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

pukkamum

sacha28 wrote: »

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.

You have experience of one council estate, at no point did you say you aspired to not live on a rough estate, you said you and your brothers were more sucessful because you didn't live in a council house.
I take that as meaning that living on a council estate means you have failed.
I assume you do not intend to have any more children because good luck with putting away £200 or £300 away a month.
I don't judge people on were they live I couldn't care less if someone lived under a bridge as long as they were kind and decent.
Perhaps think more carefully about your words if you don't want to be seen as a snob.

pukkamum

Soleil_lune wrote: »

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!

I actually find it astounding that so many judge on appearences, I have met many mums in social settings that are shocked to find out I am a council tenant.
One even sat in my house spouting about the horror of council estates, you can imagine her surprise to find she was sat in one.
So many so called intelligent people cannot see past what they see in the news.

maman

Soleil_lune wrote: »

Especially when you risk losing your cheaply rented secure home if your wage goes over a certain amount.

Sorry I haven't read all the recent posts but what does this mean? I'm reading this as when your earnings rise then the rent you pay rises towards market rates. That's fair isn't it? Sorry if I got the wrong end of the stick.

My own view of council/social housing is that it should only be there for those who find themselves in need through no fault of their own (illness, disability, some single parents, victims of abuse etc.). They are subsidised properties for those in need not a lifestyle choice. For the majority, this shouldn't be considered a home for a lifetime but a temporary measure. People who don't want/can't afford to buy should rent privately.

Unfortunately, government policy needs to change for this to be effective. Private landlords have become ridiculously greedy. Local authorities should have been allowed to build more social housing from the 'right to buy' money but that mistake is in the past. Government spending should prioritise loads of homes at affordable rents. A minority would be subsidised for the needy and vulnerable, the majority for market rents (not the greedy prices but just a sensible return). Provided there are proper investigations into ability to pay, deposits for mortgages don't need to be so huge. The new scheme that's coming in should only be for typical first time buyer homes, definitely not going up to £600, 000 (what on earth do they need help for!) and they must close the loophole that allowed Buy to rent people to use the scheme. Plus we need to sort out zero hours contracts and increase the minimum wage to a living wage.

That's my manifesto!:D I'm still of the view that benefits and social housing should only be there for the needy and vulnerable but not that the system should be creating needy and vulnerable people by not paying them adequately.

pukkamum

Maman what do you think would happen to council estates if they were only there for people on benefits?
How long before they became ghettos?
How long before the state of the houses became unmanageable, what would happen to the community then?
If we were forced out of our council house we would have to live in an unsecured private rental, not knowing whether the landlord was going to sell up etc, it wouldn't even be worth dh working so how long before said people gave up their jobs?
Council estates have historically been places of good communities, working people living alongside non workers, with children growing up seeing all aspects of life.

I wonder how many of those wanting social housing to be purely for benefit claimants want this purely to rid their private streets of undesirables.

claire16c

Soleil_lune wrote: »

Why not? ...

I can't speak for that poster, but why would anyone choose to live in a council house unless they had to? Surely you'd aspire to be in a situation where you didn't need to use it?

kafkathecat

Why should council housing only be for the 'deserving poor'? I don't get this. The government creates a shortage and then gets us all to argue over who should have it. As far as I am concerned secure homes are essential to society. We own our home but many of the houses in our street are now privately rented. It means that you never get to know your neighbours, the street becomes untidy, children have no stability as if they are not having to move then their friends are. Who does this benefit? People need roots, without any connection to society antisocial behaviour can only increase. None of this needed to happen.

jjj1980

The attitudes of some on here can really grate at times!!

I was brought up in council housing, which my mum later bought. I worked from age of 16, whilst doing A-levels and managed to get in a quite senior role by the age of 21. I moved out of home into private rental, then into a better private rental with my now ex-husband. Whilst pregnant, I was made redundant and due to various lies and acts of deceit, my ex cost me my whole redundancy and got us into serious debt, debt he kept hidden from me until after we split up. I was left penniless, jobless, dealing with abuse from him and with a 5 month old baby. I was under going counselling for PTSD caused by nearly dying as I had my daughter. I had no choice but to look at social housing as my ex managed to trash my then-perfect credit record so couldn't pass the Pre-checks for another private rental.

I am so very grateful that my daughter and I managed to get somewhere. It's not perfect and now I've been back at work a few years, I am taking steps to improve my income and qualifications to get us moved to a better area.

I used to feel like I had failed, looking back at everything I had lost but when you are being kept firmly in the dark and are not until it's too late, there is not much you can do to salvage the situation.

I no longer feel like a failure, I feel like a survivor and am immensely proud of the fact that I have always ensured my daughter was well fed, suitably clothed and sheltered as much as possible from all the negatives that were ongoing. Not everyone in council housing/on benefits is some scroungers with no intention of helping themselves out of that life. Some of us are landed in the situation with no other choice but to accept it, make the best of it and start trying to piece broken lives together. Which is not helped by having to feel that people are looking down on you.

nottslass_2

When will the "seemingly superior" stop harping on about the fact that social Housing tenants are supposedly subsidized by the tax payer ?

A lot of social Housing is now provided by Housing Associations and the very fact that they are NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE A PROFIT is the reason why the rent is lower than private sector renting,where landlords are solely in the business for profit.

Social housing actually brings in revenue for the government,in fact for 3 years from 2008 -20011 the government made a hefty of £713m from 2 million council house tenants in England.


Everyone is entitled to their own opinion re social housing but please base it on facts not urban myth...............................

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

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.

OK, then. My family.

Grandparents owned a huge property prior to WWII. It got bombed out and they were given a largish house to live in during the war. After the war, they had a council house, then moved to a council maisonette when the children left home, having lost everything during the war, my grandfather never earned enough to buy a home again. One son was able to buy a house when he married, my mother married and moved in with the inlaws in the house they owned. Three children later, they were given a council house.

My mother still lives in a council property. There were five children in the end, and she was widowed when the youngest was 6 months old, so there wasn't the money to buy anywhere.

Out of those five, one still lives at home due to his ASD. He has worked all his adult life and pays the rent, council tax and everything else, just as he has done since he was 16. He can't cope with the idea of buying a home, not that he could at his age, anyhow, but will pay all the bills associated with renting. He is also able to ensure that mum gets food, heating and everything else that he pays for. Plus he's there for when she becomes ill or has another fall.

Three of the others own properties. One started in council housing when his first child was born, then used the assisted purchase scheme to get their first house. His now ex wife still lives there, whilst he bought with his partner when they sold up her ex council property. The other two have always owned homes, because they were fortunate enough to have well paid jobs, a combination of good timing, luck and, for one, a set of inlaws prepared to make a hefty contribution as a wedding present.

I live in social housing. It's been built to allow for people with mobility problems/disabilities. The full rent is fairly low and this means that, as soon as I can get a job (assuming anybody will employ somebody who is disabled - it's not going too well at the moment), I will be able to support myself with no recourse to anyone else. I will, however, never be able to own a property, as the medical issues I have, combined with my age, mean that I would never be able to get a mortgage - I'm far too likely to be dead before the mortgage term is done. Plus, I won't have the money for a deposit or any other fees.




Look down on me - but respect two of my brothers and my sister -all you like. I don't care, it is just sad that you feel the need to think yourself better than somebody else.

nottslass_2

claire16c wrote: »

I can't speak for that poster, but why would anyone choose to live in a council house unless they had to? Surely you'd aspire to be in a situation where you didn't need to use it?

'Erm because believe it or not your neighbors are honest hard working people, who take pride in their homes and environment,their children are lovely polite members of socially,the homes are solidly built,near good schools,local facilities..................................