Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the Government are trying to quietly get rid of council houses?

42 replies

Memoo · 29/11/2011 22:01

I may well be wrong because to be honest I don't completely understand the way its going to work.

So, they announced today that council tenants will be able to buy their properties with a discount of to to 50%. It seems to me that's too good an offer to turn down so lots of tenants will buy their homes.

Now this is where I get confused.

The money raised will go towards building affordable housing which is great and everything but that means the council housing stock is going to reduce drastically, possible even completely.

I may have got this completely wrong though ???

OP posts:
crazynanna · 29/11/2011 22:02

The child of Thatcher...fuck!

GypsyMoth · 29/11/2011 22:04

Housing associations are better than local council for housing.

troisgarcons · 29/11/2011 22:05

Pisses me off no end .... just because I have a mortgage no fucker wants to discount my house.

helpmabob · 29/11/2011 22:09

Um this is what they did in the Thatcher years so its no big surprise. People have short memories.

Original poster
Memoo · 29/11/2011 22:17

As a way of trying to get rid of all the council housing though?

OP posts:
FredFredGeorge · 29/11/2011 22:18

Yes, the idea is that housing associations replace council housing for providing social housing, there's a belief that HA's can do it cheaper (the general belief that the overhead of state run business is too great) There can be no difference in the service provided to people who need the housing, it's really about a different way to pay for it.

It's difficult to know if it really is cheaper for HA's to do it, but what it does mean is that the borrowing does not appear on the governments books (since it's not spending money building the houses, the HA's are and the government just has to rent them each year.) And with very high borrowing already in the government getting the cash to do it isn't very possible.

If it wasn't for the large government debts though,it probably would be cheaper for the government to do it, as they can borrow very cheaply, but only if the debts don't get too high.

staylucky · 29/11/2011 22:25

It's not even that quiet is it? Would like to see some concrete plan in place to actually start building these new homes.

Am a council tenant and as much I moan about Thatcher and her sell off if i'm offered a 50% discount i'm going to take it. Overcrowded, no other affordable way of ever being able to move into a bigger house rental or mortgaged.

adamschic · 29/11/2011 22:32

They sell the council houses off so there is much less stock to rent. People then have to rent private, often subsidised via HB and it nicely lines private landlords pockets.

They won't build enough to replenish the low cost rental market.

Original poster
Memoo · 29/11/2011 22:51

It just doesn't sit right with me.

OP posts:
LineRunnerLovesSianMassey · 29/11/2011 22:56

We've ended up in my town with private landlords each owning maybe ten former council properties.

Bloody crazy.

GypsyMoth · 29/11/2011 23:01

You can also get to buy your housing association home

I'm being moved soon to a 4 bed brand new property. Same to buy is around 230k. There are schemes in place

CokeFan · 29/11/2011 23:14

I was looking at this and I was quite surprised that in 1981 (so before right to buy became popular) council houses accounted for 30% of all houses in the UK. That seems like a lot. I'm not sure the state needs to own quite so many people's houses.

Thing is, right to buy only "helps" one person/family to own their own house and then they can sell it on at market value a bit later on. I think it would have been better if they'd taken the money from the sale of the council houses and used it to build at least some replacements.

A lot of councils still retain the freehold on former council flats, so they've still got some management responsibility towards them (and some money coming in) so it's not like they've completely separated themselves from the houses.

dancingmustard · 30/11/2011 01:12

I've only heard of plans to build homes for first time buyers.
Which is kind of missing the point.
The country needs and is crying out for social housing and building new homes for up and coming mortgage applicants isn't solving anything.
Soon anyone under 20 grand a year will be living in a favella

www.nextbillion.net/archive/files/images/favela-morumbi-sao-paulo.jpg

CogitoErgoSometimes · 30/11/2011 07:48

YABU if you think it's a way of getting rid of social housing. When the first right to buy programme happened in the eighties it was a great way of getting rid of ancient housing stock which was expensive for ratepayers to maintain and for bringing thousands into home ownership at the same time. The problem was that councils took the cash and didn't use it to build more social housing. The difference this time around is that the cash generated has been earmarked for that purpose - more public housing. More recent plans for new builds and first-time buyers addresses private housing needs.

NinkyNonker · 30/11/2011 07:53

It looks like for once it will be council tenants with the potential to make money in housing instead of private, or is there a selling clause?

CogitoErgoSometimes · 30/11/2011 07:57

Council tenants have been able to make money from the right to buy scheme for a long time. There is a qualifying period of 5 years as a tenant before you can buy and if you sell before 5 years is up there can be penalties. It's a very good deal.

TroublesomeEx · 30/11/2011 08:38

Are you sure it's 5 years? I thought it was 3? Quite possible that I am wrong! Grin

My DH did a stint advising people in the local Neighbourhood Office as part of his CPD.

He said the biggest enquiry was from people who'd just bought their council houses on RTB with a discount wanting to know how long they had to stay there before they could sell it.

NinkyNonker People killing on selling their RTB council houses asap! When the house prices were rising the profit realised was quite startling in some cases! Many of them had been on HB previously, bought at a discount on RTB, got IO mortgages from the companies specifically set up to lend to council tenants (don't see them advertised anymore!!!), had the interest paid for by the DWP for the qualifying period, and then sold for a £100k profit after paying back the mortgage capital!

Not bad for those who were able to work it that way!

Not sure how this will work in future though.

TroublesomeEx · 30/11/2011 08:39

£100k in some cases. Don't want to imply that everyone made that sort of money out of it!

CogitoErgoSometimes · 30/11/2011 08:44

It could be three years qualifying period, I think it depends on the local authority.

Hullygully · 30/11/2011 08:49

YA THINK?!

adamschic · 30/11/2011 10:20

In our area they sold off most of the council housing. Most of it has been resold many times over and although they are the lowest priced properties on the market they are still selling for around 160K. There has been a clause about resales as I live in 2nd home area but lots of properties have fallen through the net and are rented out by private landlords.

They built some more houses, over our green belt, i.e on fields that had been formally protected, not for development, but they were in the hands of housing associations and because of our low static population didn't fall under the right to buy. Reckon this restriction will be lifted again and the same thing happens with this stock. Lots of foreign workers are housed in HA properties, they will think all their christmases have come at once.

ramblinrose · 30/11/2011 11:00

FIL bought his for £6000.
It's now worth around £120,000

BridgeofHighs · 30/11/2011 11:40

Still quite a lot of council housing here - it makes up more of the rental sector that private rentals. I think the 50% discount will encourage more people to buy, but not all, because for many the benefits of ownership don't outweigh the disadvantages, e.g. high service charges, having to do own repairs. Plus many people here are on a very low income so wouldn't be able to get a mortgage anyway, and for those who have just enough to be able to buy, it's quite risky as you can get a mortgaged house repossessed if you lose your job, but if you continue to rent you'd get HB to cover it.

There is quite a commitment to building more social housing in my area, even new council houses are being built and probably more will be built as receipts from council house sales can be put back into building more houses. But it will be very different in the future as tenancies won't be as secure and the rents will be higher.

JennaTailor · 30/11/2011 14:01

Friend brought hers for 120k - now worth 310K (in London)

HalfTermHero · 30/11/2011 14:16

My friend is over the fucking moon at hearing this news. She has a council house and will now be buying it. I am so, so pleased for her. She has had a bloody hard life (including being beaten by the father of her child) and now it feels like someone has finally given her a break. Selling the house again in a few years will really set up her and her child nicely with a nest egg for their futures.