If everyone in the UK simply rented

PasturesNew

Re paying rent in retirement.

If one were only on Old Age Pension + Minimum Income Guarantee, don't you also get HB and council tax paid?

And the point is: private rents are so high because of house price speculation. Rents go up because houses cost more etc.

Council/HA rents are dirt cheap. Quite often a Council/HA rent will be £60/week whereas a private rental of the same place is £160-200/week.

I presumed that rents would be small in this thread scenario.

PasturesNew

pinkshoes wrote: »

Ohh, and all the houses would no doubt have to be owned by the government, we could rebuild them all so they're all the same, and then everyone would earn the same wage, and no one would be allowed more than 2 children, and we could all dress the same so no one stands out from anyone else, and everyone could drive the same car, which they fill with their petrol allowance, and then the government owned supermarkets could hand out boxes of food containing exactly the same stuff, rather than anyone having to go pick things off a shelf or choose.

Ohhh, they could even issue everyone with a "how to run your household" guide, so everyone cooks the same meals with the same amount of calories, so no one gets fat. And at 8pm, everyone can turn on their 1 governmental run TV channel, to do a keep fit video with Richard and Judy...

Yes, we would all be SO much better off!!

:rolleyes: x lots

Sounds good to me. Why make things more complex?

BobProperty

mpsavuk, have you recently married a guy in IT who is in favour of squatting?

big_gay_kirk

Personally, i think we'd all be better off without money altogether.. make everyone work a forty hour week, unless they're bringing up kids, and then let everyone have what they need.... no one is more important than anyone else.. where would doctors be without the woman who makes the pills....

PasturesNew

big_gay_kirk wrote: »

where would doctors be without the woman who makes the pills....

This is something overlooked where Key Worker Schemes are operated. they say that houses have to be provided for key workers so they can afford to live within the area to work there ... but so what if the nurses and teachers turn up for work if the cleaners, caretakers and canteen ladies no longer work there for that same reason?

Society needs affordable (real affordable, not fake affordable) housing. 'About the price that council/HA houses are' would be my definition of affordable at the lower end of the scale.

drifter34

get reaL rent is dead money

poppyolivia

unless you are lucky enough to rent from the council there is no way I could afford private rent around these areas....I'd be homeless!

real1314

PasturesNew wrote: »

Re paying rent in retirement.

If one were only on Old Age Pension + Minimum Income Guarantee, don't you also get HB and council tax paid?

And the point is: private rents are so high because of house price speculation. Rents go up because houses cost more etc.

Council/HA rents are dirt cheap. Quite often a Council/HA rent will be £60/week whereas a private rental of the same place is £160-200/week.

I presumed that rents would be small in this thread scenario.

In my experience, council rents are usually about 2/3rds private rents for similar properties, HA rents are a touch higher than council. However the low value attached to many council properties actually means that in many cases they could easily be bought off and rented out at a similar rent to the council rent.
This anomally mninly exists beacuse councils tend to have a flat rate for each size of house whether in a great area/estate or an appalling area/estate, hence the ones in great areas are very inexpensive whereas the ones in appalling areas are relatively dear.

PasturesNew

real1314 wrote: »

In my experience, council rents are usually about 2/3rds private rents for similar properties, HA rents are a touch higher than council. However the low value attached to many council properties actually means that in many cases they could easily be bought off and rented out at a similar rent to the council rent.
This anomally mninly exists beacuse councils tend to have a flat rate for each size of house whether in a great area/estate or an appalling area/estate, hence the ones in great areas are very inexpensive whereas the ones in appalling areas are relatively dear.

Maybe it's just where I've lived then - experiences from my life (and using Rightmove data right now):

My friend has a 4-bed council house in Essex, she pays under £400/month for it. The cheapest (not nicest, just cheapest) house to rent there is £1650.

Where I lived for the past 8 years, a 3-bed council house was under £400/month. The cheapest private rental is £1000/month.

Where I grew up, a 3-bed council house is under £400/month. The cheapest private rental is £760.

2/3rds is a significant difference in any case on one salary. When the prices differ as they do where I've lived, I really don't know how people find the money! When a simple rent is 50% of take home pay, bills a further 20%, there's not a lot left over for those people to build a life from.

On a salary of about £16,000 ( >25% higher than minimum wage) a single person is taking home about £1000 (figures simplified for simplicity). That doesn't leave a lot left over to build a life.

big_gay_kirk

I'd love to be on £16,000..... my son and I live on £14,500.....