BTL Boom fuelled by rising rents

Pimperne1

Road_Hog wrote: »

As I said, it's been awhile since I lived in either, and there are many differences, but I'll try to give a feel for it in a couple of sentences.

A council house kind of becomes yours, it can be yours for life and you'll have to do something pretty bad to get evicted from it. It's usually low rent and very few rules, for example, there is not normally a problem having pets, such as cats and dogs.

A housing association property, is usually viewed as a short to medium term property. The rents tend to be nearer to market rates than council houses are. There are far more restrictions on what you can and can't do and it isn't unusual for there to be a 'no pets' policy. It is also far easier to get yourself evicted fro transgressing a policy.

In summary, a council house, has a feel of being yours and it is there for the long term if needed, with few restrictions, housing association is generally viewed as shorter term with more restrictions.

If I didn't own my own home, then a council property (in a decent area) would be my first choice, followed by HA and then private rented.

I think you hit the nail on the head there. A council house in a decent area is almost as good as owning your own home (it might not even work out too bad financially). The trouble is that there are just so many areas that are not decent whereas (excluding large cities) you can be fairly sure that a private house selling at the local average is probably in a decent area.

CLAPTON

Road_Hog wrote: »

Housing association is not council housing, there is a world of difference.

If you have lived in both (as I have many years ago) you would know that.

I was specifically referring to the funding of HA property and not the living experience

ukcarper

Road_Hog wrote: »

As I said, it's been awhile since I lived in either, and there are many differences, but I'll try to give a feel for it in a couple of sentences.

A council house kind of becomes yours, it can be yours for life and you'll have to do something pretty bad to get evicted from it. It's usually low rent and very few rules, for example, there is not normally a problem having pets, such as cats and dogs.

A housing association property, is usually viewed as a short to medium term property. The rents tend to be nearer to market rates than council houses are. There are far more restrictions on what you can and can't do and it isn't unusual for there to be a 'no pets' policy. It is also far easier to get yourself evicted fro transgressing a policy.

In summary, a council house, has a feel of being yours and it is there for the long term if needed, with few restrictions, housing association is generally viewed as shorter term with more restrictions.

If I didn't own my own home, then a council property (in a decent area) would be my first choice, followed by HA and then private rented.

In my area all the council houses have been put in the hands of a housing association I thought that was happening quite a lot.

Road_Hog

Pimperne1 wrote: »

I think you hit the nail on the head there. A council house in a decent area is almost as good as owning your own home (it might not even work out too bad financially). The trouble is that there are just so many areas that are not decent whereas (excluding large cities) you can be fairly sure that a private house selling at the local average is probably in a decent area.

Yep, agreed. We need to build more council houses and not sell them off. People have a right to have a home and security with it and that comes from someone who is a landlord. BTL's have provided a service, even though most renters think of us as the devil's spawn. Our job is to provide short term temporary accommodation and in rare cases medium term accommodation, not long term. What renters forget is the situation would be much worse if BTL's had bundled into the market in the '90s with the government doing little to provide rented accommodation.

If people cannot afford to buy, then they need to be offered reasonably priced rented accommodation that has long term security. And provides a lifestyle that we would expect from having our own property, such as keeping pets and being able to smoke, to decorate as you want (within reason).

Social housing is the real devil's spawn, it means others have to pay extra to fund it, then someone gets a cheap property and sells it on at a profit a few years later and then that cheap property has gone forever, there is nothing there for others or the next generation. Council houses allow people a decent home with security and perhaps a chance to save for a deposit.