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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

841 replies

Mexxo · 19/09/2012 22:32

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?

OP posts:
FreudiansGoldSlipper · 19/09/2012 23:55

yes i do too

but i do not know if he has a family but i would still object to it. the point i am making is they have a house, a house that is really needed by a family

omfgkillmenow · 19/09/2012 23:58

Council housing is not there to support "those in need" anyone can go on the council list and if you are lucky enough to be allocated a property then you can save and go on as many holidays as you like!! In my area its allocated, 1 from the council list, one from the housing association list, and one from the homeless list. There are many young families starting out who cannot afford a mortgage, but they still work and pay their full rent. If Maggie Thatcher hadn't brought in the right to buy and sold of 75% of our council stock many people now that private rent would be in a nice secure tenancy. I don't have goats but I have 2 guinea pigs a hamster and a dog. My rent is £333 a month I have a lovely 3 bedroom back and front door large garden and is a lovely rural area where we don't need to lock our doors and the kids play in the street. Oh and I work full time and sucks to be you....Envy

Toughasoldboots · 19/09/2012 23:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

anastaisia · 20/09/2012 00:01

YAsortofNBU

I don't think people should have to move out of council houses because their income increases, but I do think that there should be some kind of additional financial contribution from them if they choose to stay because they like it as their home because it prevents the council from housing people in greater need. Perhaps a sliding scale where the rent increases to closer to market rates as their income increases or need for that particular house diminishes (eg. as children leave home but they'd like to keep additional rooms). Or perhaps that's a stupid idea in reality but something different would work, I don't know the processes and costs involved well enough to say 'this is what I'd do'.

But then, being able to save for nice things shouldn't automatically be thought of as meaning you have too much and no longer need assistance - it needs to be better thought out than that.

RandallPinkFloyd · 20/09/2012 00:02

welcome to our world?

Was that meant to be as patronizing as it sounds?

Where the fuck do you think I've been living, the moon?

kim147 · 20/09/2012 00:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LynetteScavo · 20/09/2012 00:04

My grandparents lived in a council house for about 40 years, and then wen't on holiday to California when they retired. Bloody shocking.

mirry2 · 20/09/2012 00:08

Just because someone can afford an expensive holiday doesn't mean they can afford to buy their own house. There's no comparison in cost.

FatFaced · 20/09/2012 00:10

Randall, it was to "I can't ever afford to buy... The idea of being stuck in private rented forever is just soul destroying." Plenty of us in that position!

RandallPinkFloyd · 20/09/2012 00:12

5inthebed sorry, I missed your reply.

I knew a little bit about it but didn't know it was definite. Is going to be based on age or income or both?

(realise this is completely academic as contrary to popular belief being a single parent hasn't pushed me any higher than the bottom of the list.)

FreudiansGoldSlipper · 20/09/2012 00:13

no of course not but for a couple to have a house and have quite a lot of money to spend should they really take the place a family that need the house more

council property is in short supply and sadly it has to be given to those who really need it not just those who put themselves of the list and were lucky

RandallPinkFloyd · 20/09/2012 00:14

I know fatface i'm one of them.

FatFaced · 20/09/2012 00:15

And you do have to be eligible for council housing. If you joined a list now you would be placed in a band depending on your priority (do you have kids, what's your income etc). Councils are now saying to people on their lists, 'Give up waiting. Go get housing benefit and go to rent privately.'

If Bob Crow joined a list now there is no way he's get somewhere.

DioneTheDiabolist · 20/09/2012 00:18

Just because you live in a council house, doesn't mean that society has the right to tell you how much to save and what you can spend it on.

YABVUOP.

RandallPinkFloyd · 20/09/2012 00:27

fatface do you think you're saying anything that isn't blindingly obvious.

I said I was unsure of the details surrounding the changes not that I live in a hole. Hmm

I've been renting privately for 11 years. I know how private rental works. I've never considered social housing until recently as I had a husband and a plan for the future.

I have applied for social housing now i'm a single parent and have been told i'm very much a low priority and will be likely waiting way over 5 years.

It's shit but it's the fault of the governments not the tenants.

I don't want to get a house because someone unfortunate old lady was kicked out of her family home. I want one that was willingly vacated or has become available because it's tenant passed away after living to a ripe old age.

Why would anyone direct their anger at anything except the root of the problem?

fanjobiscuits · 20/09/2012 00:28

Against the flow, I think YANBU, assuming that their house is subsidised by taxpayers. I can't afford anything like that for a holiday so object to some of my mine going to pay for theirs. I'm sure there are other more worthy causes it could go on.

omfgkillmenow · 20/09/2012 00:37

Im gonna tell you about my friend. She has 2 dc's that live with her, another who spends time there (I think maybe 2 nights a week). She is in a private let. She is pregnant. Her DS(7) has cancer. She has been told that she needs to be out her private let by Christmas (she is due in march). Her DP is in a one bed council flat and they have told him on no uncertain terms is she allowed to move in with him because he will be breaking his tenancy agreement by overcrowding. There is a 2 bed house coming up in our area that has a dining room which could be converted into a bedroom but council are having none of it and says she needs a 3 bed but as they are like gold dust she will never get one. She has a spiral staircase in her private let that is no good for DS as after chemo he suffers from a wide gait and struggles with the stairs. I think she should be allowed the 2 bed that is coming up because 1) we live in a village and her other ds stays in it, and all her friends are here, and 2) her DP is a professional joiner and could make any amendments to the house that was needed for baby and DS. But they wont budge. She is literally gong to be homeless at Christmas with two children one who has cancer and a baby on the way. Her partner works and would be able to pay full rent.

fanjobiscuits · 20/09/2012 00:42

I would be happy for some of my taxes to go towards council housing for omfgs friend, on the other hand.

googietheegg · 20/09/2012 00:45

I say YANBU

FreudiansGoldSlipper · 20/09/2012 00:47

of course who is really going to argue with that

but on the other hand should a couple be able to keep a council house when it is no longer needed for their family when there is such a need for those like your friend

i hate the thought that people should be forced to downsize but what choice is there. those in private renting have to down size if they can not afford the rent it is just the way things are. if i do not pay my mortgage i loose my home, and i was close to that a few years ago

i hope your friend finds a home very soon

omfgkillmenow · 20/09/2012 00:47

do you WANT a council house OP? Then get on the list!

cynner · 20/09/2012 00:49

Dear God, Op..you must be v v bored in rl..I have four children, four cats, and a consuming MNs addiction. I dont have the time or inclination to calculate my Aldi bill, let alone some FB(!) friend's vacation fund. Why on earth should you concern yourself with someone elses business?

GranToAirMissiles · 20/09/2012 00:53

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

omfgkillmenow · 20/09/2012 01:01

I can see both sides of this to a point. Where my mum lives, when we were growing up was all families, some (including mum bought when they had the chance) but ATM there are 4 three bedroom houses with only 1 elderly gentleman in each of them. However, this is the home they were BORN in. So surely there has to be some kind of incentive to move? When my DD1(now 17) moves out I would be happy to downsize, but I have no money for new carpets, curtains, even to move my stuff...last time I moved house it cost me 2k and I didn't but any new furniture, just paint, floor coverings and blinds and curtains. Why would folk move out of the home that they have spent years getting just right to have to begin all over again? But on the other hand I see young families like my friend desperate for housing. If i could get DD1 out jsut now id offer to take 2 bed and let my friend have my 3 bed, but they would just give it to someone not from the area who is a junkie...wouldn't surprise me at all. The only reason I got this house was that sadly there was a fire and no one else on the immediate list wanted it because it was such a tragedy. I only took it because I hoped the previous tenant would like it going to a family who really needed it, and we did.

GothicRevival · 20/09/2012 01:09

I don't think the OP is jealous. I think that if the housing is at lower than market price and there is a waiting list and they can afford all these items, then they could have easily have saved for a deposit on a house or they could rent in the private sector. Taxpayers are effectively subsidising their first class flights and cars. The Bob Crow situation is hilarious.

I know a family who live in a council house, they are very boastful that the house next door, that has since been sold on the private market has a risen in price and gleefully tell people that "Our house is worth £500,000 and when I die I'm gonna leave it to x." They are very sure, that even the Tories will not change their policy and that this will always be possible. None of them work and it is not for trying hard to get a job, it's simply because they cannot be bothered to try, their life is comfortable enough, so what is the point? Shall we all just stop working? The other members of the family drug deal, get pregnant without any thought for how they will provide a good life for their children because they know that the benefits will keep rolling in and have the latest phones, tvs, cars etc. The adult children also live in this home and sub-let their council flats and houses. This situation is breeding the idiocracy of the future. I would not have believed any of it was possible before I met them!