to ask a question about council houses?

[Pipbin]

I'm not wanting to get into the rights and wrongs of benefits etc but I just have a honest question about council houses.

If someone is granted a council house, is it like renting a private house, but the landlord is the council that they pay rent to, which may be covered by housing benefit?
If they then get into a position, for example finding work, where they are no longer entitled to HB, do they cover the rent themselves or do they lose the house?

I have no reason for asking this other than curiosity. I've claimed HB in the past but I was in a private rental then.

vivienne how do you know how many people do or don't pay full rent?

hardly anybody pays the full rent vivienne... how do you know that? or are you just assuming?

xpost

this is where vivienne reveals that she works in the council housing department...

I knew I'd get pulled up. But it annoys me that people in private rentals have it so much worse than council tenants. IABU I admit.

No this is where Vivienne reveals she has a property portfolio, and doesn't want people paying fair rents to the public purse when they could be paying four times the amount straight into her pocket instead.........

Why complain about council housing then? Why not complain about the private rental market?

Seriously why the fuck would you perpetuate insidious shite like that?

you're right they do.. but that's because there's something wrong with private rents.. wanting to make a whole section of people miserable to bring them into line with another section who are miserable just to make it fair doesn't make any sense

that's not really fair, it's annoying for those who rent privately that rents are so ridiculously high but it's not the fault of council tenants...

of course it is annoying but you are suggesting that people give i up council homes to those who private rent so it is fair and they get the chance of a better home conditions rent, it is all very idealistic but really come on, the lack of social housing is the problem not the people living in them

I agree with Chloe. Nobody has a right to a house for life. For MN to be so against entitlement of any form, I'm surprised people are using the argument that kids should have security for life etc. Go out and fucking earn it yourself, that's what people who don't have a council house have to do. I have to make sure I can pay the mortgage every month (am self employed) which keeps me on my toes.

but folk in council house are FUCKING earning , maybe we shouldnt all aspire to have mortgages and all rent even keel and all that ,

Again why not want more security for everyone not less security for those who have a tiny bit in one area of their lives?

google have you missed the posts where actual, real live council tenants have explained that they pay rent...?

oh there's another one

You're against all these 'free houses' then googie?

it's funny how comments like google's are coming mainly from people who are completely ignorant of how the system works.

Many cities have NO COUNCIL HOUSING. They transferred their stock to HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS, many of whom means test and restrict tenancies.

WHOLE ENTIRE REGIONS HAVE NO 'COUNCIL HOUSES'.

When I lived in council housing, I was on a low wage and was not entitled to benefits of any kind. I imagine I wasn't the only one paying full rent. In fact I know I wasn't. Some rude, ignorant and presumptuous people on this thread.

Viviene*, I totally agree with you about the difficulty with privately renting I'd like to see everyone who needs social housing be able to access it.

When I was working full time I paid £750 a month for a private rent. That came to an end just as my job did (very fortunate). The council put me onto a sink estate...drug dealing neighbours...awful place. I had managed to get another job and my rent was £320 a month which I could afford on my lower salary.

My current property is £400 a month for a 2 bed HA property and at the moment I am receiving full HB. However I did pay this rent while working...and as I am going back to work shortly I will be paying it again.

My salary is going to be low though so I cannot afford to go back to the private sector....or to get a mortgage.

And of course the security is good.....my son might always live here and needs that security due to his autism.

I don't think council houses should be for life. Things have changed and of course the selling of council property has made things a million times worse. In retrospect there should have been a no letting clause written into all ex council house property even when it was resold. But I suppose people would come up with a reason why that wouldn't be a good idea.

google, have you read the thread.....or do you just specialize in ignorant bullshit for a living?

so what should council tenants do, if council houses aren't for life? what if they're likely to remain on a low income? you do realise that 'low-income' doesn't mean 'work-shy', don't you?

and what's your opinion on private tenants who claim HB?

A few years ago I used to feel guilty about needing a council property....I had a mortgage in the past but had had to sell due to my marriage breakdown.

I began wondering what I would have done if I'd still had the mortgage while dealing with DS's autism diagnosis etc. Then it struck me that actually I would have had to sell, DS has needed lots of support, there is nobody else out there to give this support to him but me. He doesnt meet the criteria for social services disability input, CAMHS are too short staffed etc,,,,nobody wants to know or help with the issues his autism brings.

So I deal with those challenges in the best way I can, and sometimes that has meant being out of work for periods of time. I would not have been able to keep a mortgage.

I give thanks that we live in a country which generally provides the basics of life to people who might have no other way of getting them. Likewise my DS who needs that security in a way children WITHOUT autism don't, has a place to call home.

Also, it's worth bearing in mind that just because you can comfortably afford a council rent, it doesn't mean at all that you could pay private rent.

I've just done a quick search on Rightmove, and the only suitably sized property in the catchment area for the DDs school is almost £900 a month more than we pay for our flat.

That's quite a difference, and most people who could afford to pay it possibly wouldn't be looking to rent long-term anyway.