elderley to give up council homes

neverdespairgirl

Hank_Rearden wrote: »

Exactly - there are many families who've worked hard all their lives to buy a house and then, when one partner dies, the one left behind ends up having to sell it because of inheritance tax - it does therefore seem unfair when those whose housing is paid for by others don't suffer the same.

no IHT between spouses, though.

In my Granny's case, she thought that a 4 bed house with a massive garden would, eventually, become too much for her. So she moved to a bungalow with a small garden, instead. She thought she'd be better off moving while she was still fit and active (mid 70s).

neverdespairgirl

lemonjelly wrote: »

In theory, I agree with you. Was playing devils advocate.

However, having had to explain such theoretical stuff to people, being in the situation is a little harder than the objective view.

We were lucky - my Granny decided it all on her own, when she was still perfectly fit and healthy.

tesuhoha

Fiddlestick wrote: »

When you have one person occupying a 2 bedroom house that could be used to house a family with two young children then yes, that *is* excessive.

Social housing should be assessed on the basis of need.

Its very easy to say this if you're not the actual person who has to give up their home and have to go to live in a bedsit, possibly in a bad area. I know from personal experience as my mother opted voluntarily to do this as she thought a family would need her three bedroomed house. She gave up a nice house in a nice road for a depressing bedsit where the upstairs neighbours noise came through the ceiling as if they were in the same room and yobbos vandalised the estate and made the pensioners lives a living hell.

ILW

mcjordi wrote: »

i wouldnt call it excessive, i live in a 2 bed property on my own and like hell would i move to a one bed flat..

i could of had a 3 bed on my own if i had even bothered to fight for it when my mam passed away.

i can see some jealousy on this thread:mad:

If you are paying for it with your own money, no problems. If other people are having to pay either through benefits or subsidised rent. then they have a right to feel a little cheated.

Rainmaker_uk

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Good idea - I think it's important in terms of social housing that underoccupied property is freed up.

Or they should be forced to take other people on the waiting list in to 'their home' to utilise the under used beds. :T

StevieJ

ILW wrote: »

If you are paying for it with your own money, no problems. If other people are having to pay either through benefits or subsidised rent. then they have a right to feel a little cheated.

The only person who I feel cheated by is the Witch who sold the majority of the best social housing off for a song :eek: certainly not some old person who doesn't wish to move away from their friends and family.

Rainmaker_uk

mcjordi wrote: »

i wouldnt call it excessive, i live in a 2 bed property on my own and like hell would i move to a one bed flat..

i could of had a 3 bed on my own if i had even bothered to fight for it when my mam passed away.

i can see some jealousy on this thread:mad:

Well I can see some selfish money grabbing oiks

tesuhoha

StevieJ wrote: »

The only person who I feel cheated by is the Witch who sold the majority of the best social housing off for a song :eek: certainly not some old person who doesn't wish to move away from their friends and family.

You hit the nail on the head there.

carlislelass

where are all the 1 bedroom flats or bungalows for single people who move out?

Fiddlestick

tesuhoha wrote: »

Its very easy to say this if you're not the actual person who has to give up their home and have to go to live in a bedsit, possibly in a bad area. I know from personal experience as my mother opted voluntarily to do this as she thought a family would need her three bedroomed house. She gave up a nice house in a nice road for a depressing bedsit where the upstairs neighbours noise came through the ceiling as if they were in the same room and yobbos vandalised the estate and made the pensioners lives a living hell.

The social problems in our inner cities are quite different from the matter of those who hold on to social housing that they don't need.

You are quite right that some areas aren't as good as others, but that's something that doesn't mean that we shouldn't tackle the social housing issue if we can.