It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Elisheba

You talking about starting out in the early 80's @cuddlymarm got me thinking about my childhood.  My parents married in the late 70s and lived with my grandmother and grandfather for about a year and a half, until I was 6 months old.  They then got a 2 bed council flat.  Dad worked in a garden centre back then, and Mum did shifts in a pub when she could.  They had a car, albeit I remember a sequence of old bangers that broke down and another one would take its place .

I remember them having a right laugh with neighbours in flats on all sides, where there were single people and other small families. There were 3 flats on one side of a set of stairs and 3 on the other side, and several of these blocks of 6 all down the street.  There were fairly big gardens per block of 6 flats with fixed washing lines for everyone to dry their clothes. They saved up enough money to buy a little 2 bed flat with its own front and back garden when I was about 5, and by then my brother had come along and we shared a room and had bunkbeds.  

I can't see how two working adults would be able to get a council flat these days, but it was such a good solution. Low rent and a secure tenancy - all money to the local authority who could invest in maintenance and further council houses.  And the low rent meant those who were working and able could save up a deposit for their own place.  

I drove up past that little council flat I had such fond memories of recently, and the whole block of flats had been burned out.  My Mum has moved back to that area, in a council flat again, and no one around her is working, and everyone seems to have some problem or other.  The absolute dearth of social housing means only the most needy and broke get it, which doesn't lead to mixed communities and means there will be an over representation of people with addictions and mental health issues.  When communities are unbalanced like that, as well as having no money and little hope, then all the social problems arise.  Its just a vicious cycle.  

I really do think we need to get rid of the 'right to buy' or at least limit it a lot, and get all social housing back in council hands and get everywhere building more of it - good, solid quality housing with life assured tenancies.  Then it will become a common first step again and more working people will move in, balancing the communities again, and a lot of the social problems associated with council estates might decrease.  There would be less need for private lets, buy to let mortgages would fall and the super inflated price of starter properties which has been fueled by 'buy to let' would fall as well.  I'm sure it could be managed carefully so there is no negative equity.  That would mean it was cheaper and easier for people to get on the housing ladder and ultimately lead to much more wealth.  

ladyholly

Unfortunately when the right to buy came in councils were not allowed to put the money into building more housing then the remaining council houses were privatised to housing associations who on the whole don't build new homes. Council cash has been stretched and stretched so there is no money for building. Builders are not interested in building property for rent and the government is only interested in building to buy. They don't get there are people who want or need to rent their homes. Hence the shortage and why some landlords get away with renting disgusting property that I wouldn't keep pigs in for stupid amounts of rent. I have seen a few when helping dd and sil find somewhere to live when they got married. 
This country doesn't just need affordable housing to buy it needs homes with affordable rent. 

Paspatur

Right to Buy ended in Scotland in July 2016, which would apparantly prevent the sale of 15,000 over a 10 year period.
Too little, too late
Ladyholly,you are correct, not only were councils not allowed to put the money back into building more housing they did not even get the money
Half went to Westminster and the other half had to be used to pay their "debts", i.e. to Westminster

Here is a quote from the Thatcher government of the time
"There is in this country a deeply ingrained desire for home ownership. The Government believe that this spirit should be fostered. It reflects the wishes of the people, ensures the wide spread of wealth through society, encourages a personal desire to improve and modernise one's own home, enables parents to accrue wealth for their children and stimulates the attitudes of independence and self-reliance that are the bedrock of a free society."
Translate as you like into today's reality
Where I live most ex council properties are now in  private landlords hands because people used them as a stepping stone to buy non council property. So now overpriced private renting and very little social housing
Elishaba - The absolute dearth of social housing means only the most needy and broke get it, which doesn't lead to mixed communities and means there will be an over representation of people with addictions and mental health issues.  When communities are unbalanced like that, as well as having no money and little hope, then all the social problems arise.  Its just a vicious cycle. 
100% agree
First stage of a new development in an affluent area included 106 housing association (not council) properties
It is now being likened to a ghetto 5 months later and the people who purchased are desperate to get out
Future stages are now cancelled as the builder could not sell them and has now gone into administration
For me Right to Buy was the biggest mistake ever

Spendless

As much as I agree with the sentiments about RTB it won't happen. Subsequent Governments have come in and could have changed things, but haven't. It creates money for the treasury.

For the last 6 months it's just been me and DH at home. Eldest is in his final year of degree. He's living in digs with his gf. We pay their rent. Gf hasn't found work. DD has been on an unfunded course and we've been paying her rent too. She has just been offered a job, zero hours but in a field which she wants to work. If she doesn't get onto a HE course this Autumn, she will be remaining here. If DS and gf can't find work after he graduates, then I've potentially got them back too. Consequently I've no idea if by September we have 2 adults living here, 3, 4 or 5. So hard to plan for.

ladyholly

Paspatur I hadnt (and neither did DH) realised that all the receipts from RTB eneded up in the hands of central government.  RTB should have been limited to those who had their houses for a long time (20years or more) and then the money put back into building more council houses with extra funding being given to councils to cover the shortfall> I would also say that the discount given was probably too high. Unfortunately the latter Thatcher years have a lot to answer for in the unequal society we have now and governments of any colour have done little or nothing to redress this.

Sorry I dont usually post on political issues but this one really annoys me as so many young people, ex servicepeople and people who are generally down on their luck are being Royally **** upon in our comparitively wealthy country.

Elisheba

Taking the right to buy and properly funding social housing certainly isn't on the agenda right now, I admit! But you never know, things go in swings and roundabouts. Ideas, like free public transport, that had no political capital 10 years ago, are coming back in. Who knows what else will. 

Elisheba

@Paspatur It was Scotland I grew up in actually although I don't live there now. I had no idea right to buy had ended, but as you say, too little too late. Without a seismic shift in how we view and fund social housing, it will continue to end up as sink estates, rather than a useful step on the ladder for most, and a safe, affordable solution for those that can't buy.
And just to be really out there, I think the massive rises in housing costs year on year need to end. A property value shouldn't rise above inflation costs, imo. Yes that will mean some people don't get windfalls, but they will still have the value they have paid off. 

comeandgo

Elisheba said:

And just to be really out there, I think the massive rises in housing costs year on year need to end. A property value shouldn't rise above inflation costs, imo. Yes that will mean some people don't get windfalls, but they will still have the value they have paid off. 

What would be the point of taking all the risks involved in owning a property and all the costs involved, repairs, insurance, upkeep, if all you were to get out of it was price you paid plus inflation?  Cant see that one working,
.

Floss

comeandgo said:

Elisheba said:

And just to be really out there, I think the massive rises in housing costs year on year need to end. A property value shouldn't rise above inflation costs, imo. Yes that will mean some people don't get windfalls, but they will still have the value they have paid off. 

What would be the point of taking all the risks involved in owning a property and all the costs involved, repairs, insurance, upkeep, if all you were to get out of it was price you paid plus inflation?  Cant see that one working,
.

Because it should be a home and not an investment?

ladyholly

Elisheba said:

Taking the right to buy and properly funding social housing certainly isn't on the agenda right now, I admit! But you never know, things go in swings and roundabouts. Ideas, like free public transport, that had no political capital 10 years ago, are coming back in. Who knows what else will. 

I agree there are always swings and roundabouts but housing has been a problem for many many years and nothing has been done to improve the situation. Very little new social housing, very few affordable homes, very little done to improve the standard of privately rented accomodtion or keep rents at a sensible level, very little help given to the homeless especially ex service personell and very little help given to people on housing benefit to find new homes when their landlords want their property back to sell or for their own use. 

I havent heard any rumblings about free or even well subsidised public transport despite it being an obvious way of helping to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality etc. In my area First bus have not only increased bus fares but have announced that 4 local sevices are being scrapped leaving part of the town and a couple of villages having no bus service including now no service to our  local hospital.