Dezeen speaks to residents of new council housing in London about what their homes mean to them as part of our Social Housing Revival series.
"When I got here, I was just really in shock because it is absolutely beautiful," said Amanda Bennett*, a mother-of-three who recently moved into a new council house near south London's Old Kent Road, in a development designed by Pollard Thomas Edwards and Concertus for Southwark Council.
"I've never been as happy," Bennett told Dezeen.
"It's such a weird feeling"
Bennett and her children previously spent 12 years in a one-bedroom flat, bidding unsuccessfully for social housing where they would have more space.
"Our old flat had condensation because it was overcrowded and my back was breaking from having to move things around constantly," she recalled. "It was such a tight area, so there was hardly any space for the children to play and my son couldn't get homework done ? he went backwards at school quite quickly."
"Really and truly, he just needed some space and a good night's sleep, but it's impossible when the baby's crying, it was just chaotic."
Amanda Bennett and her three children recently moved into a council house in south-east London. Photo courtesy of Southwark Council
Named Wouldham Court, the 21-home scheme on a former garage site is aesthetically functional, but for Bennett and her family it has been life-changing.
"It's such a weird feeling ? I feel like I...