I live on a council estate – people think life is easy, it’s not, they never fix things & won’t let you do it yourself
A WOMAN living on a council estate has branded it a ‘social experiment’ to see how long it takes for people to crack.
The young woman from London took to social media revealing all the ways councils have failed her and many others.
She said: “You lot like to say, people who live on council flats this and people who live on council flats that, but let me paint a little pretty picture for you as to why we sometimes display the irrational and erratic behaviour that we do.”
The woman added they were part of an ‘ involuntary social experiment’ to test how far people can be pushed before falling into depression.
She then went on to list all the ways councils are failing from not cutting the grass so children are stuck indoors with no green spaces.
It has been proven that green space is vital to improving people’s mental health with the NHS even prescribing it as a way to ease mental health problems.
They write: “There is a strong and growing evidence that nature based social prescribing plays and important role in improving mental and physical health and reducing loneliness.”
While it’s understood councils aren’t cutting grass as often to help wildlife come back in urban areas, it can make it difficult for people living there to enjoy the space.
“So what they decided is they were not going to cut communal areas of grass anymore,” she continued.
“So that includes any park or outdoor spaces that belongs to children who probably are living in overcrowded situations on the estates and who require this outdoor space to be able to get a little bit of a release.”
Next, the young woman went on to add that the system is rigged to keep you in poverty.
When her boiler broke four weeks ago, she went back and forth with the council but she claims they didn’t help her.
She admitted she had hot water but no heating, and decided to call out a private contractor to sort the issue as she was fed up of waiting for the council.
Although she paid for the work herself, she was then told by her council she would be fined for ‘unauthorised work done on property.’
“The reason why a lot of us are erratic is because it’s turned us mad,” she said of living on council estates.
“And the only way to survive social housing is to be a mad person.”
The reality of living in a council house
LEANNE Hall, Digital Writer at Fabulous, has discussed what it was like growing up in a council house, and why those living in such properties are often judged...
When I was a child I grew up in a council house, and was blissfully unaware of the discrimination that came with that, until I became an adult.
My younger years were spent running up and down the stairs of my flat, meeting with other friends who lived there and making the most of the communal garden.
But now, it seems no matter your circumstance, everyone has something to say about why you shouldn’t be there.
Living just outside of London like I did, rent prices are still high, and as my mum was at home raising three kids at the time, it wasn’t easy to find a job that fit around that.
People in council houses are often labelled as ‘scroungers’ or ‘lazy’ but it’s nothing of the sort.
Most families in council homes experience overcrowding, and let’s not even mention the horrendous amount of damp and mould that comes from living in old social housing that hasn’t had work done to them in 50 or so years.
It’s not ideal for many, but it does provide a secure home without the fear your rent will shoot up every single year, which I would argue is vital to children growing up on the poverty line.
The clip posted to her TikTok account @letsjustberealx has since gone viral with over 104k views and 10k likes.
People were quick to take to the comments agreeing with the conditions they have to live in up and down the country in council homes.
One person wrote: “Don’t forget the mould!”
Another commented: “This is why I left the UK.”
“Facts!!!!! And then there’s the damp, keep your windows open and your heating on 24/7 and you won’t get damp apparently,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “These are the kind of perspectives that need to be heard.”
“I heard nothing but facts once again,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “Council tenants are the real warriors!”
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