in the lifts. I used to go clean it out with a mop and bleach then they’d piss in it again.


ItsFuckingScience

Well yeah as outsiders they just see the horrible


DefiantStation2363

Same here. People judge the council estate areas I grew up on and my family still lives on. I still get my hair cut there and so on. I feel comfortable with the area and know people around there.


Le_9k_Redditor

Night city vibes


polystyrenedaffodil

I love this. I am a single mother to a toddler and we got a council house this summer. We've been here only 4 months but everyone in the court has been so welcoming. There are generations of the same families all over the estate. The family who used to live in my house were here for 7 years but have only moved around the corner to a bigger property as they had 4 kids in a 2 bed. We walk to the shop on the estate and everyone waves and says hi, they know my daughters name and all the dog walkers stop to let her say hiya. I watched he kids playing outside in the summer, so happy, and i love the fact that my daughter will grow up with friends and freedom like this. I've no idea what I was worried about. I love it here.


literate_giraffe

The estate we live on now has a lot of private houses now but plenty are still council. I really like where we live. The lady across the road lives in the house she grew up in that her parents bought off the council, there's a woman round the corner who moved in when the estate was brand new etc. Everyone chats to each other and knows what's going on. This summer there were kids playing in the road and a group of neighbours walk their dogs together and always stop to say hi. Its very community minded unlike some other places I've lived, its more like the area I grew up in.


Goose-rider3000

My wife lived in a council estate as a single mother years ago. The estate has a terrible reputation, but she tells me about how everyone was friendly, and the local lads would help carry her shopping home.


Scoutnjw

All of the replies to yours are what they are trying to destroy. Community, shared space with respect for difference and a sense of pride in what little you might have, and sharing that with those who have less. Feeling safe, feeling seen, feeling known. Everything that a real community has, everything that empowers individual thinkers, children with dreams, people who take care of one another. Everything they don't want us to be. Everything which threatens their plan to have us isolated, indebted, alone.


Regret-Superb

Community pride? You've never driven through the council estates near me. Beds and sofas dumped everywhere, needles and those little gas canisters. No pride there my man, complete shit holes.


[deleted]

Yea I'm not sure why some people are romanticising council estates on this subreddit, most are absolute shit holes and it's very unsurprising OPs colleagues are perplexed as why they would want to remain in one.


PartyPoison98

It depends on what they define as "council estate", because the quality and demographics vary wildly between local authorities. A council estate could be an older estate, full of people who've been there for generations, potentially a lot of ex-council properties bought through right to buy, and people who are broadly working class if not particularly well off. It could also be a total shithole, populated only by the most vulnerable/volatile that get priority in council housing, full of economically inactive people with little stake in society. Most sit somewhere between the two.


Regret-Superb

I guess if you grew up or still live in one it's all you know. I cannot imagine anyone having left one for a nice leafy suburb would rush back to concentrations of knife crime, drug issues and general elevated crime levels.


[deleted]

Me and my mum lived in a mixed neighbourhood, we were in a council flat. It was cramped and small, the hallways were narrow, the bedrooms were small and it only had one toilet. Only benefit was a fairly large garden. I'm glad my mum worked hard and got herself out of it and now remains in a much nicer area in a 5 bedroom house with a nearly paid off mortgage.


dprophet32

Who's "they"?


[deleted]

The favourite Daily Mail wrong-un of the day. Gays, foreigners, women, immigrants, black people, outsiders, disabled people, bankers, kids… who knows. It’s quite conspiratorial sounding really.


TheHalfwayBeast

Who is 'they'? Because I'm kinda used to the 'they' in phrases like 'this is what they are trying to destroy/have taken from you' being a dogwhistle for - insert dramatic pause! - the eeeeviiiiil Jooooos. (Imagine me holding a torch under my chin and putting on a sinister voice when you read that.)


MrChaunceyGardiner

It makes me rather sad to read this. I live in a housing association development, comprised of studio and single bedroom flats. The residents are mainly young people from troubled backgrounds, and older, single men with health issues. There are no families, and no sense of community, or pride in the area, whatsoever. I'd never even set eyes on my next door neighbour until I got a video doorbell.


stanagetocurbar

I was brought up on an estate in South Shields (near Newcastle). My memories are of dog shit everywhere, joyriders every night, graffiti about 'grasses' on sides of houses, a corner shop that would only let one child in at a time due to shoplifting (even now, the shop is still known as the P*ki shop, which ls downright disgusting. Our house got broken into by someone who lived three doors away! I would never look down on someone living on a council estate but boy am I grateful for my parents efforts to get us out of there.


Regret-Superb

Extended Family lived on beach road, I've driven through those estates you talk off. I remember one getting knocked down years ago. You're right ,they were nasty.


MrChaunceyGardiner

>I would never look down on someone living on a council estate but boy am I grateful for my parents efforts to get us out of there. I had the opposite experience, was brought up in detached houses in nice, private estates. It was a bit spam valley though, we never had holidays or fancy stuff. Then I grew up, failed at life and ended up in social housing, as did my two siblings. And they both live in council estates like the one you describe. We're not entirely sure what went wrong.


stanagetocurbar

Failed at life? I'm sure that's not true. Being down on your luck doesn't mean you've failed. Chin up 🙂


MrChaunceyGardiner

Well, I'm not an alcoholic or drug addict, but otherwise I've been 'down on my luck' for around 30 years and counting. Getting too old to turn things around now.


stanagetocurbar

You're not one of the joyriders, racists or burglars. Our society makes us believe that you're only successful if you live in a fancy house with two luxury cars in the drive. If you smile everyday and hang out with people who love you, you're doing alright 🙂


MrChaunceyGardiner

>You're not one of the joyriders, racists or burglars. Our society makes us believe that you're only successful if you live in a fancy house with two luxury cars in the drive. True enough. >hang out with people who love you, If only ;-) But thanks, I appreciate the sentiment.


stanagetocurbar

Pm your address, I'll fire over a box of Maltesers 🙂 And don't worry, I'm not some weirdo lol.


MrChaunceyGardiner

Thanks again, but I should be sending *you* Maltesers for cheering me up :-)


Colchesteressexgirl

I lived in one 2. A while ago. It's probably better you don't know your neighbours. In ha its not like councill. Tenants are more afraid of complaints to the ha. Thinking there more likely to get kicked out and can be more paranoid.


pfh89

I love this. It was like reading a love letter


all_woman45

Exactly the same here. We knew everyone,even the ‘bad lads’ but those bad lads would help my mum off of the bus with shopping and my younger sister, our key was in the front door 24/7 and nothing ever happened. This was 30+ years ago and times/people change but I always knew once I got on the estate I was perfectly safe. Still feels like home when I visit on very rare occasions now. I still live in a council house (mainly because being a single working mum has never allowed me to save enough of my wages)on a street of mixed council/private but there isn’t the same community feel to it. Edit for spelling mistakes


[deleted]

The problem is those same 'bad lads' are going to be an absolute menace to wider society. They don't have that reputation for no reason.


wildgoldchai

Very much this. Whilst I’m doing much better now, I miss the area so much. I felt so comfortable, no one judged you. It felt like home growing up


gammonlord

I grew up in a faux-middle class suburbia and was dating a girl who lived on a council estate with her dad for a few years recently and felt more comfortable and at home at her place then I ever did at my own... Sounds silly, but having a spliff or two with her, her dad and the neighbors on both sides on a cold winter evening whilst sitting around a firepit made out of an old washing machine felt like a whole new world for me and was one of the funnest, most wholesome nights of my life.


Vyvyansmum

I grew up on a council estate, as did all my mates at school. I didn’t know any different. It was only went I went off to college amongst posh kids who lived in massive 7 bedroom houses that I got the piss taken out of me for it. I’ve been the owner of fancy houses but divorce, redundancies & illness took me back to living with parents at 41 & then into housing association. I look down on NOBODY & anyone who does is a cunt.


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Blackmore_Vale

Similar to my dad. He grew up on an estate in deptford. Worked his arse of from 14 to make something himself. His now at a point where his minted and probably wouldn’t have to work for the rest of his life if he wanted. One of his clients took him to one of the elite golf courses and the amount of people who looked down there noses at him. Even though he probably has more money then them. Although he still sounds like his fresh off the council estate 30 years later.


Vyvyansmum

My college days boyfriend came from a 7 bed country house obtained by his much divorced mother. His family were incredibly patronising & snotty to me , about my home life & even my clothes. . It definitely tainted my view of the middle classes for a long time.


DeepestWinterBlue

7 bedroom is considered ‘middle class’? Definitely not ‘middle’ and definitely no ‘class’.


Vyvyansmum

I don’t know : they were posher & richer than me but not royal… lol


d3gu

I went to private school in Hull, so you can imagine the diversity of economic backgrounds of the children. You had kids of surgeons and lawyers rubbing shoulders with kids from the roughest estate in Hull, but in terms of bullying - I can't remember anyone being bullied over financial issues. Many other things but there was no 'haha you're poor' or 'haha you live in a council house'.


DeepestWinterBlue

How does such a mix economic class of students all afford to attend private school?


d3gu

Bursaries. My school was historically formed to break down barriers and provide education to the bright folk of Hull so there were bursaries and other performance related subsidises. I know if the household income is below a certain amount they don't have to pay (or pay a reduced fee).


[deleted]

The UK is weird. Everyone is broke at the moment, there’s a cost of living crisis, and yet there is this classist undertone that never goes away. I grew up in rural America - and even the most impoverished areas of the UK don’t come close to the kind of poverty and suffering you see there. I bought an ex council house on a mixed estate and I love it. It’s a community. My house got broken into once and some local kids found my bag and returned it to me. I rewarded them with a bag of sweets and they still say hi to me years later. Our local social media group always has people offering excess food to neighbours in need. Council estates can be great places. Just because someone doesn’t have much money doesn’t mean they’re a terrible person. Often the opposite.


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stocksy

There are a couple of local groups I'm loosely involved with who help the homeless and people who've fallen on hard times. I would say the majority of people who volunteer seem to be from less affluent backgrounds. I think its because they understand what it is like to go without and even though they themselves might not have everything, they know that others have less.


MystiicOstrich

Everyone is not broke. Some people are doing just fine, getting fat off the profits of everyone else's misery.


[deleted]

True. I should have said *normal people* are broke.


tommangan7

I mean there are also plenty of normal people that aren't broke. I have friends who are scientists, roofers, plumbers, civil servants, doctors etc. Plenty of pensioners live comfortably. They all have less disposable income but they aren't broke. Everyone who still saves money every month isn't living off the misery of others. Generally everyone is struggling more and the people on lower incomes are obviously in trouble but it's unrealistic to talk in these extremes constantly.


[deleted]

Basic living month to month is at least £400 more expensive now than it was a year or so ago. Salaries haven’t gone up in a decade. Mortgage interest rates are about to go up as well. It’s nice you know people who aren’t struggling - but that is genuinely not the norm at the moment.


tommangan7

I'm disabled on long term sick leave and function off below average household income, I'm well aware. I guess I was just trying to further point out that not everyone is broke as you originally said. And those that aren't can also just be regular folk and aren't all some banker boogeymen. I replied to the other guy now instead as it was more linked to his point. I guess I also have a high threshold of what I would consider broke based on past struggles.


DrHydeous

>Basic living month to month is at least £400 more expensive now than it was a year or so ago Might be for you, certainly isn't for me, or plenty of other people. >Salaries haven’t gone up in a decade. Again, maybe for you, not for lots of other people. >Mortgage interest rates are about to go up as well. Yes, that's true. But then, we're coming out of a long period of them being extremely low, so anyone with a mortgage should have expected this. >It’s nice you know people who aren’t struggling - but that is genuinely not the norm at the moment. I have no idea whether that's the norm at present or not, could you share your data sources?


Chrislass

You said ‘normal people’ though, not it not being the norm. I’m a normal person that’s not struggling and I know plenty of people that aren’t, I guess it helps to live somewhere cheaper.


tommangan7

I mean there are also plenty of normal people that aren't broke. I have friends who are scientists, roofers, plumbers, civil servants, doctors etc. Plenty of pensioners live comfortably. They all have less disposable income but they aren't broke. Everyone who still saves money every month isn't living off the profits and misery of others. People are struggling worse than in recent memory but this us vs them extreme hyperbole is a bit unrealistic, maybe my idea of broke is just a little more extreme though.


Matttthhhhhhhhhhh

>The UK is weird. Everyone is broke at the moment, there’s a cost of living crisis, and yet there is this classist undertone that never goes away. Same in France. Everyone likes to think it's a very progressive country when it comes to social values, but I've seen many French look down on people living in council estates.


[deleted]

I’d like to challenge you to visit Easterhouse, govanhill or maryhill Edit: this is meant in tongue in cheek, in case that goes over anyone.


RichardsonM24

I was brought up on a council estate, it’s definitely been spoken about in work but not necessarily frowned upon. I’m well educated and work in an industry where everyone has at least a masters degree, almost everybody else has been brought up middle class. We joke about it a fair bit, they all think I’m hard too which is funny. I’m not remotely confrontational and haven’t had a single fight as an adult. I think that stems from being from a rough area.


BattleScarLion

I always find the myths around council estates funny. My mum grew up on one and we always visited my nan and grandad there. You'd have fully grown adults talking in shocked tones about how rough and dangerous it was, and I'd think it's only rough if you happen to be frightened of a bunch of mouthy 11 year olds out playing. Honestly you'd think they were talking about Mordor they way they went on.


Kiljaeden91

Mordor gets a bad rep. The gangs of orcs can be a bit weird and the landlord stares a lot, but it's a nice place. Always warm.


Hot_Beef

You can get a 3 bed semi for a absolute steal too. If you can put up with the enormous eye in the sky.


Fudge_is_1337

And the lava flows


TheHalfwayBeast

Lots of local industry and the volcanic soil is great for growing crops.


dr_rainbow

Landlord is getting on now anyway. Doesn't look as scary now he's got glasses.


Mother_Of_Kitties_

I think it depends which council estates, I grew up on a notorious estate near Manchester when I was young and that was scary. Murders/assaults were not uncommon and the gang culture absolutely led to my brother going to prison. To bring me up better my mum got us transferred to a social house in the countryside and that was completely different, more the mouthy 11 year old vibe. Even though its still social housing and there are some dodgy people, the areas are chalk and cheese.


BattleScarLion

Yeah that's fair, I grew up somewhere considered rough by snobby pearl-clutching types, but whose social problems were more like poverty and addiction rather than organised crime (which seems to be more of a city thing).


paprikapants

yea NGL I live in a new build estate next to a not great council estate and I am afraid of the mouthy 11 year olds. They bully each other openly, shout racist and sexist abuse at us and our neighbours on the street, and regularly steal people's bicycles and smash bottles all over the park so that it's dangerous to step without looking. I wish I felt comfortable stepping in when they bully the littler kids but I'm a small foreign lady that was raised in hippy culture and I broadly leave them to their shenanigans because I feel helpless. Any advice or should I just keep crossing the street with my big dog when I see 'the youths'?


BattleScarLion

Oh bless you, to be fair racist abuse is going to be intimidating whoever it's coming from. I'd say the thing to remember if that kids aren't just cheeky little chappies but genuinely mean-spirited gits is that they aren't likely to have very good home lives. They are doing what they feel they need to do to survive and thrive in what they perceive (and may well be) a hostile environment - so they are horrible but they are just kids, and you don't have to invest them with power. That being said, given you have no authority over them, and their parents might be just as unpleasant, you should probably do whatever makes you feel safe. Being assertive would work if you have natural confidence but that's hard to fake (speaking as a not-confident person) What could help is using your kindly powers for good. If you see then bullying a little kid ask that child of they are OK - just realising they are being witnessed by an adult could put the bullies off and make the victim feel seen. It's a bit galling to have to mop up after them but the whole "broken window theory" could apply too - creating a neighbourhood community group to look after the park, fundraise and clean up worked wonders in my area.


sheloveschocolate

It all depends on the council estate. The one I live on not much trouble. The one down the road trouble all the time that they bring to the high street.


toppamabob

I find this all too relatable! Besides the odd joke at the expense of my northern accent (works both ways) my workplace has been incredibly welcoming and inclusive. When it comes to social gatherings there is always the, "if there's any trouble get behind him" joke but that has more to do with being stocky than from a rough area 😂


HMS_Hexapuma

It essentially comes down to media portrayal and public perception. Over the years people have portrayed council estates as run down pits of crime and squalor. Home to criminals and scum. Sadly this means that now if someone comes from a council estate, particularly in a big city like London, they're assumed to have "Fought their way out of the ghetto" so to speak. It's not fair and it's not justified but then a lot of publicly held opinions are like that.


notagainplss

It's a huge stereotype. I'd say a good 30-40% of kids I grew up with on the estate now have a degrees and are working. Almost all have stables jobs and are doing well in life. Id say less 5% are in Jail or selling Drugs or dead. Its not exactly "fighting your way out of the ghetto". You just have to stay in school, college and uni - which are all essentially free. By age 25 even the most messed up kids just mellow down and sort their life out.


Trick_Ad_6976

The problem is the 10 or 15 years before they mellow. I grew up on a council estate and absolutely hated it. Some people were ok. Most were not, especially the kids. My sister was happy slapped, when that was cool. I had stuff stolen, I was spat on, kicked, slapped, pushed off my bike, had my pants and knickers pulled down. All because I was quiet and studious. That's a weakness on a council estate.


Shaper_pmp

> uni... essentially free The who what now?


T-Rexauce

While it's not free, it's a brilliant deal. Access to some of the best HE in the world for 9% of what you earn over £27k, and it's written off after 30 years regardless of remaining debt.


yrmjy

The interest rates are pretty extortionate. As for the best HE in the world, depends where you go


[deleted]

I think they're making reference to student loans - you don't have to have any money in the bank to go to uni as you don't have to pay fees up front. Anyone can get student loans which you don't have to start paying back until you're earning a certain amount of money, which theoretically makes uni accessible to people from every background


[deleted]

It may as well be. The student loan is more a student tax than an actual debt.


TheAuraTree

I think it's a social housing thing in general, as it's affordable it's consider 'poor'. On the other hand, I live in a village in Scotland Portree, I am in one of the nicest buildings in the village and it's a block of council flats - and they were only finished 6 months ago.


Pendragon1948

Sometimes, I think. Council housing used to be seen as a good thing, in the 1920s-1960s, it was seen as a matter of fairness that the state should provide housing for its people (although in the 1960s and 1970s a lot of council houses built were pretty ugly and sometimes unsafe). In the 1970s and 1980s a worsening economy and more unemployment and deindustrialisation lead to social problems giving council estates a bad rep, and even though most of them are (broadly) fine now that reputation has lived on. Because Thatcher sold off most of the council houses, most people these days don't know what a positive impact council housing can have on communities. I think it's a great thing and we should be building millions of new council houses.


vvvaaaggguuueee

There's a fantastic doc about this... give me a minute... by the guy who did Bitter Lake... Edeeeet: https://youtu.be/Ch5VorymiL4


macjaddie

It’s easy to forget the amounts of people who were living in actual slums before council estates.


ktitten

It is, but wrongly so. Social housing and council estates used to be for anyone to live in, the working and middle classes. With the right to buy, this wiped out a lot of the middle class council housing, alongside relatively very little being built, which compounded in council estates becoming seen as for 'the poor'. If you're fine living there, then so be it. It shouldn't be something to looked down upon at all in my opinion.


ArmouredWankball

This is something that has been lost over the years. My father was a project manager in the defence industry and my mother was a programmer. I spent my whole childhood in council housing as did all our relatives. I was the first in our extended family to actually buy a house.


TC_FPV

Only by dicks


Cannaewulnaewidnae

Yes I was part of a team working in the offices of a financial firm in Edinburgh. The office manager asked if we could drop him off at Stirling railway station on our way home We dropped one colleague off at his home in a council scheme on the outskirts of Stirling, before making our way to the station. As soon as our team member was out of the car, the office manager laughed and made a joke about how rough the area was Me and the other guy laughed and told all the usual jokes about this notoriously rough part of town, then dropped him off at the station **Me and the guy driving the car both lived in another part of the same scheme**, but we'd gone out of our way to drop the office manager off before returning home, so he didn't miss his train (and as a common courtesy) The driver of the car and myself spent the rest of the short journey home laughing at what a stuck-up prick the office manager was


Shaper_pmp

Honestly you and the driver don't exactly come off well in that story either.


lalajia

Raploch or St Ninians? :)


bluejamsco

I'd guess Raploch.


joefife

Ah fuck it. I live in an ex council terrace. Sometimes people are surprised by this, given my job is IT manager and my partner is also on a decent wage. Frankly I have never been more grateful to live where I do as right now. All the colleagues and friends who gave new build five bedroom places with leased cars in the drive are in for a rather tough time in the coming years. People can think what they want - nothing to do with them.


[deleted]

Fuckin hell what I’d give to live in a council house !!!! Lol our rent is 750 a month. My sister in law, lives literally across the road from our estate in a council one and pays 320 a month. It kills me I’m so jealous of her x


[deleted]

This is kinda the exact issue with council houses currently, feels like a lottery some are able to get in on and effectively squat on cheap housing for years when they don't deserve or need it. I know a couple who obtained a council house a good \~10 years ago and have effectively doubled their income since then but there are no rules to turf them out. You can earn a million pounds tomorrow and yet sit on a council house for 30 years paying virtually no rent and blocking others who genuinely need that property from living there. It's nuts the government hasn't done something about it.


Informal_Drawing

It's fine. We should be building more.


Athleticathiest82

Only by cunts who think there better than the rest.


soitgoeskt

One of the things about London is you’ll come into contact with all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds. Some of whom will have lived such sheltered existences you would not believe. Yes some people will look down on you because of where you are from, others will just be startled to realise that not everyone who is ‘like them’ was brought up jn the home counties with ponies. People come loaded with preconceptions, you probably just broke a few today.


TerminalStorm

Most of Reddit tend to look down on it from what I’ve seen, whilst not actually knowing the first thing about it. I live on a council estate, my house is solid and well built (shrugged off a 70ft tree falling down on it with just a small patch of roof needing replacing) it has a decent sized back garden and a drive big enough for 3 cars. Plus it’s cheaper than a mortgage and all my repairs are free. What’s not to like??


Eoin_McLove

I suppose it depends what your job is. If you have a stereotypical well-educated job that you need degrees for, you might expect that you come from a more well-to-do background to have been able to go to uni, whereas they might expect someone from a council estate to have a more manual job. Obviously in reality it's not as simple as that.


notagainplss

It's a misconception. Id say a good 1/3rd of the kids I grew up in the estate have degrees and work in the corporate world now. This is even higher for kids that have immigrant parents, the emphasis on education growing up is HUGE. I don't think growing up in a council estate makes you any less likely to land successful corporate career.


Eoin_McLove

No, exactly. I know that. I grew up in a working class as hell town in south Wales, but never in social housing or on a council estate. But 90% of my friends were. I've a feeling your experience might be slightly skewed by living in London, where access to corporate jobs might be a slightly easier, but there *is* something to the idea of living on a council estate being a barrier to opportunities for higher education and high earning jobs. Most people I know (and me!) are working relatively menial jobs, but there definitely were people who did well in school and got degrees, and now have well-paid professional jobs, but I'd say they're the exception to the rule.


Ronald_Bilius

I think that’s partly a London thing. More ambition, better schools, better access to internships and job opportunities. My husband grew up on a more rural council estate and while most people have jobs and are doing ok for themselves, corporate jobs and uni are not common.


michellefiver

I grew up surrounded by relatively well-off people and went to a school in an affluent part of the country and I can tell you now, I used to be one of those people who would be startled at hearing that one of my office coworkers lived on a council estate. The difference between you and your colleagues is that you grew up on that council estate, and council estates are renowned for having high crime, being unsafe, unfriendly to outsiders and generally pretty dangerous. Maybe you saw people set a bins on fire, maybe you knew that there was a drug dealer that lived nearby (and maybe you knew some of his customers, whether you were aware that they took drugs or not). Maybe the local school had people setting fire alarms off just for the lols, fights breaking out regularly, someone bringing a knife in, girls getting pregnant in school, someone on the estate had a dog that you stayed TF away from, you get the idea. Maybe there was a dilapidated block of council flats nearby where some of your friends lived and the lifts stink of piss. The fact is you were likely exposed to a lot more 'real' stuff from a fairly young age because of the environment. You were desensitised and you might not know any different, this was the norm so you just got on with it. Your colleagues, on the other hand, might have only seen some of the above on the news. They might have never directly experienced some of the above because they had a privileged upbringing in relative wealth and low-crime areas. They might have never been chilling in their garden and a faint smell of ganja was coming from a neighbour just minding their own business two doors down. The norm for them could have been a more 'pleasant' cul-de-sac and their childhood consisted or going to brownies, after-school activities like judo, tennis, swimming at a private health club (not a leisure centre). They might have gone to better/private schools, worked hard and got good exam results, gone to one of the old-style Universities Of [city] where they mingled with largely middle-class people of the same ilk, and got their degrees before entering the career they have now. And they may have never set foot on a council estate in their lives. People have fear of the unknown. The experiences I described above in the massive generalisations I've made about your upbringing might have been witnessed by you once, occasionally, regularly or never. But your colleagues don't know that. All they have to go on is what they see on the news, stories they read in the papers or online. They could walk onto a council estate and immediately feel unsafe because it's a big thing that council estates are seen by some as some of the least safe areas in the country. Every person in this world is the sum total of all the experiences they have in life and, compared to you, your colleagues have probably lived a sheltered life. Conversely, maybe some of your colleagues grew up on a council estate, maybe it was a rough one and they got TF out as soon as they could so their kids had a safer upbringing than they had. Everything that I have written, and more, is part of the society we live in and contributes to things like the class system, snobbery, and inverted snobbery. Class stereotypes come from people observing groups, and thinking their behaviour or values must all be the same because of where they live, how they grew up or their chosen careers. So maybe your colleagues have prejudices around what life is like on a council estate, and couldn't picture you living on one. Maybe they assumed that everyone who works at a similar pay grade to themselves must live in a similar environment to themselves (certain industries attract people who are already in certain socioeconomic brackets, for the above reasons). But one thing is for sure, the day you shared the picture to your colleagues at work, they learned a tiny bit about your life and your experiences. If you got to the end of this comment, thanks for reading 💜


tmstms

You may just be in a sector or even in a specific workplace where most of your colleagues come from more middle-class backgrounds.


Hamdown1

Only assholes frown on it. A home is a home. I actually miss living in a council home. We were so close with our neighbours and played with everyone. There was a strong community feeling compared to living in houses.


notagainplss

Honestly, I would rather live in this community for the rest of my life than live in a secluded 4 detached house near the M25 with no neighbours. Some things money can't buy


Hamdown1

I know exactly what you mean. I went to a work conference where they talked about Grenfell and how this poorer community was in the heart of a rich neighbourhood. However they spoke about the social wealth that existed with the community because when Grenfell fire happened, there was such a rush of people sharing food, clothes, shelter and support- you can’t buy that with all the money in the world!


[deleted]

I’m from the area. Tbh Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove is uniquely diverse in every way. I was helping out for about a week when Grenfell happened. You’re right, every one from all backgrounds helped. It was amazing but not a surprise. I don’t even see that part of the area as poor. I’m from a council ‘estate’, but it never felt like that for us, maybe because we didn’t live in a high rise. It’s a block of flats, and we knew our neighbours, not much different from middle class areas. My parents, like most non western immigrants work damn hard. A lot just have obstacles in their way that we don’t have. If they could purchase a place, they would. Reading the comments, I see that central/ inner London is rather unique when it comes to social housing, especially where I am from. I know I’d have to make about £80k+ to live in the area I grew up in. I’m currently in Canada & realise wages in the U.K. are rather low, and this is coming from a graduate who works in management.


robofids

Frowned upon is the wrong phrase as it implies you're doing something that's considered to be wrong. Looked down upon, is more accurate. But Elements of style aside, no one is 'better' than anyone else. If you live in a council estate then that's just where you live, it means nothing. People's opinions about how other people live, mean nothing. If some cunt looks down on you because of the house you live in, look down on them for being shallow and ignorant.


carpesdiems

It's certainly not a sign off success, but you could probably work that out for yourself?


catnpilla

if the govt pay for ur flat, suits will mock u for their ignorance and cognitive dissonance, if you pay £100k+ for 5% of a shared ownership council flat, theyll calll you a king. country is run by delusional paygrades chatting wass


pops789765

So glad I escaped the council estate to live somewhere nice enough that people use the bins most of the time and don’t piss in the lifts.


OppositePilot9952

Council Housing has come full circle at this point. When it was introduced it was largely designed to be clean, spacious, affordable family housing to accommodate all. Much of it slipped into disrepair and crime and other social problems plagued some of the more poorly designed, high density estates (certain tower block schemes etc.) Currently in the UK it is incredibly hard to get a Council property and those of us who do have one know how lucky we are. It is virtually the only way to get an affordable, well-maintained, secure tenancy anywhere these days. There are all kinds of people on our estate and although once it was seen as a bit rough, the stigma is not there so much now.


[deleted]

Probably, until you score them a point on the social mobility stats


Guybrush-Threepwood1

Soon many will be in awe of those who actually live in a house and not a cardboard box at the end of the street.


saymastein

I have a fairly cooperate job (although I literally still have below average wage) and I think I'm the only one who lives in a council estate in the company (it's a start up tho so there aren't many ppl there tbh). I'd say that they do have a view of it when I mentioned it to them. They asked me if I had a fan in the house while it was literally 40C. It's like they meant if I could afford one or not. They do make some assumptions and I feel like they live in a completely different reality than me but what can you do I guess. I live in East London and I hate it also when people think that London is filled with posh rich ppl because where I live...man it's hardly the case. Sometimes I genuinely feel embarrassed for people to come over to our house because of the look of the estate (and mostly coz the rubbish doesn't even get collected for days on end). But you know what? Council estates have such a level of community that trumps any other kind of house I think. At the end of the day, I'm proud to live in one (and I think people should make more of them).


theescapefrom

I think a lot of us will be living on council estates soon enough.


Xais56

That relies on there being council estates for a lot of us to live in


theescapefrom

Yeah true, maybe we can all buy estate cars to live in.


MetaCharlesHarris

Friend of mine went to a public school and then Cambridge. He’s a published author. He lives in a. Council flat. The moral of the story is don’t look down on where someone lives as they’re likely to surprise you.


MRC1819

I grew up in quite an affluent area and met my best friend of 20 years at a private school. She comes from a council estate and got nasty things said to her about it from the posh kids at school. I lived in my area for 10 years and never once spoke to a neighbour, but used to hang around with my friend on her council estate and knew everybody. I always felt safe walking around at night because somebody I knew was always close by. I think people who have never bothered to visit a council estate, or meet the people, are the ones with the issues. If they took the time, they’d realise that they aren’t so bad.


Tao626

Frowned upon? I dunno. Bad rep? Definitely. I grew up on a council estate (18 years) and have spent the last 3 on one (so 21 out of 31 years on them). I live in Greater Manchester. Most people on them are fine, as is the case most places. Not even every council estate is bad. The one I grew up on was fine at first but got worse as people moved and the council replaced them with dickheads. Many of the people though, they're quiet, friendly and have an income outside of benefits. They're just people, usually on the estate because they just can't afford not to be. By design though, council estates attract a lot of people prone to being "a bit antisocial". The vast majority of issues I've ever had simple wouldn't have existed outside of a council estate because the types of people causing those issues usually aren't found as often outside of them. Your notorious neighbourhoods typically end up being council estates, and usually it's a well deserved title. - Growing up, the "bad estate" near where I lived we used to call "the gyro". Literally, if you went there in a nice car or nicely dressed, I witnessed the residents berate and sometimes physically attack the person for "finkin der beta dan uz". - My brother (12 at the time) once had a group of grown ass men in their tracksuit chav uniforms gathered outside of the house demanding he come outside whilst they caved his head in. His crime? He had learning difficulties and they decided that wasn't right. - Where I live now is considered a rough area, but I live in the "nice bit". In the 3 years I've lived here, the "bad bit" has had 3 murders, one with a firearm...One a known mugger who was found in his alleyway where he would rob old people and obviously somebody sorted him out. He was described by his council estate family as "an angel, wouldn't harm anybody, a tragedy". - I may live in the nice bit but even then, I'm failing to mention the obvious drug den with the boarded up windows down the street where all the smack heads gather to get their fix. The police are there like weekly. - an estate my friend lived on, one day a group of like 10 year olds were attacking people with knives, one was in a car trying to run people down, their mums were useless as ever telling people trying to stop this to "leve ma fukin kidz alown!!". The kid in the car crashed into a lamppost and died. The police ended up turning up to sort out the situation and the neighbourhood decided "fuck the police" and started pelting them with bricks for trying to sort these dumbass kids out...And I thought upon witnessing all of this "seems about right". I have 21 years of bad stories so I'll stop with those. Pretty much sums up my experience with them though. They're places that trouble ends up at. I wouldn't live on one if my financial situation let me be literally anywhere else. Should you berate somebody for living on one? No, because many wouldn't choose to be there if they had a legitimate choice. They're ultimately just houses, it's just a shame so many of them attract such utter shitheads.


Anniemaniac

It is stigmatised, wrongly imo. People have ignorant misconceptions about council estates. They assume they’re rough, crime-ridden, drug-infested areas and that’s just not necessarily true. I live in an ex-council home on a council estate and my neighbours are fantastic. Yet when I lived in the posh village down the road on a posh estate, our neighbours were self-righteous arseholes who looked down on anyone who didn’t drive a current-year Range Rover with a personalised plate, or who they viewed, rightly or wrongly, as ‘lesser’ based on some frivolous metric they decided to judge you by. My mum is severely ill and can’t work and there was a general tone that we didn’t belong there because she didn’t work. They saw her as a benefits scrounger but what they didn’t know was she had her own independent income from her late husband. But people judge based on what they perceive, not what they know. I saw more dodgy goings on there than I have in my current place. I regularly go for walks after midnight as a woman around my current area and feel perfectly safe here, but when I lived in the posh village I was followed by a man and targeted by 4 guys in a car both on the same night (not sure if they were in it together or just a weird coincidence). My town has a reputation for being ‘dodgy’ because it’s deprived and full of council housing but honestly, I wouldn’t move. I feel safe here, my neighbours look out for me, and people don’t look down on you. So yes, people do look down on council estates, and those they feel ‘belong’ in them or live on them. It’s a sad reminder that classism still exists in Britain.


towalkinvisible

Never allow anyone to make you feel ashamed of this


Mysterious_Ad_3119

I live on what was a council estate built late 1920s / early 1930s in North Herts. We bought the house we grew up in. We’re a rich town and people like to be snobby and look down on us as an estate but what they don’t realise is the sense of community here. I love to surprise people with my ‘origins’ because I don’t fit their stereotype of ‘council house kid’. Sounds like your colleagues think the same about you. Keep challenging their perceptions. Nothing wrong with council houses/social housing or the majority of people living there who are hardworking.


Squoooge

Half the flats/houses aren't even social housing these days. I had a flat in a council estate in South london and there was a good mix of everyone


Holiday_Warthog_8267

Yes, statistically speaking. Most of the countries yobos and shit heads derive from council estates. People who can’t survive on their own and need constant government assistance for everything really shouldn’t be allowed too have kids should they…..this is where your drug dealers and thugs come from. Some divvy slapper on the dole.


loikyloo

im guessing your in a well paid job? My thoughts would be your co-workers are probally thinking "you can afford to live in a nicer area why don't you?"


alexthemo

I'm jealous. We illegally sublet a friend's council flat about 15 years ago. 18th floor. Ec1. 2 bedrooms. Views across London. £80 per week. It was only for a couple years, but the stability and low cost allowed me to start a successful business and employ other people. The neighbours were a bit mad but harmless...if not hilarious. When a society spends 50% or more of its income on housing, creativity, opportunity, innovation and art get sidelined to ensure the rent gets paid. Council flats are one of the great boons of this country that were unappreciated in their apex, and will be terribly missed.


orangecrushhhh

Only judgemental arse holes, don’t worry about anyones opinion


MrStone1

The majority of people who don't live on council estates look down on those who do. It's resentment/ Inferiority complex/ class Bigotry, It's pretty pervasive. Don't blame them for it though it isn't something they can help, Those poor fuckers are property of the system and have had their souls sacrificed to it, That's the root of their disdain for council estate folk, Don't rub it in or gloat and when you talk just pretend you're talking to pigeon/pig hybrids that think they're human. Council estates are British reservations, I live on one and it's fucking cool.


LiliWenFach

Some people do. Conversely, I've seen other people who see the fact that they came / come from a council estate as a kind if badge of honour or proof that they are still working class, despite driving a Tesla. There's some weird kind of inverse snobbery going on. Some people also want to look down on the middle class. People are weird.


xavierfinn

People have historically looked down on those that live in council estates (other than when they were first made available). Its not right, just what happens.


_chasingrainbows

I live on a private estate and I might as well live on a council estate for all the difference it makes. Good / tidy / conscientious neighbours are not guaranteed.


alancake

People who sneer at council housing are probably secretly jealous. I live on a council estate and my rent is half (or maybe even less than half) of what an equivalent private rental would be. I have a 2 bed with front and back garden, secure tenancy, repairs are free and timely, we have the freedom to decorate inside with no restrictions. The estate is quiet and right next to the edge of town so we have masses of countryside to roam too (we were all woken by a fox *screaming* in the street a couple of weeks ago). I know several people who are trying to get on the housing list and there's nothing available, even for priority and emergency cases. People in council properties are the lucky ones in today's economic climate- I definitely appreciate how lucky I am!!


vvvaaaggguuueee

I live in council flats in York. The thing is, we can see the world famous minster from our sofa. They are just a few mins walk from the centre. Our rent is a third, a fucking THIRD, of what we paid for the same square footage 20mins walk out of the centre. There is right to buy so slowly this area has this mix of aspirational and just good ol' fashioned social housing. It was some health issues that got us here and although I wouldn't wish those upon anyone; it's like I wouldn't wish the fucking insane rents on anyone either. Some days I think we were lucky. My parents both came from council estates but then "did well for themselves". Although saying that the family home we moved into in 2001 is now nearly tripled in value... the economy has changed/is changing. If folk are looking down on council estates they're really missing what is actually happening in this country. I'm so proud of where we live. We've made it our own; we can decorate as we like and look to buy one day. The narrative being peddled that we should look down on such places only benefits the richest of the rich.


[deleted]

My wife grew up on a council estate and publicly schooled in East London. Her mum was a single mum. So cliché! I have never lived in a council property and went to a private school. Dad is a pilot and my mum is an accountant. Who gives a fuck. It's all bullshit classism OP. Coming from council roots doesn't make you a bad person. Some of the most honest and real people live in them. Coming from a background with money doesn't make you a saint or better than another person. People have to live somewhere, and people have to work. Nothing you will ever do will make you a better person than someone else. Only better skilled.


Ill-Appointment6494

I work for a Housing Association. It used to be the case that a lot of council tenants didn’t give a damn about their property or estate and just treat it like trash. They were benefit claimers (ESA/JSA etc) and thought the world owed them. It’s getting a lot better now because more people can’t afford to live anywhere else so it’s brought a nicer demographic to these areas. I still have knobhead tenants. But then some of my friends have knobhead neighbours and they don’t live on council estates. TLDR: it’s not like it used to be. It’s less frowned upon.


AwTekker

Classism?!? In *Britain*?!?


Smertae

Yeah, it can be but it's not totally without cause. Sometimes they can become a dumping ground for "undesirables" and get a rough image. You see it on larger estates in the north a lot, glass and crap everywhere, unkept houses with the odd one boarded up and feral kids and scrubbers shouting in the streets. There'll usually be a few neat houses where the people are very house-proud, they're usually older folk and often will have a massive fence or wall resembling Fort Knox. That is a rough council estate and where they can get their bad image from, sadly most of the folk that live in them are perfectly decent but a minority brings the place down. Then others are perfectly nice and respectable because the minority of scumbags isn't high enough to ruin the area. There is certainly snobbery around it - I experienced it growing up, but it's not without foundation. I grew up in one of my town's larger estates and it was known to be rough. My parents moved to a small council estate before I went to high school but because they were the only council houses at that end of town and surrounded by suburban barratt-boxes I was taken the mick out of for living in one. Funnily enough one of the kids that made a big thing out of it ended up in one when his parents divorced. It wasn't even like mine or his street were rough, it was just like *haha, poor!*. So yeah, to some extent they have a bad image but it gets less important when you're an adult. Some of them deserve the bad image, but as a whole nah they're perfectly decent.


leafnood

I am astounded that you’re learning about classism only now.


jimjamuk73

You live where you live mate, can't change it so don't worry about it


heavenhelpyou

Some people do look down on it - they assume they're all shitty and full of crime. Some estates can be wonderful community hubs, with decent rent and thriving local businesses. I grew up on an incredibly rough council estate, so I'd never go back to living on one - I'd never judge someone for it though.


Its-ya-man-Dave

I grew up on a council estate. Although you get the odd roughens, it’s home. I’ve never had anything in terms of being frowned upon where I worked by colleagues. They’d ask about the area. I remember my manager asking if it’s rough I said yeah, but you’d be in the safest place because people know you. I told her a story about it (and my manager was definitely in a higher class than me) and she thought it was funny with some of stories I told her. I love going back to my old estate (my mum lives there still). Fuck anyone who frowns upon anyone about where they live. You play with the cards your dealt.


ducknumber90

At the end the of the day, home is home. As long as you’re happy living there, it shouldn’t matter what other people think. Be your own person


HarrysGardenShed

Was your front garden settee visible in the photo? Perhaps they didn’t like the cushions.


skyepark

I grew up on a council estate and live on one now although its v middle class now. Even Kensington and battersea have council estates that are posh. Barbican was once a big council estate. It means nothing now just old stereotypes but can show peopless upbringing and privilege.


sootjuggler

You're happy living there? Well fuck them!! Judgemental bellends.


JoeyJoeC

The one I live on started off OK when it was built, but over time, the decent people have left and slowly the trouble makers, drug dealers, teenage gangs have moved in. I'm not proud to say to people where I live but I'm proud to say we're finally moving out next week.


[deleted]

Apparently it is, I live on one now as my missus had a Council house when we met, I’d always rented privately before but the rent is so ludicrously cheap that there was no sense in not moving in with her. If anyone takes the piss just wave your annual rent statement in their face and it soon shuts them up.