In thinking if you earn over £100,000 a year, you should not be allowed to stay in council house accomodation?

[Hammy02]

RMT union boss Bob Crow earns this and yet still lives in a council house. Surely he is using a property that should be housing someone that actually cannot afford to privately rent and needs subsidised property?

i dont know if its 10 or 25% of new builds that have to be affordable housing, but they arent building much at the moment. i think that this can include rentalble to those on hb or for council tenenants too.

we all have to feed and cloth our children and most of us work if we need to and if we can, but that dousnt mean its ok to hold up social housing for those in need.

real issue is we need more homes, buy to let should not be allowed. not just because it pushes up rents but because first time buyers cant afford to buy those homes and many buy to lets puch up rent by letting the 2 bed house out as a 4 bed student let. why rent a 2 bed house to a family for 900 a month when you can rent it out for 1600 a month to students.

I sympathise with them having to move but they have had a good run. Ive got more sypathy for the young girl over the road with 2 toddlers and her DP at work all day. She cant let the kids play out as has no garden and theres a road. She would have to pay full rent. Not sure if the woman on the end pays rent. I think its so unfair. My gran moved from a 3 bed house to a 2bed bungalow and is now in sheltered having the time of her life. The elderly are not getting carted off to homes but being offered social housing to meet their needs

how does it get subsidised by taxpayers?

sardinequeen you say its because its below market rent......no,its the right price,its just that private landlords add on £££££ for themselves to create a new private rental market rate.....making it appear that social housing is subsidised!!!

For me, the question should more accurately be "if you earn over £100k a year, why would you want to stay in council accommodation". And I speak as someone who previously rented from a housing association.

I don't agree with the argument that kicking people out will put people off bettering their lot - surely the reason people study/ work hard/ run their own businesses/whatever they do is to improve their situation, and moving off your council estate would, surely, be high up there!

Im very much on the fence over this - of course someone who earns 100k shouldnt be in council accomodation. So where is the line to be drawn - i do not believe that elderly people should be expected to leave accomodation that they have lived in for all their adult lives because they are now single. How much is too much to be earning? My DP and i are on the precipice of losing our home (im praying it wont happen) but if things dont change, it is likely. Anyway, at some point, things WILL change, i'll get a job and DPs business will pick up, im SURE of that, but im not sure when - so, if we get council accomodation and then say, six months later things improve, should we be forced out of it? Probably, but we would never ever get another mortgage so would have to rent privately, in Secondhome-on-sea where rents are astronomical and we would struggle even with both of us earning. Actually, i think we probably should rent privately if we could afford it, but this again comes to the point - where do you draw the line.

I cannot personally understand why anyone who earns 100k would WANT to live on a council estate, but not all council estates are shite, my mum has a lovely council house and so do my ILs. neither on estates.

Rhubarb, i think you have hit the nail squarely on the head - the private rental sector is greedy and full of parasite landlords to be honest. The government should be looking to regulate this which would then take the pressure off of council accomodation because more people could afford to rent privately if disproportionate rates are being charged.

not being charged*

?

"sardinequeen you say its because its below market rent......no,its the right price,its just that private landlords add on £££££ for themselves to create a new private rental market rate.....making it appear that social housing is subsidised!!!"

The market rent is what it it. If it were too high people wouldn't pay it. You can't set an arbitrary different amount and decree that is the correct market rent when that patently is not what is being paid on the market.

A bit like, I think a standard 3 bed semi should cost £100,000. That is what people can afford and so that's what it should be. If the council build some houses they should sell them for £100,000. The fact that they could sell them for £400,000 is irrelevant, and they would not be losing £300,000 by doing this. The £300,000 is imaginary.

Your approach is not logical.

Do people on here really and seriously believe that BTL landlords are driving high rents and high property prices?

Not around here they aren't. The rents and property prices would be the same whether the private rental market was run by old-style wealthy landowners, business consortia, individuals who specialise in it, whatever.

People pay the rents that they are asked. If they couldn't pay then prices would come down. That's market forces for you. If people didn't pay then it wouldn't be so high, same as property prices.

The only solution to high property prices and rentals is to build more stock.

I'm not sure why you'd want to stay in a council house in on 100K but if they do so what?

Why is it ok for people who have never worked to have one AND their rent paid but not ok for somebody who is self supporting?

he is self supporting happymummy

well i have an issue with the "people who have never worked to have one AND their rent paid" too.

and no, not people with genuine reasons for not working, those who just choose not to.

I agree with you sardines, however many people pay those high rents because they know that the council will pay a portion of it through housing benefit if they can't afford it.

What is the choice today? Banks are asking for deposits of up to 40% before they even consider you for a mortgage and your application is now scrutinised more than ever before. For instance we had such a deposit and were paying £600pm rent, had a good credit history and were both working. Yet because I was self-employed and my dh on a low wage we were very nearly refused - if we hadn't applied to the same bank we've been with for 25 years we would have been refused.

If an average house is now around £200k then the deposit you need to save would be nearly £80k. How many people can afford to save that? Like us, because they are working they aren't entitled to a council house so they rent privately, which leaves them no extra to save. It's a catch-22 situation.

The house we were paying £600pm for (which is very cheap for round here) is now going back on the market at £700pm. In the nearest town you can expect to pay £1,000pm for a 3 bed house. It's insane but for those leaving home, it's their only choice.

duckdogers - "I still have to feed and clothe 5 of us and pay full rent and all my bills on my salary alone thanks, in a climate where the department I work in which is very specialised could be abanded any minute to save the NHS money."

Well? So do plenty of other people who don't have the luxury of a council property and subsidised council rent.

I worked in the housing office of a rough estate in South London for 6 fucking awful months. This was 15 years ago and back then the cost to the council for simply replacing a washer on a dripping tap was £27.
God knows what it must be today. It never dawned on perfectly able people to go and buy a 5p washer and do it themselves - no, it was always a case of "get the council in". Council housing fosters an attitude of entitlement and dependency. Once you're in why would anyone want to get out? Everything is so bloody easy.

We need good social housing for the elderly and the sick and disabled. We need it for people in genuine need. Not healthy working families who just don't want to have to deal with the shit the rest of us put up with.

lubberlich absolutely! (re the sense of entitlement)

Couldn't agree with that comment more.

We need good social housing for the elderly and the sick and disabled. We need it for people in genuine need. Not healthy working families who just don't want to have to deal with the shit the rest of us put up with

i agree with this.

lubberlich - if you fuck up the tap whilst trying to replace the washer then you get landed with the bill. A great many repairs to our privately rented house we could have done better ourselves, but were warned that if we did try to fix anything ourselves and it went wrong then we would be liable for someone to come out and put it right. It just wasn't worth it.
Plus some taps are so solidly fixed in that you crack the sink trying to get the out - that's a brand new sink you then need to cough up for.

"I agree with you sardines, however many people pay those high rents because they know that the council will pay a portion of it through housing benefit if they can't afford it."

Council tenants don't normally rent in the most expensive areas, as benefit is capped. I suppose it depends a lot on the area. It's hard to know the conditions in other parts of teh country, here I genuinely don't think that the high rents are because they are being propped up with council money (north london). I strongly disagree with the cap coming down and the removal of council tenants from central london btw, I think that we need housing to be mixed and that leads to a more tolerant and harmonious society. People living in enclaves with people like them is a terrible thing for society.

The housing situation in the UK is dire. It's because we're a small island, with lots of people in it, and with disproportionately large centres. We're all crammed in together near where the money is. Maybe as we move away from having to be in a workplace to do business, things will change. And maybe if they improved public transport a lot that would help too.

I still think the point made was valid though.

Rhubarb0 - oh yeah I am sure that was the thought processes they went through before pissing off down the bookies with their giros.....

We live in a council flat. It's on the 8th floor of a tower block on an estate in London. We got it because we were evicted from a private rent (landlord wanted to sell)so we were unintentionally homeless, on a low income and couldn't find another landlord that would accept housing benefit. We were housed in a bed and breakfast for 3 months and were moved into temporary accommodation 6 weeks before our baby was due. We stayed there for 3 years and placed a 'bid' for our current home. Years later we are now better off financially,(although still just a very average wage) not claiming HB etc and we need 3 bedrooms ideally. The council cannot move us(10 yr waiting list) and the letting agents around here want proof that we are earning over 38,000 (which we don't). We can't get a mortgage, because although we have a decent deposit,(which has taken years to save) they want to see an income of over £50,000 to get a property costing £180,00. I would be willing to move to somewhere more affordable, despite being settled, kids in school etc, but my Husband's job is in North London. I don't know what the answer is. I am thankful that we have a home that feels secure for as long as we pay our rent. There are 50 families in our block. About 10 of them (inc us) are working. The rest do not work,(I don't know their individual circumstances) so I assume do not pay any rent. I hate that some people assume that council housing is for people who have somehow failed in life. My husband works hard, we take care of our home and we pay for it. If we could find a way out for someone 'more deserving' to have it then we would. In fact, I'd cut my right arm off to get our kids out of this god forsaken place. Lots of us are 'trapped' in social housing despite our best efforts.

Yes, people who earn enough to buy should be forced to move.

north london?

then you could move to middlesex,herts etc and he could commute. get somewhere decent for your money!

have you tried homeswap sites?

"people on an awful lot less than 100,000 should be moved from thier council houses.

so what if you have settled there, your children are settled-what about those kids living in b&bs when bob (whoever he is) can afford to live elsewhere.

disgusting"

Hear, hear. A little less selfishness would go a long way to help the worst off in society. And this "but it's their home" - bleating is just bollocks. Give to those who really need it!

I just don't understand why anyone gets a council house I genuinely don't. Don't understand who, where and why. I have even googled it but didn't get a clear answer as it seems to be decided locally.

I saved for 6 years to get the mortgage for my ex-council flat (10% deposit on a £265k flat in London). Most of my neighbours are council tenants. I feel totally cheated to understand that whilst I worked my butt off at school, university, work etc that all I can get is the same as what my neighbours have had handed to them or at a huge discount. Makes me want to leave this country.

lubberlich, that's a very sweeping generalisation. There is no point in arguing further.

SardineQueen, yes but what worries me is that our green land is being swallowed in up huge housing developments whilst factories lie empty and abandoned houses are rife in many parts. I think the council should be able to reclaim disused buildings and convert them into social housing instead of building new all the time, and because we are such a small island there should be a bigger tax on those who own second homes to discourage the practice - they can sod off to the Costa del Sol for all I care. Investors should have a clause in their contract that entitles the council to have first refusal if they sell up.

This island is very overcrowded but building it up with more and more tiny box houses won't help.