Council house debate

HisDoris

My Auntie, Mam and Grandad all live in council properties - all on the same estate - Their houses are 3/4 bedroomed and of quite a good size. My mam and Grandad work full time and earn an average wage and pay £70 a week rent, my auntie is on benefits and pays £7 a week rent. I pay over £100 a week to live in a 2 bedroomed private flat - and the area I live in isnt much better than the council estate my family lives on. I dont resent people for having a council house - If I was offered one then i'd definately take up the offer! I disagree with how the council choose who 'deserves' one or not! Nowadays it seems your more likely to get one if you have lived on benefits all your life and have had 4/5 kids! Not that i'm in anyway basing this on my mother or grandad as they are both hard working adults whom contribute alot to society! But I think there should be reviews every so often to see who SHOULD be in council houses and the 'druggies, alcoholics, voilent, anti social people' should be moved out! And someone who deserves it moved in!

ladymarmalade1970

I don't have a problem with low rents for council tenants. That's what they are there for - to provide affordable housing for people in lower paid work or who can't afford to buy but i get so mad when i see these same people buying their homes at massive discounts then selling in 5 years and living in houses that others have had to slave for years to get.
I can't afford to have a low paid job for the house i want. I have a very stressful job that pays well in order to own my house.
I should add i lived in a housing association whilst i was doing my degree and it worked out brilliantly then and as soon as i could go to work i gave it back and brought my own house. That's what it should be like.

££sc££

fabbman wrote: »

I think all council tenants should me made to apply for their homes every 5 years to see if more eligible people could benefit, after all some council tenants pay £70 a week with incomes of 30-40k per annum.

I think the Government agrees and that's why they are looking to introduce fixed term tenancies under the Localism Bill....

(from Inside Housing excuse font sizes!)


"Liberal Democrat councils are rebelling against the coalition government’s plans to introduce fixed-term tenancies, a major survey by Inside Housing has found.

Ahead of the local elections next Thursday, 10 of the 16 Lib Dem cabinet members for housing polled said they would definitely not introduce fixed-term tenancies in their council stock. Just one said they would introduce the tenancies, with another two considering the policy with a minimum period of five years from April 2012.

The survey highlights the extent of local rebellion against policies championed by Lib Dem ministers in government. The 10 Lib Dem councils which will not introduce fixed-term tenures represent a quarter of the 38 councils the party controls or runs in partnership with other parties. Richard Kemp, leader of the Local Government Association Lib Dem Group (pictured), said: ‘There might be particular reasons [for introducing fixed-term tenancies] for particular people in particular areas but by and large we do not like it and we will not do it unless we are forced to.’

Seven Conservative councils said they would refuse to introduce fixed-term tenancies of two years or longer, enabled by the Localism Bill. One councillor said he was ‘not in favour of making tenants move from their homes’."

silverchair

ladymarmalade1970 wrote: »

I don't have a problem with low rents for council tenants. That's what they are there for - to provide affordable housing for people in lower paid work or who can't afford to buy but i get so mad when i see these same people buying their homes at massive discounts then selling in 5 years and living in houses that others have had to slave for years to get.
I can't afford to have a low paid job for the house i want. I have a very stressful job that pays well in order to own my house.
I should add i lived in a housing association whilst i was doing my degree and it worked out brilliantly then and as soon as i could go to work i gave it back and brought my own house. That's what it should be like.

I totally agree. There shouldn't be any discounts for buying council property as this means that people who actually need council housing cant have it. If people want to buy their own home then buy one thats on the market already.

daisymay2008

silverchair wrote: »

I totally agree. There shouldn't be any discounts for buying council property as this means that people who actually need council housing cant have it. If people want to buy their own home then buy one thats on the market already.

I also agree, there are some very desirable (sp) ex council houses within 3-4 miles of where I live in semi-rural areas that fetch upwards of £200k for a 3 bed semi, i don't think it's right someone could buy this for £30-£40k then sell on a few years later and have loads of £ in the bank, I couldn't afford one of these and me and partner have good jobs

daisymay2008

For example......



http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33839405.html

Wee_Willy_Harris

daisymay2008 wrote: »

I also agree, there are some very desirable (sp) ex council houses within 3-4 miles of where I live in semi-rural areas that fetch upwards of £200k for a 3 bed semi, i don't think it's right someone could buy this for £30-£40k then sell on a few years later and have loads of £ in the bank, I couldn't afford one of these and me and partner have good jobs

Discounts for RTB have been heavily capped. The days of £200k houses being sold for £30-£40k are long gone, thankfully.

Matt1977

fabbman wrote: »

I have been privately renting for 4 years now and just received a lecture form a family member about 'throwing my money down the drain' and need to vent my frustration somewhere.

Firstly this lecture came from a person who lived in a council house for 30 years and then bought it for 25k! Where are council houses for me & my partner? We enquired about obtainng one and were told that we are 'adequately' housed - of course we are we pay £700 a month for the Bl**dy privilege! :mad:

I totally share your frustration, fabbman. I totally disagree that renting is 'money down the drain' . Maybe you should ask him for a £75,000 gift to put down as a deposit on a house, seeing as he didn't pay much for his house!

The family member has little awareness of the problem of housing today. Maybe if he was still a tenant and the Right To Buy of council housing never existed then maybe the average house price will still be around the £60,000 mark and not sodding £160,000! There would be less of a social pressure to get 'on the ladder'.

My parents also bought their council house in the early 1980s for a paltry £13,000 (having been tenants of the same house since 1968). I am on the 'Home Options scheme to bid for council/HA flats but as a third of them have been sold off in the last 30 years, I have next to no chance of being accepted for one.

My dad has always been an ardent fan of Mrs. Thatcher for allowing him to buy the house. But I think he's a bit short-sighted towards how expensive it has made privately renting (let alone buy) a modest property in the 21st century for my generation and the next.

Matt1977

fabbman wrote: »

My argument in this was why was it the council's obligation to provide houses to the likes of him anyway, surely people should pay for the house they choose to live in and not say ' the council need to find me a house'

I think all council tenants should me made to apply for their homes every 5 years to see if more eligible people could benefit, after all some council tenants pay £70 a week with incomes of 30-40k per annum.

Alas, I would take issue with this. I thing council housing should be available to all who wish to apply for it. Lifelong tenancies should remain for the best tenants who pay on time.

FATBALLZ

We've had the same lecture from my partners over-priveliged and financially incompetent parents. They too had a council house which they bought in the 90s for circa £20k. They don't seem to understand that when the going rate for a house is 8 times what they paid that it costs more if you don't already own - my 20% deposit would have bought their house outright with a 5-figure sum to spare.

The problem with that generation is the vast majority are either too mathematically inept, or greedy, to grasp the problems facing non-homeowners.

Ignore them.