Discrepancy between social housing rents verses private sector rents - how is this legal/fair?

This all makes me so sad. Where is your compassion. You want to throw old ladies out of their homes because your rent is too high.

@Edna It's not great but yes, it isn't fair that she gets to keep her home when many others who assumed personal financial reponsibility will not be able to do the same. Even if things went well fo rhtem you have to have a lot of breaks to be able to keep your family home once you retire rather than have to sell up to release equity.

So my elderly neighbour across the street. She's rattling around in a three bed home. She has Alzheimer's. She's terrified when she goes somewhere unfamiliar. The only place she feels safe is in home where she is surrounded by memories of her children growing up. You'd throw her out would you?

edna of course you shouldn't be 'chucked' out of your house, but when your dc leave home will you still need the same size house?. is it far that another young family will have to wait years (possibly) for a home when you could maybe afford to move to a smaller private rental?

of course if private rentals where reasonably priced then there wouldn't be half as much of an issue as there is now.

Social housing is allocated on the basis of need. At the moment, it can't be taken away if your needs change (ie that your income rises considerably or that your children move out) but there are changes afoot, certainly for the latter, to 'encourage' people in properties that are too big for them to move on.

floffy - anyone can apply for social housing. It's not means tested so if you'd put your name on the list when you turned 18, you might have had a house by now.

I don't think its fair either or the way social housing is allocated.

I am lucky as I have my own home but for the young people it is going to be very hard particularly if they have a student debt and then want to settle down and have a family

It's private rents that need capping rather than taking away the homes of social tenants.

I hate this attitude some have that they can't have it so why should others too.

I was given a council house after escaping an abusive marriage. My dc and I went through hell and were all very traumatised. We we're homeless for 3 months.
We finally got given a house and I tried to rebuild our lives. I went to collage and eventually started working albeit for a very low wage.
Do you really think I should then be chucked out of my house just because things had improved for me? For the first time in years my dc and I had some stability and you want to take that away?

It's not fair but I would say the answer is to have more social housing or rent controlled properties with secure tenancies. There has to be somewhere for low to middle income families to live and at the moment they're completely priced out of the housing market and the private sector unless they are claiming HB.

I agree that lifetime tenancies are not a good idea as our scarse stocks of social housing should be saved for those in most need.

The only issue I can see is that by removing the tenancy, we risk people being put off bettering themselves. I mean why go for that job if it means you could potentially be worse off?

I agree.

I was extremely lucky to be given a 3 bed HA property when I had ds. I stayed there for 9 years. The rent was £460 per month for a 3 bed semi detached.

I decided to give it up and move into private rental when dd2 came along and things got a bit cramped.

We moved into a 4 bed terraced house and the rent is £800 per month.

When we moved we were both in well paid jobs and were comfortable enough but there have been times when dp has been out of work and things have been really tight. Scarily tight.

If we were to apply for social housing again the wait would likely be about 4-5 years for a property.

Lifetime tenancies are not a good idea imo. One of our neighbours live alone in a 4 bed the same as ours, their 3 dc have grown up and moved out. With hb she pays £260 a month for her house.

I think you've got a point. Social housing should be for people who need it most. When their circumstances improve, the expectation should be that they move into private rental or ownership and the property should pass on to someone else who needs it more. As it stands with lifetime tenancy agreements where no-one ever moves on, we end up with long waiting lists and a big under-occupancy problem. Have you applied for social housing?

Ask your landlord.