Hatred towards social housing tenants on here getting worse.

@JenniferBooth don't ask a question then chuck an "ism" abo

Speak for yourself.

There’s zero sympathy for the squeezed middle so why should they feel sympathy for others? It’s got bad enough that we all just care about ourselves now.

There are lots of groups that are looked down on or posted about negatively. There's no need to single out social housing tenants as needing special protection.

Personally I don’t feel annoyed at SH tenants. We are all just winners or losers in the local councils process. It’s very gutting that this security and affordability is only available to the few not the many , and where I live there are elderly single people living in three bed houses which does feel really wrong and unfair.
but I appreciate the system is unfair, not the tenants.
it is jarring though sometimes if tenants try to justify the system or say it is fair, but most don’t.

@SuperSange

Maybe you have an old tenancy contract ? I thought if you take a tenancy now they did reviews to see if the property is still suitable for your needs ? I don't blame you for staying where you are btw, My friend is in a three bedroom house on her own with her husband and has a bargaining chip , she isn't leaving until she gets the accommodation she wants as she has an old tenancy contract and I don't blame her . They have health problems and need a bungalow.

We're in a hugely expensive area to live, so no way could we afford to buy

I understand that...but the problem is huge numbers of people are in the same situation and will never stand a chance at getting social housing. There are many many people who will be deserving cases but there's not enough properties. Of course it will result in resentment

Not true necessarily. We're in ours for life. We both work full time, and are staying put. We're in a hugely expensive area to live, so no way could we afford to buy. When the houses were built, it was a planning condition that they went to people who had a local connection, and my now husband was given one. The condition still stands, so even if we left, someone local would be given it, not someone from out of the immediate area.
So in short, it really does depend on the individual authority/HA/any planning conditions.

I may be wrong but social housing is no longer for life ? I thought you now have to downsize if the property is no longer suitable for your needs ?

Politicians like to stir up the hatred as it means priority get mad at each other rather than at the lack of affordable housing (including the lack of properly regulated private rental homes)

It's not surprising tensions run high when for many housing costs take up most of their take home pay . And when private landlords can kick them out on a whim

And people hear about the shiny new social housing and forget some social housing tenants live in quite difficult conditions

This is about a shortage of new social homes being built but also about a lack of overall homes being built and lack of secure tenancies in the private sector.

No political party of any colour ever achieves building a decent number of new homes due to vested interests. The system is broken.

And what happens to society? Not enough homes to go round, people in insecure extortionate private rentals, young people unable to buy, overcrowding of families.
People resenting each other instead of the corrupt system and the rich elite for whom things are working really well as they continue to buy up more and more property themselves.

I just hate the posts that make out we’re lucky. Yeah I’m lucky that I became eligible after going into refuge fleeing domestic violence and me and my son lost everything.

I actually work as a nurse now and have lived in mine for 3 years but it’s not without its issues despite the cheaper rent. Mould growing behind my front door, damp, my third year running of rat infestations. People seem to think it’s just very easy to get given social housing without considering the circumstances of those who are actually genuine

I think the situation you just described is why so many people hate SH tenants because they think they are playing the system when stories like this are actually rare and most tenants are good people just living their lives and don't have partners with second homes.

I have no skin in this game but my friend is currently in emergency housing with her two kids after being evicted by a private landlord. She is pretty resentful that someone we both know has a secure tenancy in a three-bed home, when her kids have left home and her live-in partner of many years has his own home, no mortgage, which he rents out for a hefty whack.
To be honest, I can see her point.

I lived like that for years, I've lived now in SH for coming up 8 years. I earn a little over nmw, in fact the new nmw will be more in April than I earn now. I'll likely get 10 maybe 20p an hour more when that happens. That wouldn't bridge the gap between SH rent and a private rent. My SH provider is a non profit organisation, and they do a lot for the communities they are part of to make them pleasant and decent. But that points towards not only the housing stock paying for itself through the rents raised but also having some surplus to be able to do that. By comparison the council services are woeful.

At times when in private rent I received housing benefit to help me be able to pay (and I've never been unemployed, part time for a little while because there was no availability for local childcare), since living in SH the rent has been paid entirely by wages.

I wasn't jealous of SH tenants when in private rent because I didn't blame them for the way my LL's behaved - the issue was the LL and the way that the system works, it would still be the same if SH didn't exist (likely worse actually because then the market would have a completely captive audience). SH tenants are also not to blame for mortgage increases or house prices, or people over mortgaging themselves.

I pay less than a private rent, probably not as much less as some think, but it is less, but then unlike the private rent I've lived in there was literally nothing when I moved in, not even plugs in the bath and sink. None of the things like white goods, fixtures and fittings or carpets - you provide those yourself - pay less and get less - which I am absolutely fine with, more than fine with. And the SH organisation doesn't behave like they're doing me some massive benevolent favour by allowing me to give them what is still a large amount of money to live in 'their' house, like some LLs do - behaving like they get nothing out of it and they're some kind of Saint for renting out a property. They actually recognise they're providing a service in return for payment and I'm a customer effectively.

I mean they're not perfect, they have policies that indicate they are unaware of the fact so many of their tenants work and don't sit at home all day, and arrange appointments without telling you and then get arsey when you're not in for the appointment you don't know you have. I have a dripping tap and a window that doesn't shut properly and it's been like that coming on 2 years now, it's cellotaped up to stop the draught and the online portal just says that the repair request is 'being processed'. And before anyone starts, on the occasions where I've actually had an appointment to fix it and it's been cancelled at the last minute, I've asked if I can fix them myself/get someone in and I would be in breach of my tenancy if I did.

I lost everything to an abusive relationship and that's how I became eligible for social housing and I live somewhere that I wouldn't have considered if I'd had more choice because it's got various issues (not with the actual place but it's position) and apparently I'm the longest standing tenant since it became SH because other people clearly felt the same!
We still have some bare floors and rooms that have the decor that was here when we moved in. It's secure though, and I'm grateful for it. I still struggle financially, but I'd be screwed if in private rent.

I just find it confusing that anyone would be jealous to the point that they need to be be vindictive about all that, I get that it's really tough for some right now, but it's been really tough for me and still is with COL hanging over everyone. I barely got back on my feet and COVID hit, then COL.

I've every sympathy with people struggling, but me struggling more isn't going to stop them struggling is it? It'll just mean they have to go be jealous of someone else.

Envy especially with the cost of living crisis. I count my blessings every day for my secure social housing tenancy and can’t imagine the stress of possibly being evicted hanging over me and having to come up to with moving costs and deposits. Nit to mention uprooting kids and school changes etc. Never being able to feel secure must be horrible. Everyone deserves a secure tenancy in my opinion. I would probably be jealous if I didn’t have one too.

Very strange interpretation of what I said.

I never suggested social housing should not be available