To think if all your children have grown up and left you should give up your 5 bed council house?

[dilemma456]

The housing list are so long and especially for bigger properties.

I met someone who lives by herself in a 5 bed council house last night. Her children have all moved out. There are people who really need that house crammed into much smaller properties.

AIBU to think that if you're massively under occupying social housing you should be under an obligation to move out into something smaller and that the council should offer you support and encouragement to do so?

I don't think this should just be limited to social housing though. Most property is owner occupied in the UK and the same situation exists, single elderly people living in massive family houses. I really do sympathise that they may not want to move because of the emotional attachment to the house, but this is surely the same if you are a council tenant.

I think one of the big problems is that the meaning/use of council housing has changed over the past 50 years. These days council housing is for people in need, who can't afford expensive private rentals, and who have no-where else to live (mostly because there's not enough housing stock these days). However, in the 1950s and 60s, council housing was for everyone, was the new, better alternative to private rents or tied houses, and a much larger proportion of the population lived in council houses. So for those people who have been in their houses for a long time, it means a completely different thing to them than council housing today.

There's no easy answer .

veyron I wouldn't call sheltered housing a ghetto, either. We have a couple of sheltered housing blocks on our estate - the residents are part of our neighbourhood.

"Eg can a single person in a 3-bedroom house have their rent paid?"

No there is a maximum amount each person is entitled to, say £100 and £50 per child, so yes a single person could rent a three bedroomed house but they'd have to pay the difference in rent.

So a fixed rental term would hopefully change that situation mamatomany. I think the mindset around social housing needs to change.

gramercy yes you are correct Housing Benefit is paid in this way for council tenants.

Funnily enough if you are a private tenant its a different story.

E.g. If you aren't eligible for a 3 bed house you wont get the £800+ HB to pay for it.

I agree with you greeny. It should happen the moment the kids grow up.

My nan lives in a 3 bedroom house which she should have moved out of years ago. It's a complete bloody pain in the arse because it's too big, it's drafty and expensive to run. But she's too old to move now and it just means my dad worries about her a lot.

gramercy - I think the rules are (or at least were) different, depending on your circumstances.

If you became eligible whilst living in a 3-bed house, you would receive housing benefit, although you might have to top that up if the rent exceeded the max allowed (a value set locally). But if you wanted to move, they would only pay benefit for a one-bed home or bedsit.

My mother was in the ridiculous situation whereby she wasn't allowed to rent a small 2-bed cottage (private rental before anyone gets upset) despite the fact that the rent was cheaper than the one-bed flat she ended up taking on in desparation.

The £800 (more in my area) is to cover moving costs and possibly anything else needed.

We did a housing exchange with a lady in a 3-bed who had grown children.

She wanted our 2-bed because it was newer, nicely decorated, easier to keep and near her daughter who had four young children. Her son lives with her and his son stays regularly but neither of the buggers lifted a finger to help her to move

I'm very glad that she got that money because she needed it. We'd have saved up and given it to her if it wasn't available / illegal to do so.

"And i agree with whoever said that tenants in private rental properties need greater rights."

Yes I agree as well landlords have far too many rights (and I say this as a private landlord myself)

I have this kind of one man campaign going on to try to get the law changed on one particular point- the fact that private landlords can discriminate against families, advertise houses to let 'no children' and evict people for then going on to have children/ becoming pregnant. This is illegal everywhere else I have looked, its fine in the UK though.

gramercy, why do you think single people should not qualify for a discount of 25% of their council tax?

I meant but not butt obv

Veryon, I did not know that in private rentals you were restricted to your bedroom allowance. It does seem ridiculous that that rule is restricted to HB in the private renting sector.

What happens here (W.Sussex) is that if you are under occupying your HA house and you register your interest to downsize, you get placed in band A which gives you priority over band B,C and D. So therefore you 'bid' on a property from a list of houses and the bidder in the highest band gets it.

It makes sense and is just a good thing to do, i am in band B and desperately need to move for my sin and my own health needs, i got pissed off with single people in 3 bed houses, when we get a house eventually and the kids move out we will graciously downsize again.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar:
'I would bloody hate to live in some kind of young professionals/ families/elderly/student ghetto'.

Sorry did i misunderstand the elderly part?

darcymum if you have a petition going on this, i would be more than happy to sign it. It's an absolute disgrace isn't it?

I thought most housing associations and councils offered under occupancy incentive schemes to free up larger properties. I am not sure how well publicised they are.

Perhaps our definition of neighbourhood/area differs. The sheltered flats on my estate are part of my neighbourhood. As are the houses (inhabited by elderly people, families, sharers and so on). I enjoy the way that younger neighbours help out their elder ones, and (at least most) of my elderly neighbours seem to enjoy having the children around.

OTOH there is a (private) estate nearby that seems to consist solely of young families. I would hate that.

Veyron- I did have a petition going on the Number 10 website but the bloody new government cancelled it (and every other petition) when they came into power.

Oh ok I see what you are saying now, and totally understand. I wouldn't like to live on a "professional young family estate" we have one near to us and it looks like brookside close, except it has lots of 4x4's on the driveways and the local pub is a hungry horse.

I am not a stuck up snob btw but would prefer to live in a mixed araea iyswim?

darcymum - if you were to set up another i will help you as much as i can.

It is banging you head against a brick wall. I have done loads of research on it and it is very common (about 25% of properties ban children) including many three bed houses. To my reading of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child it seem illegal already but nobody with any power seems to care.

I started on it when a friend was evicted (or rather given notice) because she became pregnant and the landlord said he didn't want a child living in the house.

YANBU

My MIL and her BIL both live in three bedroom properties, neither of them can look after them properly. I clean my MILs house twice a week because she can't, and the council gardeners do her (massive) garden every 5/6 weeks. We are trying to pursuade her to move to something smaller, she was offered a lovely bungalow in a lovely area with a small garden and the council would move her and unpack. She is refusing, would rather die there. I can't understand why though, as the area has gone downhill, she has teenagers hanging around outside her house every night drinking and is always calling the police to move them on. They've wrecked the fence and the council are always repacing it.

I live in a council property and I hate this stigma that goes with it, that all council tenants don't work and are rough. I worked until I had DS3 in 2008 and DH works full time. We don't get any benefits towards rent or council tax.

YABU its not just a house,its a home,its a community..my mum has paid rent on her council house for 30 years she has neighbours she has known for years ..just kick her out then to somewhere she knows no one.