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shortfatbalduglyman
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05 Dec 2023, 12:55 pm

What are some examples of bad things that happened in government subsidized housing? Your experience or things you heard about?



CockneyRebel
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05 Dec 2023, 10:53 pm

Mice and cockroaches. The buildings in my neighbourhood are very old.


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autisticelders
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06 Dec 2023, 5:09 pm

don't rule it out without checking it out where you are, it varies greatly from place to place. Housing is hard to find. Some places are fine, others not so much...go see for yourself, you are allowed to look at the place being offered before you agree to live there! Sitting in a neighborhood and just watching what goes on at any time of day may give you a good idea about whether you want to live there or not. Talk to neighbors about a specific piece of property. High rises, big blocks of apartments, small 3 or 4 apartment units, or even single houses or duplexes may come available depending on where you are. Usually there is a waiting list, with the most urgent needs sometimes moved forward (pending homelessness or homeless status, for example) Take your time and take a good look, don't take anybody else's word for it!


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ToughDiamond
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06 Dec 2023, 5:39 pm

My partner was on the HUD subsidy and it wasn't a completely great experience. Landlord and "housing officer" (or whatever they call those people) stuck together whenever there was anything contentious. Moving her support animal in caused acrimony. She asked for permission, the landlords said they'd ask their lawyer and then nothing more was heard. Every time she tried to get an answer, any replies referred to the support animal as a "pet." So she asked Americans With Disabilities for advice, and they said she was within her rights to just bring the animal in. She did so and the s**t hit the fan. Irate phone calls from housing officer - "what do you think you're doing? Your landlords are good people!" Funny idea of good people. Then when she moved out she noticed a bit of damage to a window blind, and offered to replace it. No need, they said. So she didn't. Then they used it as an excuse to refuse return of her deposit.

Still, it's not necessarily representative of subsidised housing.



blitzkrieg
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06 Dec 2023, 6:17 pm

In the UK, subsidized housing is supposed to be maintained to a reasonable standard by a local council (for council housing at least), although mileage may vary.

Some council places are nice whilst others are 'pending' being repaired or being updated to a reasonable standard. It doesn't help that a lot of councils are overspent or are on the verge of bankruptcy.



y-pod
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07 Dec 2023, 8:06 am

My only experience was visiting this one place when my dad was looking for an apartment. We didn't know it was subsidized. Only went because it's really close to his workplace. Once the manager opened the door we already knew he wouldn't want it. We persisted and went through with the tour. In the end the manager asked if my dad would like to apply. My dad asked me (in our language) what I thought about the place. I said if he did, don't expect me to ever visit. :D

I don't know what's exactly wrong. It wasn't smelly or run down. Everything worked. Anyway when I went home I washed the bottom of my shoes, because they felt "dirtied". I get a feeling that they have this "you're not welcome" vibe so people would want to move out once they're in better place financially. :?

*This was many years ago. I suppose now even a large closet is hot commodity. Rentals are so few people fight over each other for anything slightly nice.


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bee33
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07 Dec 2023, 8:48 am

I used to live in a two-family house that I owned. There were two apartments. I lived in one of them and I rented out the other one. My tenant had a Section 8 housing voucher, which means the city helped pay a portion of her rent. She was great. The apartment was the same as the one I lived in, which I though was nice. I kept the place in good condition. She lived there for 16 years and was happy with the place. So it doesn't have to be bad.

My understanding is that it's not easy to get a Section 8 voucher and there can be a long waiting list, like years long. Some people are prioritized depending on their circumstances, for instance if they are homeless.



PhosphorusDecree
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07 Dec 2023, 10:00 am

I've been in social houing since 2016. (I pay rent to the city council - not sure how comparable the situation is to the USA.) The building is a dilapidated wreck, but they are very good a responding to urgent maintenance requests. The rent is less than half an equivalent private rental.


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blazingstar
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08 Dec 2023, 9:58 pm

When I was a very young single mother I lived in subsidized housing. I think my rent was $40. The place was clean, folks were nice. No real complaints.


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ToughDiamond
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09 Dec 2023, 4:50 pm

A partner of mine was unable to pay her rent because she'd been banking on the city council paying her a grant in something like a timely manner. Big mistake - the council was legally obliged to pay it but simply didn't. So her social housing landlords, ironically called "Sanctuary Housing," took her to court. The judge was sympathetic and agreed that it hadn't been her fault, but still found against her. The result was a black mark on her credit record and the instigation of some kind of fast-track method for sueing her again if she ever defaulted in the future. One of Sanctuary's staff told her that the lawsuit had been "for her own good."

The house had always had a damp and mouldy bathroom, and even after several requests to make good the problem, all they did was to eventually install a fan which consumed electricity that she had to pay for, and there was no switch on it. It had little or no effect beyond costing her money.