To think council housing is really unfair??

I think its so hard because there isn't enough council houses so if they where only given why needed it would free homes up for people struggling but on the other hand to throw someone out of their home seems harsh. I do think when people are in a situation to support themselves the rent should go up to market rate. I know a family living in a council house 3 adults working full time, reasonably paid jobs and their rent is £350 a month, private rent in the same area for same sort of home is about £800/900.

In our area there are no longer secure tenancies only starter ones that are reviewed every 5 years I think. We were lucky to get one of the last secure lifetime tenancies with succession rights and I’m very grateful for it

That's a nice idea, but wouldn't be possible in any of our lifetimes. A more realistic solution will have to involve some level of shared compromise.

Yes this. Our housing association flat rent is less than a shitty ROOM in Bristol. I don't think we're underpaying, I think other people are being ripped off!

I see it as a multi-faceted issue, but one thing that is clear is that in my area council rent is very far removed from private rent.
£1500 private rent for a 3 bed semi, I personally know a family, both work, 5 bed semi for <£600 a month...

Yes. One of my mum friends tells us she pays 200/month for a new built 3 room appt w her 2 girls and dp (who she did not declare or she wouldn't have gotten it). She lives very close to me. In our residence we got a family of four, both working ft in min wage jobs who rents a tiny 2 room appt for 1000/month. So yes, it does seem unfair.

Yanbu OP, it is a deeply flawed system but the biggest flaw in the system is obviously the selling off. I believe it is at the root of most of our housing problems in the UK now, the generations below the Boomers (of which I am one) have been right royally screwed over.

Maggie Maggie Maggie, Out Out Out!

Not so. I see council tenants as a group of people with a specific set of rights under housing legislation that I don't wish to see removed to reduce a problem that could be solved by other means. I don't want them to have more rights than everyone else, I want everyone else to have the same rights as them.

I think it’s because most council flats are dire.

Stack em and rack em with maybe a gravel washing line area. Big rooms but nothing at all outside not even a one seat balcony or small grassed area.

More decent flats / apartments would encourage moves I think.

Covid has definitely also helped put people off having near zero outside space.

My partner has a council house. He got it when he came out of an abusive relationship as a single parent to a young child.
She's now in her 20s and long flown. He has a good job and earns a good salary. He still has the house.
It's his home and in his position I wouldn't give it up either, but morally, no he shouldn't have it anymore.

I can’t afford to save a deposit to buy and have to privately rent which costs me a fortune.
I have been told it’s a year wait on the council list.
I work full time as a single parent and would love secure housing for me and my son.
I know people who have so much disposable income because they have very low rent bills and security.
It feels unfair

Property in this country is prohibitively priced, either to buy or rent privately. I don't know how people on minimum wage or thereabouts afford to live.
I don't begrudge people council housing, I just think we need more of it.

They need to stop selling them off.
The rent needs to be inline with the area. Not ridiculously cheap. People would then move and free them up for people who need them.

My dad was exactly the same. They could have bought their house outright when my DF retired, but they didn't.

My DF wanted their house to go to someone who needed it, not someone who could afford it. And it did.

It's meant to be a home for life. I get the annoyance when a single person is living in a 3/4/5 bed house as all their kids have moved out. But means tested? No. My DH has a HA one bed, he got it after many months of being homeless (literally, in a tent, no fault of his, his previous landlord evicted him as he wanted to sell and he couldn't find anything in this overpriced housing market that he could afford on NMW/zero hour contracts).

Technically we could afford to move out now but this is his safety net and I'd never ask him to give that up.

My sister and her husband have a council house they’ve had for nearly twenty years. Joint income of 75k. Rent of less than 250 a month for a 3 bedroom house. They’ve said they have to stay there so their kids will get the house when they die. The kids are grown up and so it’s them rattling around in a big, and objectively nice house with a garden at a time when that house could have kids in it. A family in need. My sister just laughs.

Council rents aren't miniscule, it's the private landlords that are ripping people off.

Which is why social housing is more ethical and appropriate for everyone who has reason not to take a mortgage.

I completely agree, I know three people who live in council housing. One runs a successful business earns £100k+, flys business class, another both adults work FT and they run a successful business from home as a sideline and are racking it in, a third has a property overseas which she didn’t declare and is looking at private prep schools for her son. I’m guessing they’re not the norm, but I think it’s scandalous that there is no means testing once you’ve got it, set for life.

The council house i grew up in is now an HMO for students.

I dont understand why you would want older people to leave their homes and move into private rented. It would likely cost the country a lot more in housing benefit, so it would be pointless as well as cruel

I’ve just sold my parents in law, council House. They bought it for 11.5K, and we’ve just sold it for 234k.

i think it’s fucking brilliant.

we need teachers and police and nurses. Either we pay them a decent wage, or it goes with the job they get affordable housing
There are a significant number of HAs and LAs that already do this.

I don't think that's true. Council flats are abundant almost everywhere. That people would prefer a house their entire life shouldn't factor into it.

Housing management system is what councils/housing associations use. Knows who's in each house, what they pay/owe, what the target rent/service charge will be if someone new moves it.

I completely agree private rents should be regulated also. Many of the people coming to be housed is due to private landlord attitudes of well my mortgage has gone up £400 so your rent is going up to cover it.

UC, ESA on £90k no, PIP yes - its not means tested.

You may be paying full rent but your full rent will be a damn sight cheaper than someone else paying private rent. I think the system is totally unfair, why should someone in a council house pay hundreds less than someone in private and they could have the same income coming in. I dont blame you or any other council tenants but the system is flawed.
My sister has been living in a council house, shes been getting cheap rent for years and now she's bought the council house for nearly half the market value! I believe they are changing the scheme very soon as she just got in with getting such a large discount. It does take the piss when others are struggling to pay 1600 rents and no hope of getting a council property or mortgage while paying such high rates. I don't know what the answer is. I know landlords where tenants piss off and don't pay rent for months and they are thousands owed so I dont think it's the case of greedy landlords. Over inflated property prices perhaps.