Living in council flat & owning house in uk

A_Nice_Englishman

astonsmummy wrote:

and make a profit which could possibly pay all of the council rent or some of it, where is the fairness in that?

He'll be struggling to make a profit on a Buy to Let property in the parts of the country I know. Rental yields are about 4 - 5% (before expenses) and mortgage rates around 5%.

astonsmummy

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

He'll be struggling to make a profit on a Buy to Let property in the parts of the country I know. Rental yields are about 4 - 5% (before expenses) and mortgage rates around 5%.

That's fair enough but IMO its still not the point, if u have bought a house/flat you shouldnt be renting off the council aswell, it's hard enough for people to get council housing as it is.

MyUserNamesTaken

astonsmummy wrote:

That's fair enough but IMO its still not the point, if u have bought a house/flat you shouldnt be renting off the council aswell, it's hard enough for people to get council housing as it is.

Totally agree. If he/she buys a property, he/she should forfeit the right to live in a council property.

A_Nice_Englishman

astonsmummy wrote:

That's fair enough but IMO its still not the point, if u have bought a house/flat you shouldnt be renting off the council aswell, it's hard enough for people to get council housing as it is.

I tend to agree with you on that.

Do you also think that council tenants who can well afford to buy or rent privately should be made to do so and free up homes for those who can't?

MortgageMamma

No I don't believe that should be the case, if a person wants to remain in their council accomodation they deserve the right of stability - especially where young children are involved - but I do think that (and this is a little controversial) the council should take a little of the tenants rent every week/month, and save it over the years on behalf of the tenant to assist with a house deposit in the future. Obviously this shouldnt be the case for those on full housing benefit - I just think it would help people out and assist with stock rotation - this could be a voluntary thing

astonsmummy

A_Nice_Englishman wrote:

I tend to agree with you on that.

Do you also think that council tenants who can well afford to buy or rent privately should be made to do so and free up homes for those who can't?

i would of thought people with enough money to buy a property would do - maybe not, if i had the money i would, i'd like nothing more than to be able to choose exactly where i wanted to live.
But noone should be forced into buying somewhere if they already have somewhere to live.
And as far as privately renting, i dont think people should do this and give up their council property apart from the rents being extorishinate, it's not secure enough, so could end up needing help from the council again.
My point is, if you choose to buy somewhere then yes you should give up the council house.

MyUserNamesTaken

MortgageMamma wrote:

No I don't believe that should be the case, if a person wants to remain in their council accomodation they deserve the right of stability - especially where young children are involved - but I do think that (and this is a little controversial) the council should take a little of the tenants rent every week/month, and save it over the years on behalf of the tenant to assist with a house deposit in the future. Obviously this shouldnt be the case for those on full housing benefit - I just think it would help people out and assist with stock rotation - this could be a voluntary thing

I would go further than that. HB is means tested, as you know. Once someone no longer qualifies for HB, they still pay only a subsidized rent. I think this subsidy should also be means tested. The more you earn, the less subsidy you get until you reach a point whereby the rent is at market level with similar privately rented properties in the same area. This would stop certain people who earn large amounts of money wasting it on holidays abroad twice a year, new cars and 42 inch LCD tvs because they get subsidized rent in a secure council property, so never have to worry about being turfed out. Believe me, this happens.

sarahlouise210

you could always do a mutual exchange with someone to a different area - people are always wanting to move to London and you could then get a place that you could actually afford to get a mortgage on...

movingforward2010

sorry to hijack

quick question:

if u have lived in a coucil house for 30yrs and u are entilted to max discount being 60%, will u only get £16k off the house price in wales, seems a bit low? people in our street say they only paid £39-£60k for thier council houses 5 yrs bk now worth £150k

A_Nice_Englishman

MyUserNamesTaken wrote:

I would go further than that. HB is means tested, as you know. Once someone no longer qualifies for HB, they still pay only a subsidized rent. I think this subsidy should also be means tested. The more you earn, the less subsidy you get until you reach a point whereby the rent is at market level with similar privately rented properties in the same area. This would stop certain people who earn large amounts of money wasting it on holidays abroad twice a year, new cars and 42 inch LCD tvs because they get subsidized rent in a secure council property, so never have to worry about being turfed out. Believe me, this happens.

That's an interesting thought.

In this thread somebody tells us they rent privately for £600 pm whereas next door rent an identical house from the council for £320. Where's the fairness in that?