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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

£55000 to give up my council house?!?

196 replies

Edenviolet · 16/02/2015 21:49

AIBU to be in complete shock that the council offered me the above amount today to buy a home in the private sector if I relinquish my secure tenancy three bed council house?

It seems like an awful lot of money? Just for one house. Why don't they just build more social housing instead of paying out grants like this?

OP posts:
Eltonjohnsflorist · 18/02/2015 16:27

Social rent is set by a formula which is based on a low London wage. It's not set according to HB payments

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 16:29

So the government page I linked to has it wrong, Elton? You ought to tell them!

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 16:30

(There might be other factors in London boroughs, though - I'm out of touch with the capital now )

Eltonjohnsflorist · 18/02/2015 16:31

Gallic from what I can see you're looking at private landlords who accept HB? That's not the same as social rents which have been set the same way since convergence was announced in 2002. Before that the housing act dictating their formula went back to i think the early 1980s.

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 18:13

You sound more clued up than me, Elton :) I have observed, however - through years of teetering on the verge of homelessness (and finally getting there) - that social rents tend to mirror the LHA and I'm sure I've read several councils' policies stating that this is intended. Otherwise, you could end up with housing benefit failing to cover council rent which would be a bit daft.

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 18:21

(My rent is exactly the LHA. Can't be coincidence, surely?!)

expatinscotland · 18/02/2015 18:28

'Once you have more rooms than you need and a young family with children need it then you are obliged to move or pay the difference, a change much supported by most voters.'

Anyone over 62 is exempt from bedroom tax, and the greatest percentage of underoccupiers are in this age bracket.

itsbetterthanabox · 18/02/2015 18:58

Why are people over 62 exempt?

JillyR2015 · 18/02/2015 19:10

If people are going to quote me do quote the context. I said:

JillyR2015 Wed 18-Feb-15 12:24:09

"You cannot stay in them for life nowadays unless you pay or are about 70 and on a pension. Once you have more rooms than you need and a young family with children need it then you are obliged to move or pay the difference, a change much supported by most voters."

I made it clear old people are exempted (very wrongly in my view and only because they vote).

expatinscotland · 18/02/2015 19:17

62 isn't old. It isn't even pensionable age anymore in most cases. But well, they vote so they are exempt, despite being the largest percentage of under-occupiers.

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 19:33

I dunno. It won't affect me - I'm in a single old person's shoe box - but, thinking about my 80-something mum & friends, having to move would be very deleterious. They own their homes so it's not an issue, but perhaps most posters here have little exposure to the massive impact that life disruptions can make on much older people. They don't recover well, on the whole.

Even having to dump 80 years' worth of accumulated family possessions would be awful. The idea of 'needing' a larger house for stuff might look absurd to younger adults, but remember old people aren't up for a fresh start. There's no time for that, they are finishing already.

MissDuke · 18/02/2015 19:34

Op at the end of the day, whatever you think of this scheme, it is not compulsory. It may be of benefit to some people, you don't want to be a homeowner, so have the very lucky choice to remain where you are.

Why will mil not free up her family home for a family?

Eltonjohnsflorist · 18/02/2015 19:36

Gallic- it says on your link:
"Local housing allowences (LHA) rates are used to calculate housing benefit for tenants renting from private landlords"

The council isn't a private landlord. Your rent to your private landlord might be HB, but that's because LHA isn't related to social rent.

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 19:39

My landlord's a housing association and I am in a council-funded property Confused

Eltonjohnsflorist · 18/02/2015 19:42

A housing association is another social landlord . It's not council funded, it's HB funded. You maybe come off he council housing waiting list into a housing association place.

If you're in a housing association your rent isn't calculated using LHA. It's calculated using the social housing formula. Promise Wink

expatinscotland · 18/02/2015 19:44

'but, thinking about my 80-something mum & friends, having to move would be very deleterious. They own their homes so it's not an issue, but perhaps most posters here have little exposure to the massive impact that life disruptions can make on much older people. They don't recover well, on the whole.

Even having to dump 80 years' worth of accumulated family possessions would be awful. The idea of 'needing' a larger house for stuff might look absurd to younger adults, but remember old people aren't up for a fresh start. There's no time for that, they are finishing already.'

But it's okay for children to grow up in cramped teeny flats and all the known social ills that come from over-crowding, or in B&Bs, for disabled people to have to move from their support and give up space needed not for stuff, but for medical equipment? For disabled children, even?

GallicIsCharlie · 18/02/2015 20:00

No. It's really, really not okay. There needs to be a lot more social housing. Compulsory purchase on long-term empty properties and a building programme would help with more than just housing, too.

I won't buy the precept that either old people or young families must suffer. It's a vicious lie. I despair that so many accept it as given.

Arsenic · 18/02/2015 20:07

It's not council funded, it's HB funded

Rent funded.

Not all tenants claim HB.

Increasingly, employment is being used as a priority factor on housing lists, so presumably the percentage of tenants claiming HB will decrease further over time.

Eltonjohnsflorist · 18/02/2015 20:16

Arsenic- Gallic is on HB though. It's covering her rent. That's what she said earlier

Believe me, I well aware not all social housing tenants have their rent paid by HB

Arsenic · 18/02/2015 20:54

Ah, sorry, I thought it was another weird generalisation.

calmandserene · 18/02/2015 21:11

I was offered some money from this scheme twenty years ago. I moved from London to Norfolk, where I was able to put down a 50% deposit on a 3 bed house. I saw it as an opportunity to change my life and that is exactly what happened. I have never regretted this move and could not be happier. My traffic free drive to work is amazing, my children surf, sail and shop till they drop in Norwich, and, we visit London now to do the things we never did when we lived there!

fizzycolagurlie · 18/02/2015 23:29

Its not enough money. Tell them to add a zero on the end of it and you'll think about it.

redandwhitetoadstool · 18/02/2015 23:54

remove the right to buy
these homes are for those in need

I also think its morally wrong on many levels to be offered or accept this type of money[I understand why the councils do it]
I just think its morally wrong

build more social housing
improve conditions and terms for people in private rented

itsbetterthanabox · 19/02/2015 00:11

I appreciate very old people with health problems would be difficult to move but 62 isn't even retirement age! It just makes sense to live in a smaller property if there's only one or two of you.

JillyR2015 · 19/02/2015 09:11

Loving the support for applying the "bed room tax" still further to the old on this thread which is my view. Never seen support for it expressed on mumsnet before. Well done. Most of the country supports it. Bed blockers in any kind of council or subsidised / social housing should have to move or else pay.