why are some people entitled to a council house but others are not?

pukkamum

alinwales wrote: »

I'm interested in the statistics of who was:
brought up in a council home and then went on to get a council home of their own,
brought up in a council home and then went on to get a private home of their own (owned or rented make a difference?),
brought up in a family home and then went to social housing.
my thought is that I was brought up in a decent (not huge) private family owned home... and have never considered social housing. I got myself eductaed and went into a job, rented for a couple of years then put a deposit on a house to own.
If something happened and I was in need of social housing (i lost my job, wife lost hers etc), then I doubt I'd get anything, but if I did then this is the safety net that the benfit system is supposed to provide. If I get a new job, then we'd consider getting a new house again. Social security has gone too far if people are demanding that they stay in social housing 'just in case they lose their job in the future'... if this was the case then surely I'm entitled to a cheap house all of my own, and so is 80% of the country?

Unfortunately the people floundering in their council homes doing the minimum and getting the maximum in benefits etc put a bad name on anyone who has genuine need. And its because of them that I'll always look down on council house owners, and will think myself as having failed if I ever have to live in one or stay in one for any length of time.

Oh, and I primarily blame the right-to-buy scemes that are completely counter to anything that the system should provide.

I don't even know where to start in pointing out everything that I find insulting in this post.
What difference does it make where council tenants were brought up?
Are you saying only people brought up in council houses now live in them?
Well I do and I was raised in a very smart semi in a very upmarket part of town, dh the same.
Why exactly do you feel you can 'look down' on council tenants?
Does my living in a council house mean I am a lesser person?
Does the fact that you own your home mean you are better than me?
I shall have to stop there as my rage may make the words I post get deleted.

Heres my last thought though merely by posting what you have means you are a lesser person than I.

Soleil_lune

FBaby wrote: »

Indeed, nowadays, working harder and longer hours doesn't come with much reward at all, and it's no surprise fewer and fewer people are willing to do it.

A very sad and depressing thing to have to read, but sadly, it's true; these days. Once upon a time, you would benefit from hard work and effort. If you worked hard, you would reap the benefits and rewards. I know someone who started his own business in the mid 70s, and within 10 years, he was a millionaire, he bought his daughter a house for a wedding present, and bought each of his 2 grandsons a brand new car for completing their uni degree, and gave them half of the money they needed for a house, amongst many other things...

His business started in the days when homes were much cheaper to buy, most people who wanted social housing got it, and wages were twice as high as they are now. Now people struggle from week to week and month to month, and often have to borrow money simply to survive. No wonder so many people are in masses of debt these days.

This day and age, people can barely get their businesses off the ground and hard work is not rewarded. No wonder people don't bother making the effort as much as they used to. Especially when you risk losing your cheaply rented secure home if your wage goes over a certain amount.

sacha28

alin I was brought up on council estates (when living with my mother) and I rent my own place privately. I have never considered council housing either.

Pukka I think you may have taken alin's question a little to heart. Statistically it has been proven that you are more likely to have social housing if you are brought up in the system. Unfortunately it is how we are going as a nation- if you are brought up on a council estate with both parents on benefits then you are more likely to continue that path and pass it onto your children and so forth. There are, however, people like me who want better for themselves and work bloody hard not to follow the example that has been set. I have a sister (on benefits, in social housing) 3 brothers (one who has done amazingly well for himself, probably because my mum put him into care when he was 9 and ignored him for 10 years so he was able to build himself up) the other 2 are also on benefits, one lives with my mother, the other his long suffering gf. I think my family can be used as a prime example of nature vs nurture. 3 of my siblings have no aspirations and let's face it, look at who set the example!!!

Soleil_lune

alinwales wrote: »

my thought is that I was brought up in a decent (not huge) private family owned home... and have never considered social housing. I got myself eductaed and went into a job, rented for a couple of years then put a deposit on a house to own.
If something happened and I was in need of social housing (i lost my job, wife lost hers etc), then I doubt I'd get anything, but if I did then this is the safety net that the benfit system is supposed to provide. If I get a new job, then we'd consider getting a new house again. Social security has gone too far if people are demanding that they stay in social housing 'just in case they lose their job in the future'... if this was the case then surely I'm entitled to a cheap house all of my own, and so is 80% of the country?

Unfortunately the people floundering in their council homes doing the minimum and getting the maximum in benefits etc put a bad name on anyone who has genuine need. And its because of them that I'll always look down on council house owners, and will think myself as having failed if I ever have to live in one or stay in one for any length of time.

Oh, and I primarily blame the right-to-buy scemes that are completely counter to anything that the system should provide.

*Bangs head against the wall furiously* :wall: Words literally fail me.

Soleil_lune

sacha28 wrote: »

alin I was brought up on council estates (when living with my mother) and I rent my own place privately. I have never considered council housing either.

Why not? ...

pukkamum

sacha28 wrote: »

alin I was brought up on council estates (when living with my mother) and I rent my own place privately. I have never considered council housing either.

Pukka I think you may have taken alin's question a little to heart. Statistically it has been proven that you are more likely to have social housing if you are brought up in the system. Unfortunately it is how we are going as a nation- if you are brought up on a council estate with both parents on benefits then you are more likely to continue that path and pass it onto your children and so forth. There are, however, people like me who want better for themselves and work bloody hard not to follow the example that has been set. I have a sister (on benefits, in social housing) 3 brothers (one who has done amazingly well for himself, probably because my mum put him into care when he was 9 and ignored him for 10 years so he was able to build himself up) the other 2 are also on benefits, one lives with my mother, the other his long suffering gf. I think my family can be used as a prime example of nature vs nurture. 3 of my siblings have no aspirations and let's face it, look at who set the example!!!

Yes I did take what he said to heart, I took what he said as extremely insulting and yours not much better.
Are you seriously sayjng that living in a council house means you have no aspirations?
Are you seriously saying that only by owning our home we can be useful members of society?
Yet again both you and the previous poster are under the extremely narrow minded view that living in a council house means you are on benefits.
Yes I aspired to have more than my parents, by that I mean I wanted a happy stable secure family life, which I have, with happy secure children that I have.
If all that is discounted because I live in a council house so be it.
Heavens forbid any of your children live in social housing, as this will mean they have failed.

pukkamum

P.s just re-read your post and you are a private renter, so how exactly are you more successful than I?

sacha28

No pukka that was not what I was saying. I do not own my home and will probably never will, and I certainly don't look down on those who NEED social housing. Perhaps I have lived on some rough estates, rougher than where you live now, and this is where I get my opinions from. I am not some stuck up person forming an opinion from news reports, I have lived that life. I have lived amongst junkies, who's children now have a dependency, I have lived amongst families who have 3 generations living on the same estate and not 1 of them have worked a day in their life. I have lived on estates where the police patrol every day because it is unsafe and the people have no morals. So please don't say I am offensive, I am experienced.

And who on earth said that I was better than you? I will do my darndest to make sure my son doesn't have every opportunity to own his own house, I place 100pm into a savings account that he cannot access until he is 21. By that point he should have enough for a deposit. Until then, he can live with me.

Soleil_lune

pukkamum wrote: »

Yes I did take what he said to heart, I took what he said as extremely insulting and yours not much better.
Are you seriously sayjng that living in a council house means you have no aspirations?
Are you seriously saying that only by owning our home we can be useful members of society?
Yet again both you and the previous poster are under the extremely narrow minded view that living in a council house means you are on benefits.
Yes I aspired to have more than my parents, by that I mean I wanted a happy stable secure family life, which I have, with happy secure children that I have.
If all that is discounted because I live in a council house so be it.
Heavens forbid any of your children live in social housing, as this will mean they have failed.

The attitude of some beggars belief doesn't it pukkamum?

There is a thread on another board: the (house buying renting and selling board) about the fors and againsts of renting and of buying, and someone over there said that she has found the attitudes of 'some' rather snobby towards people who rent: particularly if it's social housing. This thread is seriously proving her point!

SmallL

My parents raised me in a council house and they still live there.
Both of them have worked full time as far as i can remember (Until recently has my mother has a work-related injury which means she can only work part time).
They do not get any benefits that I know of and they manage to also tend to 2 allotment plots which provide them with the majority of Veg they eat.
I have only ever known them to work hard and they have passed that on to me (even though neither went to university).

I have gone on to graduate from a top university and I'm currently in shared ownership of my own house.

Values and work ethic can be taught regardless of environment