to think that elderly people living alone in 3/4 bed council houses should not have a choice about whether they want to stay there?

[BlessYouToo]

In fact, they should be moved into one bedroom accommodation as soon as the kids leave home (this should have happened years ago of course). Having a 'spare' bedroom in case the grandchildren come to stay should not be an option when they are in state owned properties.

I have today been to view a council property with a friend of mine who has been homeless for 3 years (in temp accommodation) after finally getting to the top of the bidding queue! She was called to see a 4 bedroom house and it was absolutely rank, the smell made me want to heave. Plaster was hanging off the wall and the whole place was damp as the previous tenant either, did not or could not, heat and ventilate it properly Apparently the house was in a much worse than the state we saw it in today but the council had done some remedial work on it to make it safe so it was a bit better. The garden was also just a sea of brambles.

We were told that an elderly person had been living there and had just been moved into a nursing home. T

I was shocked that the council could rent out a property in this state. I would have expected that they would have made sure the property was up to a decent, clean standard before renting it out as any other landlord would have to do (all my friend will get is a paint allowance if she is eligible) but I am even more shocked that this elderly tenant was allowed to let the property get into this condition. Why do councils not carry out inspections to ensure their properties don't get into this state? Obviously the house was too much for the previous tenant to cope with and surely they would have been better off with a smaller property that they could keep clean?

We were told that many of the properties coming available after elderly tenants have either died, or gone into alternative accommodation, are left in a similar state. How many families with young children are left crammed into tiny flats while elderly people are living in houses much too large for their needs, letting them decay around them? I find it unbelievable that this has been happening.

I feel gutted for my friend as she has been desperate to get a stable home for her DCs and will now be going into a total shithole without even carpets on the floor, just cement. It's a bloody disgrace! AIBU?

[ninah]

jasper it's intense. Wish your dad, and all of you, the very best.
Now back to the thread - why don't you leave off 'council tax millionaires' and start on the real ones (if you think you're hard enuff)

[ninah]

gaelic should you afford muesli? in a council house
I'm talking about the 'finest' range
or is that immoral

[usualsuspect]

Council houses are 1p a week

[OldLadyKnowsNothing]

Council houses were not built "for the poor." They were built to give security of tenure to renters (most people until the whole "you MUST GET ON THE PROPERTY LADDER' shite of the past two decades or so.)

You know, men returning from wars fought as conscripts, deserved homes "fit for heroes."

Pah.

[gaelicsheep]

OK, I've found the answer. In Scotland average weekly rent is £50 a week. Average private rents nationally are getting on for four times that. If people have loads of disposable income due to paying such low rents they should be moved on.

That should happen way before moving single elderly people out of their homes.

[tethersend]

My Grandma can't have muesli as it gets stuck in her false teeth which the taxpayer has forked out for.

[usualsuspect]

Council houses were also built to house people from slum clearance

[gaelicsheep]

Do you not care about all the families out there who can't get a council house and are stuck paying exhorbitant private rents with no help at all because they earn just over the threshold for housing benefit? While other families who got their council house sit on it even though they could afford to rent privately?

[ninah]

jeez tethers haven't you packed em yet?

[usualsuspect]

They do get help .its called housing benefit

[usualsuspect]

do you want to live on a council estate gaelic?

[GypsyMoth]

Memories? That doesn't give anyone the right to remain. My ds was born upstairs in my bedroom.... So I can stay here then?

As for repairs. The tennant has to report them first, the council/HA are not mind readers!

[jasper]

tethersend, will you marry me?
I'll help you turf your grandma out her council mansion and I'll make her a new set of falsers. It's what i do for a living

[tethersend]

I was just crimping the edge of a pie which she made from all the fruit in the garden with them first, ninah.

Slinging em in a binbag now.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

gaelicsheep, my neighbours have been in their house for about 45years. It is their home. Just because they decided not to buy it at a knockdown price from the state does not mean that they have no right to live in it now. What they have done is to invest in social housing. As their family grew, they put their own money into their council house instead of demanding a bigger house. It is not their fault that government has decided not to invest in housing. They pay their rent. They pay their tax. They invested in social housing instead of banks. And you want to punish them for it?

You're blaming the wrong people for the housing crisis.

[ninah]

wasteful. Ebay .. and look you have offers

[tethersend]

"Do you not care about all the families out there who can't get a council house and are stuck paying exhorbitant private rents with no help at all because they earn just over the threshold for housing benefit?"

Rent control?

More affordable housing built?

Minimum wage to be set at a livable rate?

No. Come on, Grandma you selfish old witch, get a move on.

[gaelicsheep]

I do not, we are very very fortunate to have bought a house before prices went silly. We are very lucky, but if we hadn't done that when we did we would now be in the unenviable position of being unable to afford to rent or buy and would also be at the bottom of any council housing list. I don't know what we would have done.

I know so many people who earn good salaries but are half killing themselves paying rent to private landlords and haven't a hope in hell of getting a council house. Recently some HA houses were built near me. Loads of locals applied and not one local person got a house because they didn't meet the criteria. Many have had to move out of the area as a consequence.

[Ripeberry]

Unless you've bought your council house, then regardless of how long you've lived there, you should have to give it up. One person in a large house is wrong.
They can still stay in the same area, just not in the same house.

Council houses are not yours, they are for the community.

[Alouisee]

If there are conditions to be met to get the house then conditions need to be assessed to keep the house.

[tethersend]

jasper, you're on.

[gaelicsheep]

tethersend - my comments were not about moving old people on, they were about people who earn lots of money taking up council houses that other people have a greater need for. As I said, that should happen before they think about downsizing elderly people.

[AmberLeaf]

If people have loads of disposable income due to paying such low rents they should be moved on

Where to? homes where the rent/mortgage is high

How does that make sense? their 'disposable income' would then vanish overnight wouldnt it.

[jasper]

Yea, old people. They're going to die soon anyway, and they're just taking up space in council houses where CHILDREN and MOTHERS should be.

Might as well distress them , turf them out their homes and finish them off sooner rather than later.

Think of the savings to the taxpayer

[Alouisee]

Rent control??? Please tell me you're joking. If the rent doesn't provide an acceptable yield then it's not worth renting. If its not worth renting out then there wont be any private landlords.

It's all about the yield.