17% of people in the UK live in social housing (Abraham, 2023) across 4.4 million homes, however in recent years the question of whether many of these homes are appropriate for people to live in has come to light. With incidents such as the Grenfell tower fire in 2017, the council’s lack of care towards council properties has been under scrutiny (Howard, 2018).
I spoke to Lisa Oswin, who gave me an insight into her past with council properties.
“Would you say that your experience with social housing is negative or positive?”
It hasn’t been all bad, I’ve lived in 8 council houses since in my life, but I’ve always found the biggest issue is that they are so moldy. Especially if it’s an older house. A house I once lived in when my children were younger was severely covered in mold, to the point that in my son’s room, it was unsafe for him to live in it. It was like that for years and they didn’t help solve the issue. The only thing we could do was move.
An estimated number of around 160,000 council homes in the UK experience issues with mold and damp. (Solicitors, 2023) Mold in properties can lead to serious issues if not dealt with and in extreme cases even death. (Gov.uk, 2024).
“And has this been the case in multiple of your properties?”
Yes, I used to live in a flat with my youngest child and partner when she was first born, and this house was really moldy too. So much so that we had to move her cot into the small living room that my partner and I were already living in, her whole back wall was covered in mold, and it was having an effect on her health. She had asthma for a long time.
Mold can severely trigger asthmatic episodes, especially in young children or the elderly, leaving people with difficulty breathing, wheezing and coughing fits. It can be extremely dangerous.
“Did you ever receive any sort of help or compensation for this?”
No compensation but we did try to bang on to the council about the mold. They didn’t care much. It was all excuses and being blamed for it. It was always a losing battle bothering to fight the council. Eventually we just moved. From one moldy house to another.
In addition to the large number of houses that are moldy, there are also an array of other issues with social housing. Many of the buildings are aging and have a backlog of repairs which are often pushed aside and not appropriately taken care of.
According to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) in 2019, £1.6 billion was needed to repair and maintain social housing across the UK, with much of the backlog attributed to issues like damp and mold. (Investigation into supported housing, 2023). However, due to financial constraints, many local authorities struggle to maintain and repair their properties on time. As a result, tenants may live in conditions that are unsafe or uncomfortable.
England has one of the oldest housing stocks in Europe and in 2009, 38% (8.8 million) of all dwellings had been built before 1945; over half of these (4.8 million) were built before 1919. (English housing survey, n.d), showing that essentials such as insulation, plumbing and the general condition of housing can be very poor. With low budgets to fix this, many people who live in social housing are left struggling in inhumane conditions.
Without adequate ongoing maintenance, repair and replacement work dwellings will fall progressively further into disrepair over time, despite the significant reduction in amounts of disrepair since 2001, many are still living dangerously.
A lack of suitable housing can also lead to overcrowding, this can lead to more moisture building in homes, further making them damper and therefore moldy, meaning that the living conditions will also be unsuitable.
In addition to this, council housing can often have an unpleasant narrative attached to it, Despite the many struggles that those in social housing face.
We spoke to Kiera, who grew up in a council home, to ask her more about the stereotypes that come with council housing.
“Have you ever felt personally insulted due to living in council housing?”
Absolutely. People assume horrible things. Like that you’re aggressive, or dirty. It can make you feel really isolated. I always see and hear people joke about council housing or council estates, but they’ll never have to live like this. If you live in a council house you get it, if you don’t, you judge. That’s how I find it to usually be anyway.
In a 2018 report on public attitudes towards social housing 24% of people said that they would feel uncomfortable living next door to someone who lives in social housing. This illustrates a degree of social stigma and suggests that council tenants are often viewed negatively by parts of the general population.
In short, an array of evidence proves that many council homes are often not fit for living in, due to issues with disrepair, aging properties and extensive damp and mold. On top of this there is also a proven negative stigma around social housing which can lead to anxiety and insecurities in those already struggling with difficult situations in housing. Whilst not all social housing may be in disrepair it is important to acknowledge the large percentage of those who are struggling and that any amount of such disrepair is unacceptable.