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Original poster

Private renting so much more than housing association!

306 replies

Generationrenter · 07/03/2019 10:06

Just moved to a new build and the rent is £1300pm, neighbours are HA tenants and paying £500 for the exact same house. We both earn around the same amount.

I’m not saying their rent should be more and think HA properties are great (I’ve been on a waiting list for 6 years as renting is bankrupting me so certainly not knocking it!) but surely efforts should be made within budgets that make HA rents so low to reduce private rents?

I know private renting has become so unaffordable but is there anything that can be done? £800 difference a month for the same house just seems insane!

Guess it is just a vent but it doesn’t make sense to me!

OP posts:
LIZS · 07/03/2019 10:12

Is that not the point, that HA is subsidised? Presumably there is something different between your circumstances that they were on a HA register.

Original poster
Generationrenter · 07/03/2019 10:15

I know but it just seems strange how it’s all done! They are in HA as she was housed as a single mum 10ish years ago, they just got moved as she had 3 kids but was in a two bed and is now with a man who earns more and works herself. Maybe the issue is lifetime tenancy.

OP posts:
Original poster
Generationrenter · 07/03/2019 10:16

Should add, I do know the neighbours personally not just as neighbours before people think I’m a complete curtain twitcher!

OP posts:

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Property
DaphneduM · 07/03/2019 10:19

There's no easy answer to the housing situation. Because it has been mainly been left to the market with Tory policies doing nothing at all to encourage the building of social housing, I can't see things improving any time soon. Very depressing and you are right to be angry paying £1300 per month rent - it's a huge sum However I echo the previous poster - you say you both earn the same amount - are you absolutely sure about this - there must surely be something different in your circumstances?

Samcro · 07/03/2019 10:25

maybe the issue is that private rentals are too dear. there should be more SH and less private IMO.

MyDcAreMarvel · 07/03/2019 10:26

HA are not subsided they are not for profit. Private landlords obviously want to make a profit.

youngestisapsycho · 07/03/2019 10:28

Someone I know was council housed years ago, with her partner, when their kids were young. They both now earn over £120k between them and pay £120 a week rent for a nice 3 bed townhouse in West London. It is shit but that's how it seems to work....

ginghamstarfish · 07/03/2019 10:28

It's crazy and unfair. Surely HA tenancies should go to those who need them rather than those working and able to afford 'normal' rent?

Kismetjayn · 07/03/2019 10:32

Uncapped, ridiculously overpriced private rents are where your anger needs to be directed. Lifetime tenancies aren't as common any more afaik but HA properties are few and far between.

Bluntness100 · 07/03/2019 10:32

Life time tenancies are being stopped. As the government requirements were not adhered to by housing associations and they were still granted in many cases, legislation is being brought in now to prevent it. Thus making sure the housing stock will go to those who need it going forward.

LIZS · 07/03/2019 10:33

I agree gingham. It seems once in the social housing system there are few mechanisms to reassess "need" even where circumstances change.

itsbritneybiatches · 07/03/2019 10:34

Where I live the HA rents don't appear to be any different than the private's.

The HA available in my area all need a lot of work and aren't very easy on the eye inside.

Mine needed flooring in every room (there was nothing on the floor just bare boards) and all of the walls in every room where half painted by the previous tenants.

So any that are private and are more are all a lot nicer inside and have been decorated so I suppose any difference is down to that.

TheInvestigator · 07/03/2019 10:35

You can't cap private rentals. It's not for the government to tell private citizens how much they can charge.

Your anger should be at the government for not building new social housing and continuing to sell off the small stock they have.

gamerchick · 07/03/2019 10:36

Is that not the point, that HA is subsidised?

They.are.not.fucking.subsidised! I swear if I read that sentence again I'm going to pop and splatter the walls.

Private rents are ridiculously high, THAT is where the problem lies. Look up not down to find the problem.

Missingstreetlife · 07/03/2019 10:37

Cheaper to buy. Have you looked at help to buy?

AmIOTTconcerned · 07/03/2019 10:39

It's not fair OP.

And I also think it's unfair that greedy landlords can cause resentment towards some HA tenants and make it okay to question whether they are worthy of a HA home (not saying you're resenting them OP). Sure, some people do probably end up in a financial position where they can afford to private rent but I don't blame them for not giving up their homes and security.

It's not the HA tenants' fault. It's the lack of SH and the greedy private landlords.

gamerchick · 07/03/2019 10:39

It never ceases to amaze me that people would prefer another group of people to suffer to make it 'fair'. Bizarre.

bingoitsadingo · 07/03/2019 10:41

How does it not make sense? Prices are high because there is high demand. Lots of people want to live in desirable areas. If more of the houses were social housing, so that prices were cheaper, then demand would increase even further. Then how do you decide who gets it? A lottery?

IMO social housing in expensive areas creates a two tier system where you can only live there if you are really rich or really poor, with little social mixing, and it's the people in the middle who are squeezed out and suffer as a result.

itsbritneybiatches · 07/03/2019 10:43

Anyone can apply though no matter what they earn.

I applied and I earn ok. I wasn't cramped but I was living back with my parents after splitting with ex dh.

The problem seems to be that different parts
Of the country have loads and you dont
Wait long and some parts have not enough.

I was 14th in the list when I bid on mine but I was given it. No idea why. I don't know how they prioritise.

Pannalash · 07/03/2019 10:43

But renting from a private landlord is a business transaction. When people say rents are ‘ridiculously high’ I’m sure there are plenty of unscrupulous landlords out there however there are a huge amount just charging the market rate. Private landlords are not doing charitable work (on the whole) but running a business.

WanderingDaffodil · 07/03/2019 10:48

The chances are you rent is high because your landlord bought it with a mortgage.

Your landlord will be wanting to make a profit after costs. And will also he very aware what the local 'going rate' for private rented is.

This is all totally unrelated to the level of the HA rent. As mentioned above, they aren't driven by making a profit from the rent.

It's a disgrace that there isn't enough social housing at genuinely affordable rent in this country. But your neighbour is not at fault.

moosesormeece · 07/03/2019 10:49

It will be this way as long as we have a government that prioritises keeping house prices high to benefit existing homeowners over increasing supply so that first time buyers aren't priced out of the market in the parts of the country where the most jobs are.

If the government wanted to solve the problem they would have a house building policy with a target that would do more than scratch the surface of the housing shortage, and/or they would be doing far more to support companies moving out of the south east.

(The problem isn't your neighbour, it's that your private landlord has paid more for your house than the HA paid for the house next door, and so they want more money off you to pay their mortgage.)

gamerchick · 07/03/2019 10:50

You're probably right. But it needs regulating.

How about scrapping the buy to let instead of forcing people to use a business they wouldn't chose? How about appropriating all the sitting empty houses there are in the country and letting them out for a fair rent?

But no, it's all 'if you better yourself you lose your security instead' makes perfect sense Hmm

makingmiracles · 07/03/2019 10:51

In the Sw, more and more new builds here are being marketed at social tenants at 80% market rate, so they are not much cheaper than the privately owned homes on the same developments, it’s a joke as most of them are not affordable to our family but the tories redefined affordable housing as anything under £450,000 !!! So consequently affordable rent now means not that fucking affordable to most.

Lifetime tenancies are ending yes, which I think is a good thing if done properly, I know a few social tenants in HA properties who own a business and drive brand new cars, makes a bit of a mockery of social housing, but they needed it when younger, they’ve just never been made to move on as their circumstances improved.
people will be asked to move on under the new 5 yr reassement tenancies as far as I understand.

Missingstreetlife · 07/03/2019 10:51

Councils, like landlords and I presume ha, make money from rent. The house only need paying for once but rent is paid forever. After admin and repairs they still have profit which should go to making more housing available. Governments have not allowed councils to do this and encourage faulty thinking about tenants being given something for nothing. Actually landlords are subsidised though benefits (check if you can claim hb) often for damp substandard accomodation. Government of the poor by the rich for the rich.
Housing is a scandal and many are becoming wealthy whist children don't eat or live to a decent standard. Not everyone can or wants to buy. Divide and rule between low income families, homeless and refugees fuels racism scapegoating and bigotry. There should be inexpensive good quality housing for all who want or need it. Councils are set on building to buy at not affordable prices and so called affordable rents higher than social rent. Absolute disgrace.