I'm getting a housing upgrade

[Miss Chicken]

Two men came and inspected my house today as the Housing Department has my house listed for an upgrade.

Kitchen - it will be completely gutted and rebuilt. New stove, more bench space, pantry cupboard, microwave unit, new linoleum etc. Goodbye to the horrid woodpanelling that someone put in the kitchen many years ago.

Laundry - Nothing major hot water cylinder moved outside so I can put the little freezer from the kitchen in here. Storage cupboard over the freezer. New lino.

Bathroom/toilet - Bathroom gutted and everything new. The guy said he is going to try and talk Housing into replacing the old galvinised pipes. Woodpanelling removed from the toilet.

They will probably start work around August Then my home will be perfect. I will take before and after photos to show you.

 

[Amaris]

Re: I getting a housing upgrade

Congratulations, Miss Chicken! You deserve it!

 

[Roger Wilco]

Good for you.

I wish I could afford a new kitchen, my stove stopped working a couple months ago and I can't fit in a new one without major changes because the old was a weird size that's not produced anymore.

 

[Amaris]

Good for you.

I wish I could afford a new kitchen, my stove stopped working a couple months ago and I can't fit in a new one without major changes because the old was a weird size that's not produced anymore.

That's what chainsaws are for.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Good for you.

I wish I could afford a new kitchen, my stove stopped working a couple months ago and I can't fit in a new one without major changes because the old was a weird size that's not produced anymore.

Two of the hotplates on my stove blow the fuse if they are turned on. I didn't try to get the stove fixed because when I had my maintenence inspection in February the lady told me that I had good chance of getting a new stove if I waited and asked for one at the start of the financial year. I would have been pleased with just the new stove, I wasn't expecting to get all this.

 

[trekkiedane]

That is just so cool Miss C

Sounds like you live in a cigar-box though; is there any room that doesn't have wooden-panelling?

I had my kitchen done just a couple of years ago; from something that looked like it had been installed in the 1970s to something a lot more contemporary (and the whole thing fitted perfectly to my needs*) -- If only I could pull myself together and spray the old cupboards in the colour that matches the new ones


___________
* I live alone and have never had use for four cookers on the stove top, so now I have a two-cooker-stove standing freely on the table... this way I can move it about a bit and still have room for an electric grill on the tabletop

 

[Miss Chicken]

Luckily the only rooms that have wood panelling are the kitchen and the toilet.

The panelling in the kitchen is only on two walls and only half way up. The walls of the toilet are completely wood panelled and it is ghastly.

Wood panelling was the rage in the late 1970s and I think that that is when my kitchen and bathroom might have last been redecorated. This would have been before the Housing Department bought the house. One look at my house and it is obviously that the Housing Department didn't build my house (their houses have a distinct look).

 

[trekkiedane]

Wood panelling was the range in the late 1970s and I think that that is when my kitchen and bathroom might have last been redecorated.

It so was! I remember dad putting up wooden panelling in our bathroom about that time (painted with some lacquer in the shade of "Driftwood" ) -I didn't understand why this had to be as I loved our house where all walls were in raw brick -with a coat of white paint.

 

[SPOCKED]

How sweet! I'm so happy for you, Miss Chicken

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Nice!

My previous house was full of tacky wooden panelling. I know you won't miss yours!

 

[iguana_tonante]

Awesome news, Miss Chicken. I recently renovated my house, and while it was hard work (not that I really did anything, of course, but planning the whole thing was still challenging), it was a great satisfaction to see it done.

 

[thestrangequark]

That is very cool! There's nothing like a little renovation to cheer up a house. I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[Naira]

Nice! That must feel great!

What is a Housing Department and how does it work?

 

[Count Zero]

Sounds extensive. I hope those people work fast so that you won't beinconvenienced for too long. I'm currently trying to talk my landlord out of totally making over the bathroom and the kitchen because it'll surely take ages in which I won't be able to live in my apartment, because the rent will probably go up as a result and because it'll leave me with an even smaller bathroom.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Congratulations, Miss Chicken. That sounds great.

I like wood paneling, though.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Nice! That must feel great!

What is a Housing Department and how does it work?

Governmental/public housing for low income people. I have a three bedroom house which I share with my sons. Roughly speaking, rent is 1/4 of household income. I pay $233 a week for a house for which the full market rental has been determined to be $320 a week.

I have been renting from from the Housing Department for 34 years. The first 30 years was spent in a smaller house in another suburb. The Housing Department than decided to sell that house rather that upgrade it so I was told I had to transfer. I decided to be fussy and ask for a better, more middle-class suburb. I got the house that I currently live in.

Quite a lot of government housing is getting old and rundown but the Department can only afford to upgrade a few dozen of them a year.

Sounds extensive. I hope those people work fast so that you won't beinconvenienced for too long. I'm currently trying to talk my landlord out of totally making over the bathroom and the kitchen because it'll surely take ages in which I won't be able to live in my apartment, because the rent will probably go up as a result and because it'll leave me with an even smaller bathroom.

I was told that the Housing Department only give them 8 days to complete a makeover. The guy said the kitchen would be completed in less than three days and the bathroom in five days. He said that they have to put the new bath in on the first day in the bathroom, so I we will be able to have baths but might have to go 5 days without a shower.

 

[teacake]

That's fantastic. You hit the jackpot!!! Literally, I know what they do and when they do it is very erratic. When you have the fixing up people in there make sure you point out any thing else you might like them to do, they will probably do it for you even if it's not on the job description.

I guess I have to readjust my idea that rent in Tassie was a lot cheaper than the mainland.

 

[scotpens]

Wood panelling was the rage in the late 1970s and I think that that is when my kitchen and bathroom might have last been redecorated.

Yes, cheap wood paneling was widely used here in the US during that decade as well, especially in dens and finished basements. You saw a lot of that stuff in porn films back then.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I guess I have to readjust my idea that rent in Tassie was a lot cheaper than the mainland.

Rent and house prices have gone up a far bit in the last few years because many Mainlanders are bought Tasmanian properties as an investment. I read that About 25% of private rental properties are now owned by Mainlanders.

Our cheaper prices also attracted the retirees who coild sell their houses in Sydney etc and come to Tasmania and buy a house for half the price thus have a nice sum of money they could invest. This partly explains why Tasmania has the oldest population of any state.

Rents are still lower other capital cities but so are Tasmanian wages.

The full market rental of my house is higher than most other Housing Department homes because of the suburb it is located in.

 

[Spot's Meow]

Yay!! I'm excited for you, and I don't even live in the house. I look forward to the pictures.