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

thorsoak

claire16c wrote: »

Not in all council estates there isn't.

You've clearly never been to the area my husband grew up in.

Or to the place a friend lives in which is verging on derelict with only a few families living there as its going to be knocked down eventually and therefore terrible conditions. She is desperate to move.



No it's simply about not wanting to be in a position where that was my only option or choice.

If you can afford your own house, then why choose to live in a house that someone else chooses for you?

Surely you'd want to be in a position where you pick your house and not someone in an office?



For me id rather not be worrying how I was going to pay my rent when I retire.

And for most people council housing simply isn't an option. I'd probably get told I had to wait 10 years or something.

Just don't expect to receive benefits when you retire - either to pay your mortgage or, if like me, you have paid your mortgage off!

Were I to be renting, I would receive pension credit. Because we paid our mortgage off - sacrificing holidays etc - I'm not entitled to any additional benefits.

pukkamum

All the above points can also apply to people buying a house or private renting a house.
My mum lives in what was once a very high end area but is now a terrible area full if transient private tenants, I am quite happy to walk around my area til all hours but wouldn't like to walk around my mum's after 6 pm.
She is now stuck there as the area is now undesirable.
Nobody in an office chose were I live, I did my time in a less desirable council area and bided my time til a house in a lovely area came up.
Private renters will have much more of a struggle when they retire than I will.
Buying a house is not the be all and end all to life.

It's not a case of just being able to afford a house, I could afford a mortgage yes, could I raise a 20% deposit, no chance.
I will take security and happiness over house ownership everyday.

Mrs_pbradley936

In our local paper the Council have just outlined the new rules. It no longer depends on how long you have been waiting, your need comes first. I take that to mean that if you have been waiting for 5 years and someone with more children/less income only a year they will be in front of you.

People with a household income of more than £40K will not be considered.

Neither will anybody with more than £1000 in rent arrears.

paulineb_2

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.

Seriously. I grew up in council housing. I live in council housing.

I have a degree and two post grads. Ive been in my house 18 years and I worked full time for 14 of them, I worked part time for a year and Ive been self employed the rest of the time

Does it not occur to some people that some of us have worked in jobs where we couldnt afford to get on the property ladder

The only difference between living in council housing and not, is that you either pay back money to a bank or pay a landlord. It doesnt make you automatically better than someone if you have a mortgage and yes some people who are in council housing sit for years on benefits, but so do some people in private rented accommodation

Oh and I know of areas of very nice private housing estates where lots of families live there, houses bought by people doing such things as dealing drugs, a few very notorious families lived in very plush homes where I used to work. Just because someone has money, doesnt mean theyve led a decent life, far far from it.

Good for you for looking down on someone like me, seriously, because Im more than happy with what Ive done with my life and what Ive achieved. And my brother and his partner dont live in council housing, but hes not on a fantastic wage either, he just happens to be in a household with two wages coming in which made it easier to buy

And hes not a snob, he doesnt feel ashamed of having lived in a council house and he doesnt look down on me for living in one

Because its your upbringing that matters, no matter who owned the bricks and mortar. I was brought up not to look down my nose at people and take people as I found them.

And Id rather spend all my days living in a council house than have snobby, judgemental and way off the mark views such as your own

I hope you never get made redundant and have to have your home repossessed, because it does happen to people.

I think youd find under those circumstances, youd live in a council house rather than be on the streets.

paulineb_2

claire16c wrote: »

Not in all council estates there isn't.

You've clearly never been to the area my husband grew up in.

Or to the place a friend lives in which is verging on derelict with only a few families living there as its going to be knocked down eventually and therefore terrible conditions. She is desperate to move.



No it's simply about not wanting to be in a position where that was my only option or choice.

If you can afford your own house, then why choose to live in a house that someone else chooses for you?

Surely you'd want to be in a position where you pick your house and not someone in an office?



For me id rather not be worrying how I was going to pay my rent when I retire.

And for most people council housing simply isn't an option. I'd probably get told I had to wait 10 years or something.

Many people work past retirement age or have pensions, Ive always saved for the future to the point that I'll probably be better off when I retire than I have been over the past couple of years.

krustylouise

Imp wrote: »

So what you are saying is that people should be housed when they are in need, but when they pull themselves up and are no longer needy, they should be evicted from their home and community?

If you are going to remove people from their homes as a reward for getting a job/being promoted/successfully running their own business, then why would they make an effort to do these things?

I'm sorry to say this but you make an excellent point. This could also be used for claiming benefits. Work full time, pay your rent, have no help with childcare/council tax/school dinners/uniforms etc. however.....if you don't work, sit on your bum, watch Jeremy Kyle, you get a house fully paid for, free school dinners, milk tokens, fruit, uniform, help with school trips etc....

pukkamum

Good points pauline, my mum spent her life struggling to pay the mortgage on her own with 3 kids, managing to put money aside for her retirement.
Now she is retired most of her savings have been spent on the upkeep of the house, which still needs things doing.
She is now surviving on pension credits in a house she can't afford to keep heated but can't sell due to the demise of the area and the house.
Not a position I would want to be in.

paulineb_2

krustylouise wrote: »

I'm sorry to say this but you make an excellent point. This could also be used for claiming benefits. Work full time, pay your rent, have no help with childcare/council tax/school dinners/uniforms etc. however.....if you don't work, sit on your bum, watch Jeremy Kyle, you get a house fully paid for, free school dinners, milk tokens, fruit, uniform, help with school trips etc....

Thats not actually 100 per cent true. People who work full time do get help, depending on their wage. Some people who earn a decent wage get child benefit and there are working tax credits for people on low incomes

And please dont tag people who arent in work as people who sit on their backsides and watch Jeremy Kyle. I dont even have a tv, I gave that up a few years back when I was unemployed because I had better things to spend my money on than the licence

Ive had two short spells of unemployment in the last few years, I didnt sit on my bum, I went out and volunteered to try and help me into work

Also, some people live in families who are below the poverty line and that free school meal might be that childs only meal of the day

As for getting a house fully paid for, when I was on JSA of 71 pounds a week, I can assure you, Id much rather have been in the position of earning a full time wage and paying full rent.

Lets not turn this into a benefits bashing thread, there are plenty of people who are in council housing who work but simply cant afford a mortgage.

paulineb_2

Id also like to say to the poster who wouldnt spend his life in a council house, you get awful neighbours anywhere you go

My mum lives in a house that was deemed as higher rented, that is, the rents were set higher, I presume to attract people to the area who worked, there are very few people on benefits in the area she lives in, shes bought her council house now, but there are neighbours of hers who would be deemed middle class and who have been making her life a misery for a long time. An entire street of them. You can get people who cause other people damage anywhere, the same way you can get kids from so called good housing estates who do nothing but drink and take drugs, I was a youth worker for almost 20 years, Ive worked in these places.

On the other hand, I live in an area (I didnt grow up here) where the majority of people are on benefit, poverty, lack of education, social exclusion and it shows

And there are times where I really have not enjoyed living here, but guess what, I get on with my life, I come home at night and I get on with things and even though some people live their lives in a way I dont, I dont look down my nose at them

I come from a single parent family and I grew up in council housing. But I was encouraged to study, the same way as my mum was encouraged by her parents, who also lived in council housing, after some time of living in a house that came with the job my grandpa did

Some people dont have the opportunities in life others do, some parents dont care if their kid goes to school or what they do with their time and no matter how clever they might be they arent encouraged and its no surprise to me that we end up with housing estates that house large numbers of people that do nothing with their lives

But the Government has also created this, some people, not all, are better off on benefit than they would be working (assuming there were jobs)

I actually had no idea how some people felt about those in council housing till I read these boards. No one ever made me feel growing up that I was somehow inferior or that the only thing that people should aspire to was having a mortgage

And Im not knocking anyone who has bought their own home, all power to you.

But lets knock the stereotypes on the head, they do no one any favours, least of all the people who are being so judgemental.

FatVonD

ciderwithrosie wrote: »

At present I pay £400 a month for a damp, subsiding (as they won't remove the trees too close to the house, despite our pleas and claim the house is still settling, 40 years after it was built!) out-dated property (still have some of the original doors and bathroom fittings). If it was a private let you wouldn't put up with it but I have no say, I should just be grateful I have a house apparently!

Serious question, if you are planning on staying there and security of tenure is important to you I assume you are, would you not pay for the work to be done yourself?

I know folk will say that in a private let you wouldn't expect to have to pay but, given your rent is very low and you intend on staying there until you die would you not even consider replacing some doors and bathroom fittings?