End the Right to Buy Now

SAHARA

All I want is a secure place to live, in a house where I'm not afraid to go out of my front door. The only way I can achieve this is by renting somebody elses house, and by more than covering their mortgage on it, as nobody would give me a mortgage with repayments equivalent to what I'm paying in rent.
I once had a good job, and a mortgage wouldn't have been a problem back then, indeed I was looking to buy, but i got laid off at work, no redundancy, just a 2 week handout from the dss. Then my daughter died and everything went the way of the pear.
Dead end jobs followed and my dream of being a homeowner disappeared down the plughole, and I ended up reliant on affordable housing. Like I say, the council flats were fine for me, as an adult, but is it really fair to bring kids up in a concrete jungle like a housing estate made up exclusively of high rise flats?. No, but thats all thats available for someone of my age with children . Its a problem compounded at the moment in my area as houses are being bought up, bulldozed, and 'Luxury flats' are being built in their place, with 'luxury' pricetags.
I

SAHARA

Rave wrote:

I think the problem, as has already been stated, is not with the policy itself but with the rule that councils were (are?) not allowed to invest the money they receive in new housing. Utterly insane.

Yes it's still the case. In fact,my council is now after selling off their housing stock completely. :mad:

crisp

the problem is not just the council cant build or acquire new stock, but the RTB is seen as unfair and abused.

Bestthingsinlifearefree

Call me old fashioned or a dreamer but every person who is working for a average salary should be able to buy a decent house in a ok area.

How we achieve this I don't know.

But is a disgrace that policemen,teachers,bus drivers,post men,customer service workers etc etc in many areas are totally priced out of the market.

I personally have done well out of the housing price boom (more by luck than skill) but I still believe people working hard in normal jobs should be able to afford a decent home.

Maybe we need more rent to buy schemes / housing association stuff but not in sink run down estates but good housing in nice areas.

black-saturn

I agree the right to buy should be scrapped. I've been on the council waiting list for 18 years. The local council havn't got any vacant houses and a long waiting list for them.

michaels

black-saturn wrote:

I agree the right to buy should be scrapped. I've been on the council waiting list for 18 years. The local council havn't got any vacant houses and a long waiting list for them.

Sorry - why should I pay more council tax so that you can get a cheaper rented house? I'm not asking you to pay more tax to subsidise my rent after all.

Poppy9

Under the RTB tennants buy with a different level of discount depending on how long they have been a tennant. Even if the council could reinvest the money it achieved from the sale of council houses they would not be able to build a new house for the discounted price they are selling these houses for.

Personally I don't think they should be selling council houses when there are so many people waiting for affordable housing. Mrs T didn't just sell off the housing to win votes, it was also to cut back on public spending maintaining these houses. Most councils spend very little maintaining their housing stock. 40 years the majority of tennants took pride in their homes and spent their own cash on home improvements/updating. I know my parents paid for their own gas CH, fitted kitchen, modern bathroom as did most of our neighbours. Gardens were beautifully kept, paths maintained, the only thing they couldn't do was paint their own front door because it had to be in certain colours! I haven't lived on that council estate for over 20 years but I drove through and past my old house the other day. Hedges are wildly overgrown (I remember having to earn my pocket money by sweeping up the cuttings after my mother), furniture abandoned on the pavements, tatty nets hanging in the windows, broken windows boarded up, rubbish littering the streets. I dread to think what they are like inside. If people don't look after their home the council should kick them out. These people are obviously not that broke that they can't maintain their houses as I was amazed at the number of new cars and sky dishes adorning nearly every house in the crescent I lived on.

SAHARA that's appalling that you only have 19 points and need 50 for a house. What would give you the extra 31 points you need.

Our LA has a website showing available housing. Most people don't want the houses available as the areas they are in are violent. All the decent areas - the houses have been sold. We do have a lot of housing assoc. properties too. My sister lives in one - it's very nice but much smaller than our old council house.

black-saturn

michaels wrote:

Sorry - why should I pay more council tax so that you can get a cheaper rented house? I'm not asking you to pay more tax to subsidise my rent after all.

Well your not as I am in my own house now. All bought and paid for.

But if you were in a vulnerable position and needed urgent housing you may understand what I mean. Just imagine you are a lone parent with 2 children and in a rented house. Then your landlords decides he wants to sell up. There are no vacant privately rented properties in your town and when one does come up they say 'no children' or 'no DSS'. The council have got no vacant houses. Your only option is to go and live in a hostel for the homeless which is full of druggies and winos or the other option is a friends spare bedroom. How would you feel about it then? The council can't help these vulnerable people (which is what the houses were built for in the first place) because they have sold them all off.

Poppy9

This thread is not about judging those who need council housing. Private rents for decent properties are expensive, out of the reach of many working families.

If people are not paying such high rents then it should enable them to save for a deposit to buy their own. If you live in private rented accommodation this is virtually impossible.

Helen_from_yorkshire

black-saturn wrote:

Well your not as I am in my own house now. All bought and paid for.

But if you were in a vulnerable position and needed urgent housing you may understand what I mean. Just imagine you are a lone parent with 2 children and in a rented house. Then your landlords decides he wants to sell up. There are no vacant privately rented properties in your town and when one does come up they say 'no children' or 'no DSS'. The council have got no vacant houses. Your only option is to go and live in a hostel for the homeless which is full of druggies and winos or the other option is a friends spare bedroom. How would you feel about it then? The council can't help these vulnerable people (which is what the houses were built for in the first place) because they have sold them all off.

Are there any Housing Associations in your area that you could apply to for housing. I know that in my area and I thought right across the country, every housing development that includes more than a certain number of houses has to include a percentage of Housing Association properties. I think the number of houses on the development has to exceed around 30 ish but someone may correct me on that.