My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

To wonder what the country would be like of we all live in ha/council houses

193 replies

JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 09:15

And no one owned property? If everyone lived in a space that was good for them and their family and we all paid the same based on space ie 1 bedroom = PCM 2 bedroom = a bit more PCM.
This would mean that no one would get the rough end of the deal as mps would also be in the same situation.
Fair rent for everyone, money constantly going to the government.
I wonder if it'd encourage people to have more children or prohibit them from wanting more I they had to move to allow for another bedroom but then had to pay more?
Probably flawed massively somehow but I don't see why it couldn't work?

OP posts:
Report
EllieArroway · 17/01/2013 09:22

This has been tried in communist countries.

Progress is achieved when people strive to "better" themselves & getting a bigger/swankier home is an ambition most of us have. If you've already gotten as far as you ever will in those terms, you reach stalemate.

Your idea works well in ideological terms, but not in practice. Bit like communism itself, actually.

Report
SPsFanjoIsAsComfyAsAOnesie · 17/01/2013 09:25

It would be the same as it is now but with no private landlords but more sofas in gardens Grin

Report
Dawndonna · 17/01/2013 09:27

It wasn't really that way under communism because the housing stock was from pre-communist times and was therefore variable, giving people the opportunity to want to 'rise above their station'. Also, half the corrupt party members had their holiday homes etc.
It would only work if all housing was more or less similar, although obviously different in size, and if it had been that way from the word go.
Personally, I'd love to see it, but it isn't going to happen.

Report
EllieArroway · 17/01/2013 09:33

Dawn Yes, but it was the same general idea in communism countries. If they'd been starting from scratch and building new housing, this is what they'd have wanted to achieve. And you're right - corruption reared it's head & made the whole system unfair and unworkable.

Report
Adversecamber · 17/01/2013 09:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Crinkle77 · 17/01/2013 09:37

Sounds a bit like communism to me - no thanks

Report
flatpackhamster · 17/01/2013 09:37

If you've ever been to some parts of eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, you'll see that some of the motorways still have separated lanes. There was a special lane for members of the Communist Party, and only their vehicles were allowed to travel in the special lane.
The argument was that Party officials were important and if they were delayed in their travel, The State might suffer - so they got private roads which only they could travel on.

The same thing would happen with your housing system.

George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is a good primer on this subject.

Report
mademred · 17/01/2013 09:41

I've lived in council properties, and currently in a h\a one, I've never put my sofa in my garden, its too cold to watch tv from there and the view is not so good.

Report
DontmindifIdo · 17/01/2013 09:42

hmm, so everyone's housing security would be based on the one landlord (governemnt) and there would be no way to provide for yourself? Your lifestyle would be completely out of your control and controlled by government policy? You'd have to pay rent for the rest of your life, never actually (as large swaths of the population do now) stop having housing costs after 20 or so years. You'd have to live where you were allocated, not where you wanted. You would have less control over when you move and where to.

Report
nancerama · 17/01/2013 09:45

In theory, this is how it works in the Netherlands. It's very common to rent there and a certain percentage of properties in each area have to be set aside for rental. When buying property, your solicitor has to run searches to check whether the owner is actually permitted to live in it.

They have a rent control system, meaning that landlords can't charge whatever they like and a government body that you can appeal to if you think you're paying too much or your property isn't well maintained.

For the most part, the system is good, but illegal subletting is a problem as once people secure a property in an amazing location at a cheap price, they are reluctant to release it onto someone else if they go travelling or move in with a partner.

Report
PandaOnAPushBike · 17/01/2013 09:47

Depends if it's compulsory or not. If everyone who wanted to got to live in a council house and there were plenty around to choose from, it would be like living in Sweden.

Report
JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 09:49

True communism has never actually been tried though - it's always been corrupt in some way as some people are more equal than others. Hmm

I wasn't really thinking about it in a communist way actually although that's ideologically what I'd like.
You could still decorate how you want, put your own kitchen in etc and aspire to have nicer stuff If that's what you want...
Just thinking about over crowding, homelessness etc.

What about then if you could own property and people could rent out their properties but rent charge was was the same as ha/council rent? Everyone's rent is the same based on space. So a 2 bed house is always £ PCM so everyone's in a fair rent situation?

OP posts:
Report
JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 09:52

The thing that could allow it to work is that everyone would be in the same boat including the government.
So if things were shit for you then they'd be shit for them too and maybe things would improve.
If things were good for those in power then it would mean things would be good for everyone as no one is above anyone else in that respect at least.

OP posts:
Report
JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 09:52

What happens in sweden?

OP posts:
Report
piratecat · 17/01/2013 09:52

i also have my sofa in my living room.

Report
JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 09:57

Maybe your tv just isn't big enough to warrant watching it from outside like all the rest of the estate eh?

OP posts:
Report
Booyhoo · 17/01/2013 10:00

i'd prefer better renting regulations and more come back for tenants when they aren't getting a fair deal. also caps on rental charges. and yes more council/HA housing is needed.

Report
thesnowmanrocks · 17/01/2013 10:01

It would be awful imo. I live in council housing and they can't maintain what they have now properly. So if they had every house/flat now it would end up looking rundown and people living in terrible conditions.

Don't have my sofa in garden very hard to watch tv two floors up!!!

Report
JazzAnnNonMouse · 17/01/2013 10:02

Caps on rent makes sense.

OP posts:
Report
specialsubject · 17/01/2013 10:03

what's wrong with a sofa in the garden? Done a lot in New Zealand.

OP, if you want to live in a dictatorship there are still one or two around. Shut the door on your way out.

Report
Dawndonna · 17/01/2013 10:12

I find the knee jerk reactions to this question a little strange. It does not necessarily mean communism. People a very frightened of thinking in a slightly different way. Just because all housing would be government owned, doesn't mean state sanctioned living. That's a logical fallacy presuming that one thing would automatically lead to another.

Report
Callisto · 17/01/2013 10:22

I think there would be a massive brain-drain as everyone who could emigrated to a less totalitarian regime. After several hundred years of democracy I doubt many would take kindly to living in an endless identikit suburbia. And what about all of the really nice houses? Are they all going to be bulldozed and only housing to the lowest common denominator built in their place?

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

PandaOnAPushBike · 17/01/2013 10:31

What happens in sweden

In my town the majority of properties are owned by the housing association. Renting like this is normal. It's not what poor, desperate people do. It's what lots of people do. If you want to buy, house prices are reasonable too (60k for a 2 bed detached, 15k for a 1 bed flat).

There is usually a bit of wait for a rented place but it's next to nothing. My daughter is a student and wanted to move out and live with her boyfriend in the town where their university is. They had to wait 3 months until a council owned student flat became available. As a student flat it's theirs until they graduate (no coming home in the holidays) and their rent includes heating, electricty and a laundry. When they graduate they will be given the opportunity to move into a 1 or 2 bed flat where they will have to pay their own bills.

Disclaimer: Stockholm is a different kettle of fish with a massive housing problem like the uk (not enough to go round and astronomical prices to buy)

Report
Jins · 17/01/2013 10:33

Before I owned property I may have seen advantages to this. Now I own property I'd be wondering if I would get fair compensation for giving it up

Report
cantspel · 17/01/2013 10:46

Even if the state owned all the housing you would still get good areas and bad areas. Good standard housing and bad as people are different.

You will still get people who dont look after their property and others who will improve a property. I know people who own large expensive detached houses where quite frankly the house is a shit hole but they are quite happy to live like that. I also know others in small ha houses who have a lovely home. It might be smaller but it is better looked after.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.