Lifetime Social Housing Tenancies

For social housing i would create an board to look into house blocking I've always disagreed with one person blocking a three bed social house just because they have lived there a long time the boards job would be to look at the person's individual circumstances and see if a move would be appropriate so for example if they had their grandchildren over regularly because their child couldn't cope I would leave them in if they were living in one room with a commode and microwave meals they would be moved elsewhere to somewhere local and suitable there would be no hard and fast rules no get em out policy just sensible decision making

I imagine that bringing the price of private lettings down to match social rents more closely would ease the pressure on social housing.

But, yeah, now that you mention it, any money the council earns through social housing would be ringfenced and could only be used for buying more social housing and improving current stock and of course there are the houses the dvelopers would be donating and given that massive private landlords would be forced to sell the majority of their portfolios the cost of homeownership would drop (more supply, less demand from people buying up property as an investment) allowing more renters to get on the property ladder.

So you’d do nothing about social housing? Seems strange given the current housing crisis.

This would be excellent. I would vote for you in a heartbeat and I hope you are running for government sometime soon.

I'd overhaul housing by limiting the number of short term rentals to a certain % of houses in the area based up on the average number of contactors working in the area and have a minimum let of three months (so no more Air B n B pushing locals out of areas like Cornwall and Devon etc).

I'd limit home ownership to no more than two per person (reducing to one per person for married couples) and cap private rents to no more than 10% of the average cost of letting a house (mortgage, insurance, etc)

I would heavily, heavily tax homes that are empty for more than three months a year, which would prevent overseas entities from using London as a parking spot for their money.

And I would look into a way to make home developers donate a percentage of their profits or houses to the LA for every new build development.

Finally, I would invest heavily in infrastructure in the North and offer businesses reduced rates for moving there, thus taking the strain off London and the SE by spreading the population more evenly.

I stand corrected, although a quick google suggests this loan (with interest) is a last resort, and let’s face it, not as favourable as housing benefit, when you rent.

I knew about the RRB but thought you were thinking of something else since the RRB is essentially about streamlining and reducing bureaucratic crap, specifically giving more rights to renters. Rents in the private sector are only going to keep on going in one direction and that isn’t downwards. £600 a month rent in a houseshare seems fine to me, unless he’s in an ultra cheap part of the country.

You can claim SMI from 3 months after claiming UC.

https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/eligibility

If you have been on UC since 2009 or you are on pension credit, you can only get up to £100k. If that doesn't apply, you can get up to £200k

As @Frequency rightly says, there is government help for those with mortgages.
The Renters’ Reform Bill is well-publicised and (slowly) moving. All my three children privately rent so I’m hoping for fairer and more secure terms soon - one pays £600 pcm for a room in an HMO, one lost his last tenancy due to landlord changing his flat to Airb’n’b. In fact, ex-husband is the only one of our family with the security of mortgaged property!

Woohoo!

The variable rent would make it neutral between social and private for the people with higher incomes. No one would have secured tenancies beyond 10 years. If people are minded to not improve their working conditions because having to pay more tax, they will already take view due to the increasing tax rates.

So you'd actively not encourage people to better their working conditions in case they lose their secure tenancy and have to go into private rentals? Sound plan

Vote Lioncub for Housing Minister!

I'd build more flats funded by applying a means tested rent between the current charity rate and normal market rate depending on income. The under occupied houses would then be freed up by transferring occupants to the smaller properties ensuring that the larger ones are then available for families. I would put ten year reviews on tenancies to ensure that they correctly match the needs of the family.

You haven't told me at all.

So you agree. More social housing is needed.

That's not correct.

https://www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest/what-youll-get

Of course, the government won't actually buy your asset worth hundreds of thousands of pounds for you, but they will support you to stay in your home until you find a job, so pretty much the same deal a renter gets if they lose their job.

A mortgage has got to be the most secure though hasn't it? As long as you pay the monthly amounts you can pretty much do what you want and at the end you own the house with no obligations to anyone.

But as I mentioned earlier, renters can get help from the government with some of their rent if they lose some or all of their income. The mortgage payers get no support.

And I don’t know why you said private rent will hopefully be better soon. Nobody is putting any pressure on landlords to reduce rents.

I've told you already. I would have reallocations every 5 or 10 years or so. People would still have a home but it would change to suit their need.

I live close to Teesside. The housing register is run via Tees Valley Partnership, a group of HAs that work together. I have no idea how long the waiting lists are in the wider Teesside/Tyneside area.

Ok. And where would the people go?

The system does need to change. Its needs more social housing and it needs to stop selling it off. Not kicking people out because they're a bit better off than they were originally. Fgs.

There are lots of things people would be an idiot not to do. We saved about £0.8m in capital gains tax when we sold a business using entrepreneurs relief. Something can be within the rules, you'd be an idiot not to do it, but others might not agree it is right. We could have afforded to pay the tax obviously but the government gives the reward for founding business.

I understand why people won't give up lifetime tenancies with discounted rates but that is why the system needs to change.