Council home tenant slams ‘disgusting’ trolls who name her ‘scrounger’ and ‘beggar’
A student nurse targeted with abuse for her TikToks on renovating her council house has hit back at the haters who call her a ‘scrounger’, pointing out that she doesn’t get to live there for free
A mum-of-two has hit back after vicious trolls branded her a “scrounger” and a “beggar” because she lives in a council house.
Student nurse Rianne and her partner moved into their home in Tyneside with their two kids in August, The Sun reports. As the house needed lots of work, Rianne posted videos of its transformation on social media.
TikTokers targeted her videos with harsh responses, telling her to be grateful for her “free house”. She has now hit back against the “absolutely disgusting” comments, tackling a common misconception about council house residents – that they get to live in their homes for free.
“I just want to start off by saying some of the comments on my previous video were absolutely disgusting,” she said, referring to a clip about removing wallpaper the council had left behind.
The response included the comment: “Free house, what you expect bro?” Another said: “Beggars can’t be choosers.” A third person posted: “Not happy with your free house?”
“And it shouldn’t be the taxpayers’ responsibility to house scroungers,” someone else grumbled. “Looks ok for free as it’s not costing you anything,” another wrote.
But Rianne said she had to remove the wallpaper because the council had rewired the house and “left a mess”.
She also denied that council house tenants don’t work and don’t pay rent. She’s a full-time student nurse, she said, who’s “getting myself into debt to go and work on the wards”. She doesn’t receive benefits and both she and her partner, a full-time restaurant manager, “pay full rent”.
Rianne added that she even had to pay rent on two properties for five weeks because the new house wasn’t ready to move into. She also shelled out £2,100 on new flooring, and around £300 on paint as she tried to fix the work the council had arranged to get done.
“I’ve spent thousands of pounds on a house that isn’t mine and if it was a private landlord it would be a whole different story,” she said. “But because we live in a council house people think it’s all right to get shoddy work.”
After calling out some of the trolls, Rianne concluded that “just because you don’t live in” a council house “doesn’t mean that you’re better than me”.
“It does my head in, people that think everyone is a dosser that lives in a council house,” one person commented on her post. “I have lived in one for 35 years, always worked paid my own rent & council tax. People that presume we are benefit scroungers clearly haven’t got a clue.”
“Yes some people don’t work and get everything paid but that not just council house tenants – that applies to people in private rent also!”
“Why do others think us who live in council homes get everything for free and we should be grateful for mouldy walls with plaster that just drops off or for kitchen cabinets that are hanging off of the walls?” another fumed.
“We pay full rent and council tax yes it may be at a cheaper rate but this doesn’t mean we should then bow down and curtsy to the rest of society and say thank you very much for a home that’s sometimes in an in uninhabitable condition!”
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