A mother-of-two has slammed ‘snobby homeowners’ for looking down on her for living in a council house – but says the ‘joke’s on them’.
Leah, who is from the East Midlands, revealed she got a ‘free’ bathroom renovation, while homeowners would have to splash out £10,000 of their own money.
Documenting the renovation on her TikTok account @leahb95xx, she filmed her bathroom’s outdated pink walls and basic flooring.
She then showed off the new white and grey tiling, wooden panelled floor and added plants for a homely feel.
She captioned the video: ‘When the snobby homeowner looks down at you because you have a council house…
‘And they have a mortgage but you have just had your bathroom renovated for free and they’ve just paid £10k for theirs. I’ll take it!’
The post has since gone viral with more than 200,000 views, with people saying Leah would ‘still be paying rent in her 70s’.
But Leah, 29, assured her followers she ‘wouldn’t be’ as she’s hoping to one day buy her house ‘with a massive discount on top’.
Leah, from the East Midlands, says a ‘snobby homeowner’ looked down on her for living in a council house
People soon rushed to the comments to express their thoughts, with some claiming it was an ‘odd’ thing to boast about.
They wrote: ‘This is a very odd flex. But it’s clearly made you happy, so as a higher rate tax payer, you’re welcome’;
‘Good luck paying rent in your 70s’;
‘Think I’d rather pay £10K than have that’;
‘Didn’t realise being a homeowner makes me snobby’;
‘What in the B and M?’
However, others were more positive and congratulated Leah for finding such a bargain, writing: ‘Eeeeek due to get mine done soon and the kitchen canny wait …p.s looks amazingggg’;
‘As someone with a mortgage I say get it girl! I lose sleep over things going wrong with the house and insurance not paying out etc, at least in social housing it’s their responsibility.’
She took to TikTok to show off her bathroom renovation, which she got ‘for free’. Pictured before (left) and right (after)
Leah said she is hoping for a kitchen renovation next, and understands her new bathroom isn’t to everyone’s tastes.
She said she has a ‘lifetime tenancy’, otherwise known as a ‘secure tenancy’, meaning she could expect to live in the property for the rest of her life, as long as she doesn’t break the rental conditions.
Those with a secure tenancy will usually be given the right to one day buy the property through the government’s Right to Buy scheme.
Despite common misconceptions, Leah says she still has a job and worked hard to live where she does.
In another TikTok video, she explained: ‘People are saying “you get it all handed to you on a plate!”.
‘No I don’t! I’ve worked all my life since the age of 15 and I just happen to be in a new situation. We did have to work our a*** off for it’
‘Don’t be so quick to judge, you never know when you might just find yourself walking in that persons shoes.
‘I’ve got a roof over my children’s head and I still work.’
People soon rushed to the comments to express their thoughts, with some claiming it was an ‘odd’ thing to boast about
Leah was allowed to choose the paint colour, tiles and flooring of her new bathroom, and chose grey to match the aesthetic of the rest of the house.
‘Obviously it’s a bulk standard basic bathroom. It’s a refit, because obviously they’ve got to do a lot of council places,’ she explained.
‘But at the same time, I’m grateful for it. It’s a lot better, I’m not after anything fancy and you can add your own personal touch to it anyway, like I have done. I’m happy with my basic bathroom!
‘To me, a bathroom isn’t that important, you just go and do your business and leave, don’t you? It’s no big deal. You don’t spend a lot of time in the bathroom. I’d rather spend my money in the front room and make it cosy.’
Replying to a comment where someone said ‘you can’t pass that house on to anyone’, she said: ‘You clearly don’t know much about council houses. When you’ve been living in a council house for so long, you can buy it.’
Leah said her own mother’s council house was worth £140,000 – but she managed to buy it for £42,000 under the Right to Buy scheme.
