Hatred towards social housing tenants on here getting worse.

I think this article explains the problem well. Social housing isn't being fairly distributed. It should be time limited and distributed according to need.

www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/09/social-housing-time-limited-tenancies

Also, while I'm sure that the majority of social housing tenants are perfectly nice, decent people, you do get a much higher proportion of 'problem neighbours' in social housing than you do in the general population.

That's why there is a stigma, and most people don't want to buy a house that is close to social housing. It's seen as high risk

I don't have a problem with social housing going to people who need it, but I don't think that they should be able to pass it down to their kids as if they own the place. Social housing should be distributed according to need, and need should be regularly assessed.

@gamerchick developers who build a proportion of housing as social is the S106 I was referring to. They have to do that, it’s a legal obligation. But, many, many council and housing association properties are being built by the organisations directly. Those are paid for in part by money from Homes England. That is government money which fundamentally comes from tax. And yes, whilst rent is paid, a proportion of SH tenants receive what used to be called housing benefit to cover that, which again comes from the public purse. I think social housing is a marvellous thing. Everyone should have access to a safe, warm and affordable home and it’s quite clear we need more of it, but to say it isn’t subsidised is factually incorrect.

There is a myth that SH tenants are also on benefits , so are getting a free ride through life . That why there is resentment and hatred.

Britain loves a race to the bottom.

Why do you only struggle with people in SH who have no intention of working? There's people in private rent who have no intention of working and the tax payer is paying their rent to a private LL so it's not even going into a non profit association that improves and maintains the area generally to the benefit of everyone who lives there. It's going to a private LL to make a private profit.

I lived the same way you are, with 9 moves in 13 years, although 2 of those were my choice. I also always have (with the exception of a few months where childcare wasn't available and I had to move for it - again) worked 'incredibly hard full time' too, unfortunately the jobs I've done are the ones that aren't valued (although they are needed, wanted and relied upon by society) and therefore low paid and looked down upon. I can't afford to buy either, nor private rent.

Surely the less people in your situation and the situation I was the better? At the very least there's less people competing for the private rent places available, because that would drive the rents up even more. Then what's the choice for people who can't afford it? Cardboard box under a bridge with everyone complaining about it? Because without SH, on my own, with a child I couldn't afford private rent prices, that would have been my option. Not conducive to being a productive member of society and being able to work nor lay the groundwork for my child to be the same.

I don't blame those who have partners for my lack of one or the fact that one I did have financially abused me to the point I had nothing left and needed SH. My life would be a lot easier with one!
So I don't see why I'm responsible for those who aren't eligible for SH struggling to pay rent or mortgages. Or because someone needed to sell their home after losing their parents to pay inheritance tax.

I sympathise greatly, obviously having been in the private rent situation I know what it's like, I can sympathise with grief and losing your home. Nothing I have done has contributed towards those situations. I can think those situations are wrong and unfair, and I do, but I'm still powerless to change them. Me not living in SH won't suddenly make you eligible, not will it stop the government imposing inheritance tax.

But, basically we're an easy target, because we're seen as the lowest of the low, stereotypes and untruths abound and become the basis of vitriolic attitudes - but still nothing changes does it? It's just a way for people to offload their negative feelings and emotions about their situation onto others and feel justified in doing so.

I would think the 'tax payer' subsidises private lets through HB more than SH. Obviously they don't mind lining some landlords pockets though.

Houses built in the 40s/50s/60s/ etc have no mortgage, they've paid for themselves over and over again.

Developers pay a good price for land on the proviso that a percentage is to be SH. Which the council get the rents for.

Still can't see where the taxpayer is fitting into it. How are you paying for someone living in a house built in the 60s? Where is the subsidy?

The reason why we got HA house, we were private renting a 1 bedroom flat. The landlord was in his 80's and was selling up, my daughter's was 8 months old. We had been on council list for 5 years, this was back in the late 90's. We were still both working.

I don't understand why people associate SH with people not working. If people have no intention of working. They won't weather its SH or private rent.

I know that fear of worrying if your private landlord is going to sell the house and you'll be forced to move on and fort out for yet another deposit, we did that for years. We got our HA house because the private rental we'd been living in was up for compulsory purchase. The council had to rehouse all people in the streets we were living in, homeowners and tenants. This was 16 years ago now. I love our HA house, it's very small (new build), in an awful area, but the rent is reasonable and the HA are always super quick with repairs. We've always worked to pay the rent, whether in private or SH.

Social housing tenants are allowed to swap. That's all you done. It just happens to be with your mum/child hood home. Which is lovely.

@Comedycook I’m not sure how you are able to compare our situations. If only I was lucky enough to inherit £s. As a working couple we just get by, we are not financially lucky enough to put money aside to save for a deposit, also as we are a working couple we are not entitled to any kind of financial help so the fact we was lucky enough to be given SH due to our entitlements I do not feel bad and will hold onto my house for as long as possible, also think of how much rent we have paid over the 37years on our £500 to build house? The only thing we have got out of that is the security. My mum gave up her RTB when she swapped with me, she could have bought at the top discount and made ££.

Im not sure how people can blame though who have been lucky enough to be given social housing for the shortage, wasn’t the plan when RTB came in that for every house sold another should be built??

Also it’s not the social housing tenants fault of the high price private rent, mortgage rates!!

I get the London rent/house prices are crazy amounts of money but at least you have the opportunity to buy a cheaper house elsewhere in the country if you because desperate. Think of thoughts who don’t have a roof over their head and are living in shelters!!

The tax free allowance on iht in our case at the time was a whopping £250k which is not a lot of you have a house in London

Its clearly a sign of privilege when you believe 250k is not alot. Although i completely understand what you mean, again its not a bad thing to inherit, but please acknowledge that privilege as lots of people would be very happy with that amount.

The tax free allowance on iht in our case at the time was a whopping £250k which is not a lot of you have a house in London

I think when social housing was available to anyone who wanted it , without having to meet any criteria, then a lot of people were fortunate to get it. People struggling with rent or unable to save for a deposit might feel (understandably) envious, resentful maybe of the idea of a secure home for life and ,in many cases, much reduced rent.
Now SH is reserved for people in the most unfortunate circumstances and is not readily or easily available, and that is the fault of successive governments for selling off council houses without reinvesting or replacing them at the same rate. Its not tenants fault that the system has failed but I can see why people feel its unfair.

I think the older stock of housing has probably been paid for a long time a go. The houses round here were build in the 30s/40s
But of course there are new builds to which Likely have not been paid for yet. I'm not sure how it works to be honest . People are told the rent price and pay it.

I get about the other poster who lost her family. But she's very angry and bitter towards the wrong people . Yes she's been through a hard time. But so have many others I have been through hell. But im not having a go at anyone in SH.

When times get tougher people become less tolerant. Unfortunately that’s been the case as long as I can remember and I’m now quite old.

But while we are fighting amongst ourselves the rich get richer. Wealth is being more and more concentrated into the hands of a very few.

I think people harbour ill feeling because

a. we all know some of them (not all) are lazy spongers

b. Anybody that has to private rent is hacked off because of the difference in price (plus the social tenants have security and better upgrades)

c. lots of the houses are an eyesore - not necessarily the actual house itself but the outside. We have newbuild estates nearby and the social housing bit is an eyesore already(rubbish lying in front garden, bags of shit, unkempt gardens etc) and the houses only got built in last couple of years. So they are pulling the area down for everyone else. The builder has put these houses on the front of the estate nearest the busy road so we all have to look at them as we walk our dogs/drive by. The rest of the area is nice and well kept so that pisses me off.

I think it feels like salt in the wound so to speak (ie they get cheaper and secure housing in a newbuild nice area and can't even be arsed to look after it. Just makes it seem like they don't appreciate their good fortune.

I have you admit I do struggle when I come across people in SH who have no intentions of working to support their families. I am certainly not saying that this is true of everybody in SH, of course it's not, but there are some who are in this situation.
My husband and I work incredibly hard in full-time jobs and still can't afford to buy. We are 43 and 48 and have been privately renting now for almost a decade.
Our rent is very expensive and I'm terrified of losing the property every time it comes up for renewal as suitable private rentals nearby and very rare. There is also the very real fear of rent going up so much we can no longer afford to live here. I don't feel secure in the slightest.

So comedycook house / estate was worth quite a lot more than 1 million that is tax free inheritance from both parents. In order to have to sell a house to pay 40% of over 1mill. Or whatever the allowance was then. Not really comparable here!

@VeronicaSawyer89 If it isn’t subsidised, who pays for it to be built? It is absolutely NOT all built under s106, Homes England invests vast sums of money into building social housing. Where, exactly, do you think that money comes from?
Of course it is subsidised, as it should be. I have absolutely no resentment towards those in SH and I don’t know anyone who does. Both my parents grew up in social housing. I am fortunate enough to have never needed it but I am grateful that we have it for those that do (albeit not enough) I do not like the shitty comments on here towards the poster who lost her family home to inheritance tax though. That’s also shit for her. A bit of empathy towards others goes a long way, irrespective of financial circumstances.

@Comedycook presumably you own a house now, if the estate was big enough to be liable for IHT. Are you really that jealous of someone who manages to hang onto a social housing tenancy after a relative dies that you'd swap places with them? Thought not.

I don't know what's going on in this country. People are so resentful of anybody having something they don't have. Any perceived advantage at all. It's a sad state of affairs.

@roarrfeckingroar SH isn't subsidised. I'd be interested to see the evidence you have on it being subsidised.