to think its a disgrace that Cameron is going to stop lifetime council tenancies

[sparklesandglitterxx]

and think that that is NOT the solution to the housing crisis?

the solution as far as i can see it is, lots and lots more council houses need to be built, regulation in private renting needs to be improved, and GENUINELY affordable houses to buy for those on low wages that wish to or are able to buy

fed up of seeing the great things about Britain being chipped away. Why punish renters? The whole Tory attitude towards council housing being a last resort for the destitute disgusts me. council housing needs to be brought back to what it was originally meant for...which is a decent secure home for anyone who wants one. i live on a council estate which is a mix of council, HA and bought. People stay here, they build lives here, generally it is a lovely community. i have never been happier or more settled anywhere i have lived, I have done well in my life and been able to have a big family. my children are happy and thriving at school and have lots of friends. My point is if these changes go through, they will end up DESTROYING communities like ours and so many others. The Tories just seem to want everyone either paying their landlord mates every penny they earn or pushing up house prices by buying. But not everyone wants to buy, and more importantly not everyone CAN buy, (I have friends on good money who are still priced out the market) and hardly anyone would actually CHOOSE to be in insecure, expensive private rented !! I also think that if more people are in secure housing, it will help peoples mental health (hence cutting costs in mental health services), it will improve childrens chances in life, as they wont have to keep moving schools and away from friends etc, it will encourage people to better themselves, it will cut the HB bill, and also with people spending less on their rent they will have more to spend in the economy, thus boosting it!

I also suspect it wont end here....while it will be for new tenants only to start with, i would imagine it will end up being everyone in council / HA

Where is the money going to come home for a home for "anyone who wants one"?

Presumably not from the op...

HB seems to distort the market. Employers can get away with paying below-par salaries, because it'll be made up by HB (and other benefits). Landlords can over-charge for rent, knowing that HB will meet it. HB is, to my mind, part of the problem....The broader problem of property prices has to do with a lack of supply. Looking at the reasons (this BBC article provides a neutral enough summary) , much less gov't intervention - into planning/zoning restrictions, into HA restrictions, into restrictions on lending to small (building) businesses, into benefits, again, to incentivise people to take on the relevant trades - would have a positive effect....Also - Asda? Moi? grin

yes I actually agree with this essential ....HB very much exacerbates the problem of high rents and I say this as a socialist. the question is how to bring HB down without making people suffer...hmmm brings me back to build more council houses then there would be less need for HB, and the demand would fall so rents would, in theory, fall too, as there would be less people needing private homes

I should be PM, clearly ;)

and I said asda not sainsburys because I am clearly not posh, I live in a council house ;) ;)

I will never in a million years be eligible for council housing (single and childless and in full time work). I will also never be able to buy property due to having to pay high rates of rent so will never be able to save enough for a deposit.

It is what it is and I consider myself lucky to be in relatively good health, work full-time and be able to pay rent. I'm the first generation in my family that isn't in council housing.

Do I get a teensy bit annoyed that I know many people who secured council properties when they were low - paid and had small children but now those children have left and they're well - paid and enjoy luxuries I can't afford (a car and holidays and more) and enjoy the security of a tenancy that I don't have as my landlord could serve me notice at any time?.

Damn right I am.

There are pleanty of single childless people in full time work in the council flats opposite me pleanty of us council tenants pay our own rent

Can someone link to the proposed legislation the op is referring to. Thanks

x2boys - I'm obviously aware that council tenants pay rent but I'm pretty sure they're not paying £700 pcm for a flat like I am!.

I would really love to hear how they got a council flat. Not being goady either, am genuinely interested. Were they on the list for years?. My single, childless cousin was allocated a council flat in a lovely area last year but he's 44 and was on the list for almost twenty years and earns a lot less than me.

Laughing in many areas you only qualify for social housing if you are in paid employment. In other areas you go to the top of the list.

Yanbu

I have been a council tenant for 10 years and have paid full rent all this time. I would love to buy but cant afford the deposit.

Nrft, but can I guess that so far we have heard about "free houses", "subsidied houses" "pensioners in 5 bed houses" and "I pay £3000 a month to live in a shoebox so why shouldn't you"
Did I miss owt?
Anyhoo. ..Yanbu OP.
It's a funny world we live in where council tenants are now looked upon as getting the fat of the land. One thing I do wish they would do in my area, is change the rules about child ages and bedroom entitlements. We have a situation whereby you are only eligible for a 3 bed if you have two or more children the same sex over 16, or different sexes over 10.
Given that most people have two kids not that far apart, the demand for 2 bed houses, of which there are hardly any, (to squash 4 people into) is massive, yet 3 beds, of which there are lots, are quite easy to get.
It seems silly to make the housing stock which is the rarest the only one that people are eligible for.
That's merely a practical suggestion btw, not a moral viewpoint of how many poor people should have to share a bedroom, before anyone gets started on the " I live in private accommodation and my 6 kids share one bedroom ) ..

The reason why the government intervenes in housing by providing social housing is because they are also expected to deal with the homeless. If they stopped putting people into council houses, the streets would be full of people sleeping rough. Not exactly a good outcome!

AndNow - surely they cant require you to be in paind employment. Isn't the point that the council has to house the needy. What does that council do with single mums/homeless etc surely it houses them?!

Futureme sorry I am talking about HA not council.

The social housing model is not ready to prioritise those in paid employment. Not when most only want to do gas safety checks between 9 and 6 pm Monday to Friday. Ditto repairs. And their social media accounts say "monitored between 9 and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Andnow - thanks that's interesting. I obviously don't live in one of those areas but I'm glad it applies in some.

I suggest reading this for all those asking why it should be our government's responsibility to provide affordable housing.

Social housing is a perfectly usual and normal part of government remit all throughout the world. It isn't some strange quirk that exists only in the UK.

The fact our private housing market has gone Pete Tong for ordinary people most certainly isn't a reason to give up on a bad job with social housing as well.

People aren't born equal so to say that people who cannot afford the cost of high rents are in the situation they are in as a result of poor choices is to completely ignore this fact.
If you are born into a family with the means to afford a private education or to live within the catchment area of an excellent school then you already have a head start over someone born in an area with high crime rates, poor housing and bad schools. If you are born into such a situation you start life behind people born into more privileged circumstances and the way in which you start your life will have a significant impact on your future.
Of course, that is not to say that people can't progress, when born into such circumstances, they can and do but it's a bit simplistic just to say people are in low paid work and unable to meet market rents or buy a home simply because they made the wrong choices. Furthermore the average income in this country is way below the amount needed to buy in much of the country. You can't seriously suggest that all those people earning around the average wage and unable to buy have made the wrong choices. The market is not working for swathes of the population!

I am sorry but I do not agree with lifetkme tenancues whatsoever! The waiting list for social housing is far too long to be taken up by people who once needed it but no longer do, all in the name of community or family history.
Dh and I are skint. We struggle to pay out rent on our private rented house but we know there are people much worse off then is who really need the social housing.
I don't begrudge anyone working hard and doing well but taking up a house which could be a real lifeline for someone else is just selfish in my opinion.

Instead of making all rented housing (social and private) more insecure, more inexpensive, more damaging to people's health, they should be making all rented housing better and cheaper. That way people have more money to spend in the wider economy, we have a healthier population (small, badly maintained, overcrowded properties cause ill health which costs the NHS millions, never mind the benefits system).

Instead we have a race to the bottom where the rich and powerful are going to make everybody who is not in the 1% as miserable, frightened, insecure, poor and desperate as possible in order to maintain power. High housing costs for small, poorly maintained homes will just cost the country much more in the long run and disincentivise people to work since all their money will be going to some slum landlord.

And yes, if the country can afford to pay £25 BILLION in housing benefit to private landlords it can afford to build millions of social homes!

I don't think anyone is calling for an end to social housing Saucy, i think there is a justifiable reason in ending lifetime tenancies.

Personal situations change overtime, the amount of benefit bashing threads where people come on and rightly point out that unforeseen shit can happen where you do have to rely on the state, the inverse also happens, it is not a race to be the bottom to keep the limited social housing stock available for its intended purpose, even if we do build more of the much needed social housing, this policy is still not a bad thing.

Yeah you have a point there... however the "market rate" cost of food has not been allowed to spiral so much that a lot of working people need government money to top up their food bill, like so many need HB to meet their rent. Food bills are still affordable for most, your weekly asda bill is not disproportionate to average earnings in the way that rent generally is

but why is that? of course, food is not ever seen as an investment, and we have this bonkers system where housing is. we allow nimbyism and planning permission to choke off supply.

Food is cheap because it is abundant. we should take a lesson from that. we've seen the fewest homes built on this government watch, only to be beaten by the previous government.

£25 BILLION in housing benefit to private landlords it can afford to build millions of social homes!

at 500,000 a pop (which is a high amount, but accounts for higher cost in London), that's 50,000 homes. And an absolute massive number of jobs.

they should be making all rented housing better and cheaper

There are many factors involved in why this situation isn't a simplistic one, globalisation/net migration play a part, the major one being the electorate.

A reduction in rents will only come about by surplus house building which in turn will mean a reduction in house prices, the reduction in house prices is what is sticky point.

In the UK, we have too many people and not enough resources. Resources include council properties, medical care, school places etc. All of them are in short supply, any government will need to try and distribute the resources as best they can.

OP I'm sorry but this isn't some sort of fantasy utopia. A council home for anyone who wants one!?! It sounds like something off a children's programme where some hero comes, bashes the baddie (Cameron presumably) and builds a million houses. Funded by fairies obviously.

And just to be clear my "too many people" comment isn't directed at immigrants or large families or anyone in particular. It is just a fact that we have so many people and everything is under pressure.

A reduction in rents will only come about by surplus house building which in turn will mean a reduction in house prices, the reduction in house prices is what is sticky point.

only for home owners. All those people locked out of the market are now back in.

But even for home owners it isn't bad. We live in London and want to trade up. A crash would be lovely for us.

The people it hurts are btls and people who use their house as a source of income and borrow against it. Housing isn't a sustainable source of economic wealth.

In the UK, we have too many people and not enough resources. Resources include council properties, medical care, school places etc. All of them are in short supply, any government will need to try and distribute the resources as best they can.

this country has plenty of resources and ingenuity. it used to own half the planet. Hearing people in the UK talk about housing is like hearing my home country (US) talk about guns. somehow other countries have solved these "impossible" problems.