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Britain's Council House Millionaires - the real beneficiaries of Thatcher's sell off of council housing

23 replies

stumbledin · 13/02/2020 19:38

On tonight at 9pm. C5 so may be a bit tacky. But the housing shortage that is causing so may problems in the UK can be traced back to Thatcher's policy.

And even if it had a good intention this programme looks at the reality of what actually happened.

And all that money going into private pockets instead of the councils who built them is one of the reasons there is no money for new council housing.

What better example of Thatcher's morals - the Britain of "loads of money".

www.channel5.com/show/britains-council-house-millionaires/

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TheQueef · 13/02/2020 19:41

I've got my KitKat and popcorn ready in refrigeration.
I'm going to do one shot for every Tory minister exposed.
I don't expect a hangover.

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lorrypark · 13/02/2020 23:14

Succesive governments including Labour and a Coalition, have had the opportunity to reverse the 'right to buy' scheme but have chosen not to. Utter madness! At least reinvest the money into rebuilding the housing stock!

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Singlenotsingle · 13/02/2020 23:17

I used to think it was a good idea, but not now, and not because of this programme either.

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SapatSea · 14/02/2020 11:05

It's disgusting. The HB bill is totally out of control. We are being farmed like sheep, crammed into ever smaller spaces. I could only stomach a bit of the programme, nothing new. The guy with the Ferrari made me want to puke. What a prince amongst men!

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UYScuti · 14/02/2020 11:36

Right to buy means that there are a few lucky winners but everyone else loses, still keep focusing on the winners brush those losers under the carpet...they're just losers no cares about them.

See those donkeys over there, let's give carrots to a few of them to focus attention away from the fact that we are beating the others with sticks.

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TheQueef · 14/02/2020 14:20

I was slightly impressed that ch5 shoe horned in what social housing is supposed to be instead of copping out and implying poor housing.
Not surprised they found a couple of go getters to blame instead of policy.

If local gov were allowed to keep the money from sales they could rebuild.
we should be asking where the money has disappeared to in central government.

We need a national build of true Sh no housing association, Norway have some excellent examples but it will never happen with Conservatives.

If we had a good housing stock rents would decrease in private sector and when we have adequate houses all property prices will settle.
But they won't make nearly as much profit Sad

I had no issue with the LL in the programme, shame we didn't see the real benefactors.

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stumbledin · 14/02/2020 14:37

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it could have put the business of the 3 men better into the context of social housing.

Even a few simple charts show loss of social housing, or even a figure saying how many more homes we would have had, had social house building continued at the same amount as in the decades after WWII.

What was also worrying is that the 3 landlords / agents shown in fact seemed to keep their houses in better repair than many HAs which now have the main role as social landlords. Sad

And ironic that they all pointed out how much better built social housing stock was.

What is it that stops politicians from bringing forward legislation to stop the sale of council housing and restoring the right of councils to build new housing?

When you look at the cost to people's lives to not having decent housing and the cost to society you would think they would put money there not into HS2.

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TheQueef · 14/02/2020 14:40

You know what Stumbled I sat watching it thinking I would be really happy renting from any of them, even the irritating youngster Grin

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stumbledin · 14/02/2020 15:35

It took my HA landlord 5 months to replace a leaking pipe! Sad

And 3 years after reporting mold because of lack of external repairs nothing has been done ...

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UYScuti · 14/02/2020 17:02

If we had a good housing stock rents would decrease in private sector and when we have adequate houses all property prices will settle
I agree, society as a whole would profit/benefit enormously if we all had access to adequate housing, without a secure affordable home no one can properly flourish and develop in life, just as without access to education or healthcare we are all hamstrung.
We are a wealthy country there is enough to go round for everyone to have access to these things, if only we could stop the people at the top from hoarding it all!!

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stumbledin · 14/02/2020 19:44

Its so sad that our society is so infected with US social aspirations via tv etc., that we never look to the European countries who have sucessfully implemented public housing policies.

It just crazy not to make sure the basics such as housing and public transport are affordable as it then creates a more flexible work force.

Some of the rooms people seem to accept was all they could get are worse than the bed sits that in fact many people lived in, in the 50s and 60s and into the 70s. Although shared bathrooms are always a night mare.

And of course the other irony is that all those people who are saving up for and getting into debt to buy a house are also being sold short. Since the Tories, some decades ago, got rid of the Parker Morris (?) standards people are being sold housed with double bedrooms etc., which they are clearly not (ie a double bedroom should not only have room for the bed but room for other furniture and still be able to walk around in, not a room where the bed fills the entire floor space). In fact I think this was another Thatcher legacy. And of course a lot of the building standards were better.

Why is nobody, in any political party looking at the cost of Thatcher.

What with the railways and privitisation of utilities. And now many of these are run by the nationalised industries of other countries.

It makes me believe that old saying (not the on the anarchists love that whoever you vote for the government gets in) you get the Government you deserve. We seem to love being told lies and want to believe some fantasy that it is never our fault but always some outsider creating problems.

Sad

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TheQueef · 14/02/2020 20:38

It's crazy.
We did something right for once, saw the benefits even RTB was a social boon and could have easily been restructured to be replenished.
Instead of just sucking it up and starting building we are putting the onus on accidental 'll or very small BTL operations. As soon as their is an issue with funding they lose the house of evict i.e. They can't take the hits SH can.
They will drop off if interest rate goes up and the people buying the properties up afterwards, they will chase profits not social benefits.

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Lepetitpiggy · 15/02/2020 17:35

I may be slow - But I still don't understand how these people can buy so many - are they buying them from the previous tenants, now owners? Because if that is the case, they wont be cheap at all surely??

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Whatsnewpussyhat · 15/02/2020 17:43

Yes, they are buying houses that ex council tenants have bought and then lived in for the agreed time then sold for a huge profit to the private landlords

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Lepetitpiggy · 15/02/2020 17:47

Ok. So they are not exactly council house millionaires in the sense that they got the huge discounts in the first place. I was getting confused!! I get that far too many are buy to lets, it really is grim

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TheQueef · 15/02/2020 17:51

They pick up cheap houses by mainly buying in deprived areas where the estate has been allowed to decline. The RTB buyer wants to move on out now they have a start.
Then instead of renting the three bed to a family they crush in extra bedrooms to make it more profitable £800 a month verses 5 rooms at £600 per month.
Forcing overcrowding but the demand is too high.

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SchadenfreudePersonified · 15/02/2020 18:03

But the housing shortage that is causing so may problems in the UK can be traced back to Thatcher's policy

There are a lot of "social" policies which can be traced back to that vile woman's evil reign. The benefits system, "care" in the community, "there is no such thing as society" (not now there isn't), "greed i good" (disguised as "ambition"). She has cause a lot of suffering - but the unions - in particular scar gill - played into her hands. They shouldbe ashamed, too.

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YappityYapYap · 15/02/2020 18:12

For a bit of insight into this, we bought our house from a private seller for £178,000 in 2014. That private seller bought the house from the council in 2009, so 5 years prior for just £35,000. So the person we bought the house from made £143,000 in just 5 years from selling to us and the council made basically nothing meaning no money for them to build new council housing. The laugh of it is, it wasn't even the council tenant that benefitted. Her grabby daughter gave her mum the money to buy the house then got her mum to sign it over to her once the 3 years was up and her mum was shipped off to a hospice to die and the daughter made £143,000 for doing nothing really. We never knew any of this until after we bought the house

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TheQueef · 15/02/2020 19:07

In the basic formula was this...
Borrow £100.000 from central and build house.
Pay back central with rent, usually first ten years.
Then RTB kicks in.

The rent was worked out as
Maintenance + Improvement.
+
Water Rate.
+
Tenants fund (which is where the discount on RTB used to be paid from so really the tenants paid the discount in rent)
+
Rates (council tax equiv)

It's a rebuild we need.
Sack HS2 and make a Northern Powerhouse by housing everyone reasonably and adequately, the jobs will come too.

(Can you tell I would really like a council house Grin)

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stumbledin · 15/02/2020 22:08

YappityYapYap - that is so sad, but I have heard similar stories. So not even that hard working families ended up living in what had been the family home but as the owners.

I know one couple near me who bought their flat and have stayed, but not in good health now. the irony is that the area which was really run down is now ver "desirable" so if they should need long term care they will have to sell the flat to pay for it.

What I cant cope with is how many people have been persuaded that the Thatherite revolution was the best thing that happened. And they do this by buying into the false stories that lack of housing, health care etc., are all down to immigration. Never ever blame the toffs in the Tory party who have left us all out to dry.

Talk about turkeys voting for christmas.

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HeIenaDove · 19/02/2020 00:59

Many SH homes have also been lost to gentrification regeneration.

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HeIenaDove · 19/02/2020 01:15

Yy @stumbledin Agree.

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HeIenaDove · 19/02/2020 01:36

I wonder why some of the posters here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3809470-To-think-people-dont-understand-the-magnitude-of-the-social-housing-crisis
didnt comment on this thread or the recent Panorama one come to that.

Im absolutely sure its not because they are only bothered about the housing crisis when they can blame it on tenants.

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