To think: if you can fly first class, you shouldn't have a council house?

[Mexxo]

Facebook friends of mine (friends of RL friends really) making lots of comments this week about their impending holiday to Mauritius on which they'll be flying first class and staying in a 5 star hotel.

This couple have lived in a council house for many years (no kids yet), though this year so far she has got a new (not brand new, a year or two old but still v nice) BMW and he has a new Ducati.

One of their friends has commented on FB "Wow, did you win the lottery?!" and the wife replied "no we just saved a long time for our dream holiday".

First class flights to Mauritius are £4k each. A week in a 5 star hotel must be at least £2k and probably more. That's £10k for a week's holiday. AIBU to think that if people can squirrel away that much money for a holiday, they shouldn't be living in a bloody council house subsidised by taxes from the rest of us?

with My dh work he is in and out of peoples houses all day and yes he sees elderly people rattiling around in 3/4 bed council houses and he used to gripe about it, but you can't force somebody out their home they have lived in forever.
yes ideally a nice 1 bed flat that they can manage but they are few and far between and you can't make somebody move ,

Lambzig - exactly. Chucking people out will not solve the shortage issue. It won't solve the unstable job market.

So much is wrong now. This will not fix it.

It will mean even more people join the homeless lists when their private rented falls through or they loose their mortgage.

I think if someone really can afford to buy then they should - for themselves. Not to give up their houses. But I will never agree with people being pushed out to private renting. It just isn't secure enough.

Frownieface, why should a couple that has chosen not to have children be less entitled to secure housing because they have chosen not to have children they can't afford? That's penalising them for being sensible and making good choices.

Why should a couple who has chosen to have children get priority over housing? They are responsible for their children, they are not more deserving than anyone else because of a clear choice that they made, that will incidentally already take more of of the system.

Council housing is not subsidised. Council rents are lower than the market rent in the.private sector as many private landlords are in effect subsidised by the taxpayer in the form if housing benefit.

FantasicDay, what you just wrote is complete and utter bollocks.

The answer is to build more social housing.

There will be an acute need for it in the future - there is s whe generation who will never be able to buy.

But I can't see this government building social housing. They would prefer to blame working class people for everything and begrudge every holiday, treat or freebie because these people do not deserve a taste of the good life.

anyway as I say all the time just because somebody doesn't own their home doesn't make them less entitled to holidays even if it is first class ,

of first class

Why?

I just think that council housing should be for those in need. The childless couple are not in need they have the means to move. The family doesn't.

We privately rented for years, very high rents due to being in an national park.
Within the space of 4 weeks, I was made redundant and we were given notice on our rental property. We were extremely lucky to be allocated a lovely council house in a great area without having to go into homeless accommodation in between times.

So, when my DH is eventually promoted and the children are both at school, allowing me to get a job, Should we give up our council house and go back into private rentals? REALLY? Is that what some people on this thread are suggesting?

I agree, Freddo. Maybe this couple choses to spend money on cars and holidays rather than have kids.

A mate of mine inherited a tenancy with his sister. They live together in the flat where they grew up - now HA because their council transferred its stock.

Neither one of them has kids and are now in their 50s. They work and pay taxes.

Why should they be turfed out to private rent? They have invested thousands of pounds in the home.

MY parents are now 'childless' should they give up their council house ? maybe the couple are planning children they might conceive oh holiday and call their daughter Maritus . why are childless couples or older people with no young children not a priority

YABU

My very dear, severely disabled friend flew Business Class on her yearly trip to the States to visit her family. She had to do this as the legroom in economy meant she had some very uncomfortable journeys.

If it helps you, OP, she died, so is no longer taking up one of your precious council houses.

You can wind your neck in any time you like, OP.

Sorry - my "why" is addressed to Outraged. Btw, I don't have an axe to grind as I'm a homeowner and private landlady (tenant is working and doesn't claim HB)

'So, when my DH is eventually promoted and the children are both at school, allowing me to get a job, Should we give up our council house and go back into private rentals? REALLY? Is that what some people on this thread are suggesting?'

Yes.

Or get a mortgage, which believe it or not is not possible for more and more people, particularly over 40s.

My disabled mother lives in a council flat. My working brother lives with her but is certainly old enough to get his own house. He earns enough to.

Should they leave? How much will the care bill be though if he's not there for her?

To posters who sneer at the jealousy.

I think it's understandable that some people are jealous. If you have worked your socks off to provide for your family and yet struggle to feed them/afford even a weekend away due to your low wage/high private rent or mortgage/losing your job etc. Then yes I can see why they would be jealous.

It is difficult though. No one wants to see people have to give up their home and community but thats real life for people in the private sector if their circumstances change. Is it really fair that those who are "lucky" enough to have subsidised housing have greater security than those who are "lucky" enough to have a mortgage or "unlucky" enough to have to privately rent due to the shortage of council housing?

I will say it again it's about NEED. Not entitlement (oooh I went there )

Something drastic needs to happen with housing in general in this country.

Just because they can save up the money, doesn't mean they can get a mortgage, or even that their are suitable houses for them to buy. And as far as privately renting goes; why would anyone move out of a council house to rent a home that will probably cost them much more money and leave them worse of financially, with no security and possibility of being screwed over by their landlord at any time. Until private rents and house prices settle into something approaching a reasonable level, I can't blame or judge anyone for staying in a council owned house.

And all this about old people in 4 bed houses; since they're old we should just stop caring about their qualiy of life? Why should they move out of their home and possibly the area that they have spent the majority of their lives in? To go somewhere without local friends or family, to live in a flat? It's frustrating that there isn't enough affordable houseing for everyone, but the answer to that is to sort out rents, provide tenants with more secuirity and build more social housing. It's not to turf people out of their homes because people deem them too large or too cheap for them.

Expat, there is no way we would get or be able to afford a mortgage, even with a second income and promotion.

If you reserve council housing only for thise who are in need, you create a system where people do just get a property in exchange for having a child. That is what's already happend and it's part of the reason we have such a shortage of council housing now.

We need to get away from that attitude, otherwise people will create themselves a need just so they get a secure house, even though that might not be what's best for them.

And I don't begrudge people HB - just noting that some private landlords charge a fortune for poor quality accommodation that they couldn't do if there were rent controls and not HB to subside.

Goldship, I really ment anyone like the OP and myself who own their home.

Notso, 'Council houses should be for those in need, my parents are now elderly and have no hope in hell of renting privately, they have a need for a council house.' - can I ask what your parents housing situation has been upto now?

'So, when my DH is eventually promoted and the children are both at school, allowing me to get a job, Should we give up our council house and go back into private rentals? REALLY? Is that what some people on this thread are suggesting?'

Yes.

You were able to get that house when you were in need. If everyone stayed when they were in the position to move on then you wouldn't have been able to get it in the first place would you?

Terra, I'm surprised that you don't feel you should, given what you've been through. Once you are secure and sorted, its selfish to continue holding up a council house that will be needed by a family in the same kind of position you found yourself in.