Council timewasters!!!

[sierraman]

About May time i announced on here I was in the throes of obtaining a garage from the council. Didn't go to plan, but everything happens for a reason or so they say. Anyway, I've got a fortnight off work so I decided to resume my search. Tried a different tack as suggested by the lovely lady at the council offices - to look for a garage that looks vacant and see if it's on their list of vacancies. For some bizarre reason, which we never got to the bottom of in this day and age, the council cannot say there's vacancies at numbers... on such and such sites. You've got to join one waiting list on a site then wait. So you could be waiting years when there's a site 2 minutes away with your garage utopia on it.

 

Anyway I digress, found a site and had a chat with some guys who were working on a car in the garage, they suggested a garage at the end of the row that they knew for a fact was vacant as the previous tenants did a midnight flit from the house behind it that they also rented from the council. It turned out to be a concrete garage of no more than probably 5-10 years old, up and over door, water tight. Perfect. What was better was it was similar rent £2.60 a week. Where do I sign I thought!

 

Today went down the council offices again, yes it is vacant but they've now informed me that they don't let garage sites out anymore as they are under review to sell the land off pretty much all of them. Wasn't happy one bit. 'Why' I asked I wasted time and effort to look round these site upon their suggestion, to get right to the end and it turns out you can't rent it anyway.

 

They did however offer me a brick built jobbie on one of their pre built sites, that they were thinking of painting the doors on next year, at almost £17 a week. I politely declined.

[captain_70s]

They did however offer me a brick built jobbie on one of their pre built sites, that they were thinking of painting the doors on next year, at almost £17 a week. I politely declined.

£2 a month less than the garage I've agreed to rent for a car I failed to buy...

[mercrocker]

Yes, things happen in Council Land a lot differently to where the rest of us have to live......That first figure they quoted you is deliriously cheap!    Round here they won't give you a list of vacancies either - you have to put your name down for streets you will be happy to rent in.   Which is no bloody good when you are in the council office trying to remember what that cul de sac is called off the crescent you can't name either.... 

 

Having hit the jackpot you then have to sign up, pay a month in advance and take the key there and then.  No looky-roundy first and if it turns out to have a lake or dead dog in it back you go for a refund and cancellation of the contract.    

 

Cost here?  Â£13.50 a week.  They are not very good at repairing them either, I have sorted out about six up and over doors in the last 15 years.....

[Lankytim]

Just bust the lock off and use it anyway, That's what lots of people seem to do.

[dollywobbler]

I think Council Lockups is a fine example of just how f*cked our councils are. They often charge ludicrously cheap rates, then wonder why the council never has any money. Administration of the lock-ups is invariably hopeless too. I'm pretty sure our council recently asked us if they should put the rates up for council lock-ups and that they were charging something ridiculous like £30 a YEAR.

[chaseracer]

I think Council Lockups is a fine example of just how f*cked our councils are.

 

"Other sweepingly inaccurate generalisations are available..."

 

 

[colino]

I think I live in the most corrupt local authority area.  From zoning green belt, a golf course and now a piece of farmland into its masterplan for new housing developments, they have knocked down two rows of lock-ups that they have been failing to allocate, despite a waiting list, and taking back on the most frivolous reasons.  Why?  The next week a stalking horse company, that everyone knows is a front for Waitrose, put in planning permission for the land that includes those lock-ups.

If you can get a decent lock-up, hang on to it and barricade the doors.  Most LAs are selling the family silver now.

[Bobthebeard]

I think I live in the most corrupt local authority area.  From zoning green belt, a golf course and now a piece of farmland into its masterplan for new housing developments, they have knocked down two rows of lock-ups that they have been failing to allocate, despite a waiting list, and taking back on the most frivolous reasons.  Why?  The next week a stalking horse company, that everyone knows is a front for Waitrose, put in planning permission for the land that includes those lock-ups.

If you can get a decent lock-up, hang on to it and barricade the doors.  Most LAs are selling the family silver now.

The future of Blackpool airport is uncertain... Owned by Balfour Beatty and under the jurisdiction of Fylde Borough Council, who incidentally have approved permission for around 7,000 new homes to be built on the Fylde. The aroma of rats is strong I think!

[Slappy]

Which LA is that? Golf courses down here are being argued to be built on as there is declining interest in the sport apparently.

 

As for the apparently absurdly cheap rates, I think it may be the old rule that you weren't able to make a profit back before all the central Govt grants got withdrawn and Council tax income became more and more relied upon despite freezes. So the price of the rent covers the genuinely meagre admin costs and any work that is left to when (arguably more important) houses aren't falling to bits.

[Slappy]

The future of Blackpool airport is uncertain... Owned by Balfour Beatty and under the jurisdiction of Fylde Borough Council, who incidentally have approved permission for around 7,000 new homes to be built on the Fylde. The aroma of rats is strong I think!

 

I thought BAe were building bits of F35 Lightning there?

[Bobthebeard]

I thought BAe were building bits of F35 Lightning there?

That is BAe Warton. Close, but not Blackpool airport.

[cort1977]

Just bust the lock off and use it anyway, That's what lots of people seem to do.

 

I know as an honest citizen this is something that I should not approve of but if the council are not renting it and not doing anything with it in the short term where is the harm?   If you don't make a mess, keep the area outside tidy and keep an eye on the place I bet the other garage users and local residents would prefer that to the place sitting empty and getting vandalized etc.   Local authorities have lots of form for letting even listed buildings deteriorate as an excuse to allow demolition.

 

Keep an eye on what's going on though or they might demolish them with your car in it one day...

[sierraman]

Thinking about this, all these sites they are bulldozing, there might be some right finds appearing now the storage has gone... Old Cortinas that's sat in lock ups for yonks losing storage!

[mercrocker]

The lock ups I use have been home to some humdingers in the past few years although I doubt they are still there now. 

 

Cherry Turbo and Opel Monza spring to mind but the velour mould in the Opel was proper bio-hazard stuff 

[rantingYoof]

A lot of local authorities have "outsourced" management of their housing stock (and subsequent garage units) to QUANGOs or LGOs or ALOs or TICKLE ME ELMOs and as such sometimes efficiency suffers even more as such an outsourcing required full and proper continuity and transfer of paperwork and information which usually doesn't happen.

 

Of course another reason for unhelpfulness (aside from dealing with jobsworths etc) is that these ALOQUANGOs are now looking at the plots of land upon which these garage units sit with a view to popping a dwelling or two on them, and so coming up with reasons to keep hold of them (i.e. 'we no longer let them out' = 'we don't want to kick you out in x months when we propose to demolish the garage') is the only way to keep this viable.

 

Or they is just wankers, innit.

[michael1703]

Ive got an idea....

 

Buy a pay as you go mobile phone SIM card

 

Tidy out the garage, make the door look pretty and put a sign on it saying

 

"this unit belongs to gusty o wind flap garage rentals ltd" and put your payg mobile number on it

 

Then write out a phoney agreement between yourself and mr o windflap

 

You have a garage, if the council want you out they will ring mr o windflaps number asking who the flip is in their garage.

 

You therefore have an early warning sign of when the men with uniforms are asking questions

[sierraman]

Ill be going round the sites if they are knocking them down in search of the now impossible to find corrugated tin sheets for the old allotment. Seeing as its owner less this garage you could turn up with a 7.5 tonner and fuck off with the garage.

[Austin-Rover]

I think I live in the most corrupt local authority area.  From zoning green belt, a golf course and now a piece of farmland into its masterplan for new housing developments, they have knocked down two rows of lock-ups that they have been failing to allocate, despite a waiting list, and taking back on the most frivolous reasons.  Why?  The next week a stalking horse company, that everyone knows is a front for Waitrose, put in planning permission for the land that includes those lock-ups.

If you can get a decent lock-up, hang on to it and barricade the doors.  Most LAs are selling the family silver now.

 

Please tell me that you're talking about Kirklees Council? It would be too much for me to know that there's another local authority out there that shows as much contempt for its citizens and the environment as the loonies in Huddersfield Town Hall.

[sierraman]

The problem is, it's worked all in the favour of those who've got their hands in the till. Take the care system for example, in the old days the council had full control of the care homes, they sold all this off to these private companies, pay the staff min wage and spend the absolute minimum on their clients, serving them the cheapest thing 3663 had going that day. The council get billed £2000 a person per month, then someone in between is making a grand or so each person.

 

I might well make a few enquiries if this proposed clearing of sites takes place, there's likely to be a few people to whom it's the final straw, could be some chod turning up. Let me know then if your after a monumentally shit tin garage and I can make inroads. If the councils sacking the plots off you might as well make the best of it.