Decorating a council house?

KRRBRO

Could anyone be of help to me. If both my partner and I are on social welfare is there any allowances available to help us with the necessities for council housing. We have been privately renting for 10 years now and all our accomodation has been furnished by the landlords. Now we may have a council house but have little to no furnishings, for example beds, sofa, cooker etc. and I am beginning to panic. We are on below basic income and couldnt afford any of these. I have been looking buy and sell sites also and could pick up bits and pieces on them but not the big things as these are still quite expensive.Any help will be grateful Thank you :-)

Saucy McKetchup

KRRBRO wrote: »

Could anyone be of help to me. If both my partner and I are on social welfare is there any allowances available to help us with the necessities for council housing. We have been privately renting for 10 years now and all our accomodation has been furnished by the landlords. Now we may have a council house but have little to no furnishings, for example beds, sofa, cooker etc. and I am beginning to panic. We are on below basic income and couldnt afford any of these. I have been looking buy and sell sites also and could pick up bits and pieces on them but not the big things as these are still quite expensive.Any help will be grateful Thank you :-)

Go into your local cwo officer and they will give to a grant to furnish the house

the dark phantom

Community welfare officer should give you a grant, They don't cover for couches though but it should be fairly easy to get good second hand furniture around.

KRRBRO

Thank you for the reply :-)
Do you know what it is that the grant would cover?

sopretty

Basically they don't cover everything, but it depends on what is in the house already. Like you, I had always rented furnished apartments, so had nothing.

Flooring is expensive. Fridge, Oven/Cooker, Washing Machine, Beds, a shower if applicable......

Basically, your best bet is to get about 3 quotes (you can do so online and print off the quotes) for everything you will need (include everything - wardrobes, chairs, table, appliances etc.). They won't cover near what it costs to furnish a house, but they will possibly cover about 2k.

I moved into a council house (like a f*cking eejit), with no floors (cement floors downstairs, chip-board upstairs), I had no furniture, no bed, no chairs, no table etc. I was told that I'd never get the opportunity again so to take it. I ended up having to take voluntary redundancy from work, as the CWO couldn't help otherwise. While I was off sick at the time and not being paid, I basically moved into a shed. I had to send my daughter to live with my mother. Certainly didn't help with the old depression and anxiety.

I slept on a blow up mattress for months, which had a hole in it lol, so I'd go to sleep on the blow up mattress and wake up on the ground. I had an outdoor wooden table with two chairs, which became my table and chairs. My uncle donated an armchair. My granny (God bless her) bought me a fridge, my Dad bought a washing machine. I had an old old tv which got ruined by the cement dust. It was pure and utter torture, and in hindsight, I'd have told them to feck off.

Gatling

KRRBRO wrote: »

Thank you for the reply :-)
Do you know what it is that the grant would cover?

White goods ,fridge ,cooker ,washing machine ,
And a cheap bed or two ,

If I'm correct they don't give you Cash your asked to supply quotes for certain goods ,
Check with your local cwo ,
I think you will have to buy your own paint and stuff ,

Charity shops are a good place to start if you need basic furnishings

sopretty

Other things to include would be blinds for the windows (I had a sheet nailed to the bedroom window for about a year lol). They'll require 3 quotes for everything, to ensure you're not taking the piss.

Over time, once you get the basics in, you can save up and buy bits and pieces. If it's a previously occupied house, it will probably have flooring in, which is a massive saving.

sopretty

In my council area, the house will be painted. That's it.

Gatling

sopretty wrote: »

In my council area, the house will be painted. That's it.

And that is why people on the housing list should put a few quid a week /month into a savings account to eventually buy goods they need when they do get a council property

sopretty

Gatling wrote: »

And that is why people on the housing list should put a few quid a week /month into a savings account to eventually buy goods they need when they do get a council property

If you're on the council housing list, you probably haven't a shilling to your name! I posted before on a different thread, about the financial situation that I was in prior to getting the house. I was whopping out 120 on rent and 150 in childcare per week, before you even begin to think about any other bills/food/expenses/costs. Contrary to popular belief, I was NOT on any sort of one parent family payment. I was working full time to try to not become a 'welfare mother'. There was not a screed left to put away in savings.

KRRBRO

sopretty wrote: »

I moved into a council house (like a f*cking eejit)

I was told that I'd never get the opportunity again so to take it.

I have been giving the same 'just take it' replys but Im worried also I know beggers cant be choosers when it comes to social housing, why do you regret taking yours if you dont mind me asking?

Gatling

sopretty wrote: »

If you're on the council housing list, you probably haven't a shilling to your name! I posted before on a different thread, about the financial situation that I was in prior to getting the house. I was whopping out 120 on rent and 150 in childcare per week, before you even begin to think about any other bills/food/expenses/costs. Contrary to popular belief, I was NOT on any sort of one parent family payment. I was working full time to try to not become a 'welfare mother'. There was not a screed left to put away in savings.

Were on a list 6 years and in worse financial than I'd like to admit ,

Still manage 2/3 euro a week put in to an account ,

After a few years it all adds up,

I understand not every body is able or willing to save but im sure a lot could ,


Sorry Op don't mean to spoil your thread

KRRBRO

sopretty wrote: »

If you're on the council housing list, you probably haven't a shilling to your name! I posted before on a different thread, about the financial situation that I was in prior to getting the house. I was whopping out 120 on rent and 150 in childcare per week, before you even begin to think about any other bills/food/expenses/costs. Contrary to popular belief, I was NOT on any sort of one parent family payment. I was working full time to try to not become a 'welfare mother'. There was not a screed left to put away in savings.

Yes you are spot on its very hard to put away anything when my income for 3 plus a dog :-) is extremely low!

KRRBRO

Gatling wrote: »

Were on a list 6 years and in worse financial than I'd like to admit ,

Still manage 2/3 euro a week put in to an account ,

After a few years it all adds up,

I understand not every body is able or willing to save but im sure a lot could ,


Sorry Op don't mean to spoil your thread

Its ok, im delighted Im getting so many replys, to be honest I never thought it would happen so fast and to be honest I haven't anything put away, wish I had this advice sooner, I know it maybe common sense, but genuinely I live day to day, and there is never anything left over at the end of the week. We dont drink or smoke either all our money goes on rent, food & bills and thats it. I know there is a lot in this situation and its so sad.

brightspark

Your local St. Vincent de Paul SVP, might be able to provide you with some furniture also.


Also some things can be got free from sites like below (I think there are other sites like it too)

http://freebies.ie/freecycling/

KRRBRO

brightspark wrote: »

Your local St. Vincent de Paul SVP, might be able to provide you with some furniture also.

Thank you I will try them also. Ive heard of them before but never knew what they did but I will look them up online now. Thank you.

twowheelsonly

Check out freebies ads as well on Adverts.ie or the like - plenty more pages on Facebook as well.

We had a beautiful leather suite, swivelling recliners etc in top class condition that we couldn't give away last Nov/Dec. (Our kids are all grown up so it wasn't abused or marked in any way) Ended up out in the rain for a couple of weeks before some travellers stopped by and took it. VdeP and most charity places won't accept second hand furniture.

Keep your eyes and ears open for anyone moving house or refurbishing their own place as they'll often have stuff they don't need any more. Some of that stuff can be perfect and it's a shocking waste to just dump it.

sopretty

KRRBRO wrote: »

I have been giving the same 'just take it' replys but Im worried also I know beggers cant be choosers when it comes to social housing, why do you regret taking yours if you dont mind me asking?

Because I was essentially forced financially to take voluntary redundancy from my job to try to furnish 'the shed'. Ironically it was a social worker in the council who pushed finally for me to get a house, as the apartment I was renting only had a shower, and my daughter wouldn't go into it as she was afraid, so I had to wash a 4 year old standing up in the kitchen sink. When I moved to this 'fabulous' council house, it was uninhabitable for a child, so she had to live with my mother for a few months until I took redundancy and managed to furnish the house basically.Mine was never occupied, so it was just a shell. It had toilets, sinks, baths and kitchen presses, that was it.
As it turned out, I had about 2 years of torture with my next door neighbours.
I've since moved to a much smaller house, in a not particularly desirable neighbourhood, but as it had been previously occupied, there are floors lol. More importantly, I have peace!

sopretty

twowheelsonly wrote: »

Check out freebies ads as well on Adverts.ie or the like - plenty more pages on Facebook as well.

We had a beautiful leather suite, swivelling recliners etc in top class condition that we couldn't give away last Nov/Dec. (Our kids are all grown up so it wasn't abused or marked in any way) Ended up out in the rain for a couple of weeks before some travellers stopped by and took it. VdeP and most charity places won't accept second hand furniture.

Keep your eyes and ears open for anyone moving house or refurbishing their own place as they'll often have stuff they don't need any more. Some of that stuff can be perfect and it's a shocking waste to just dump it.

Jaysus - I'd have chewed my arm off to get that! Problem is the cost of renting a truck to transport stuff.

brightspark

twowheelsonly wrote: »

VdeP and most charity places won't accept second hand furniture.

Not strictly true, I know the SVP in my area has a shed full of stuff, perhaps when they have too much to store they stop taking any.


They are mainly volunteers so perhaps it depends on local resources and members. Before the recession when the community welfare office had more funding most applicants could get new furniture, I expect that's no longer possible.

Anyway OP ask them for help anyway, they may know of other ways to help you furnish your house.

lisatu

Haven't read all the replies but we are in West Cork and received a council house last year. Normally the council rip out all flooring and any upgrades done to a house and leave it very basic and just painted. We luckily still had flooring in all rooms bar the small bedroom and stairs and a full built in kitchen.

We had our own fridge but nothing else and we received 2300 euro towards the house. If your house is bare, which I would presume it will be then you should receive more. The community welfare officer will call out and measure the rooms and work out what amount ye will be granted.

We still have lots to do and buy to make the house nice but we decided to buy very good white goods and beds as a priority and let cosmetic things for the house wait.

Congrats on the house and hope that helps.

fussyonion

I think the amount depends on what state the house is in, OP.

When we were given the keys to our place, the whole house was just a shell with concrete floors and lumpy bumpy walls and..well I won't go into the details, it would take too long, but suffice to say it needed a LOT doing to it.

Luckily we had a lot of our own stuff as we'd been renting privately for years and had bought our own things because we knew one day we'd have a council house.
Our CWO said he needed to take a look at our house as he couldn't believe the way I was describing it to him.

He came out and was really nice.

I had already given him two quotes-one from Power City and one from Harvey Norman, for appliances and beds, and he looked at the Harvey Norman one first and said "Jaysus they're decent prices aren't they?" and he sent us two cheques in the post.

One was for Harvey Norman and the other was for another independent furniture shop where we were buying our flooring.

All in all, we got €1500 and although it greatly helped and we were so appreciative of it, we did end up putting a lot towards it ourselves but sure it's not up to the CWO to pay for absolutely everything.


You'll want to furnish it the way you want it, so once the essentials are covered, that's all that matters.
Have a chat with your CWO, OP, and he/she will sort you out.

Graces7

brightspark wrote: »

Not strictly true, I know the SVP in my area has a shed full of stuff, perhaps when they have too much to store they stop taking any.


They are mainly volunteers so perhaps it depends on local resources and members. Before the recession when the community welfare office had more funding most applicants could get new furniture, I expect that's no longer possible.

Anyway OP ask them for help anyway, they may know of other ways to help you furnish your house.

v de p are great. when i was first here i got free furniture via the parish priest who had a great shed full.

ve de p will have good curtains too

also try the council recycling place; have had a lot from them.

December2012

Have a look on local Facebook groups - there are lots of giveaway groups in various areas.

hdowney

Jaysus jealous of some of ye. Our council house was a new build bungalow (full of holes and not sealed but that's another story alltogether). When we moved in it was a concrete shell. Grey concrete floor, walls and ceiling. Not a drop of paint or flooring.

I slept on a borrowed futon type yoke on the concrete floor for well over 6mths as I didn't have a bed.

And then when we went to the CWO we got a couple hundred punts (this was November 2000) for a bit of flooring. That was it

It seems things differ drastically from council to council and CWO to CWO when I don't think they should.

mp22

Will close this now, I think the op should have enough info.