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Original poster

To be disgusted at my friend buying her council house?

349 replies

AbsoluteUnfairBollox · 01/08/2016 18:46

And refuse to offer any congratulations whatsoever

She just announced on Facebook that her house purchase completed today. she's bought it at a massive discount as she's been plastering it online for months (valued at 120k and she's got it for around 50k...didn't even need a deposit I bet the banks were chucking mortgages at them. mean fgs how do some people get so jammy)

Actually I might congratulate her. I feel like saying congrats on taking yet another social house out of the market, one less house for a needy family Angry

Aibu to think it's totally unfair and a piss take on hard working people who can't buy a house ? I have bought my house btw but was bloody hard and my house cost twice what hers dos and isn't even as nice

I've nc for this as I am ashamed of the feelings it's stirred up and how mean spirited it's made me feel towards a friend. Sad

OP posts:
HelenaDove · 02/08/2016 14:08

No worries fuzzy Cake Smile

dwinnol · 02/08/2016 14:12

I have remote dealings with council house purchases in my job and I always feel a little sadness that another house has left the housing stock and that can't be good for society.
The tenants already have safeguards and assurances in their tenancies so the main benefit seems to be personal wealth.

If a like house was being replaced with the money it wouldn't bother me but sadly it isn't.
It's not personal. I have been a homeowner for 20 odd years.

HelenaDove · 02/08/2016 14:16

fakename i get what you are saying but there is still the inconvinience and stress caused by a dodgy repair.

My DH has emphysema The stress of something like that would put him in hospital. .............straining the NHS!!!!!!!!!

PersianCatLady · 02/08/2016 14:22

changes to their tenancies making it less secure
Actually in a way I think it is fair to make council tenancies less secure.

The introduction of five year tenancies gives people a lot more security than private renters and the question that I would ask is that if someone requires a 4 bedroom house to raise their family is it really right that they should be allowed to stay there using their children have left home?

I think that it is a good thing that people don't get issued lifetime council tenancies anymore as I think that better management of the houses and their tenants is necessary and if nothing else the five year tenancies help to do this.

PersianCatLady · 02/08/2016 14:26

I know that it is illegal, but there are plenty of companies that will do the same
I think a lot of the loan sharks are willing to put up the money as of course they can always get what they feel they are due through intimidation. However I don't understand how any legitimate company can do it as I doubt any solicitor would want to get involved in drawing up contracts for a dodgy deal like this.

Just5minswithDacre · 02/08/2016 14:26

I really do feel for those like you mention, that are in council housing that want to remain so, but that are going to be hit with rent hikes and changes to their tenancies making it less secure. now that really is unfair ...I can actually see how these policies are almost bullying people into buying just to try and keep some security

It's the way all social housing is about to go over the next decade.

It's Dave & George's plan to finish the privatisation of housing that Thatcher started.

Just5minswithDacre · 02/08/2016 14:28

And actual repairs done on reasonable timescales Helena, yes. I wouldn't be surprised if that's an added motivation going by the number of complaints.

jellybeans · 02/08/2016 14:29

Persian but how will you do that without disincentives to better your income? Nobody has addressed this.

The tenants already have safeguards and assurances in their tenancies so the main benefit seems to be personal wealth.

No, the main benefit is a roof over their heads like any other family.

It's not personal. I have been a homeowner for 20 odd years.

You bought when house prices were more affordable. It is not fair now that people have to pay far more. If some people can only afford to buy through rtb then good for them.

DeadGood · 02/08/2016 14:35

"They freely admit they have bought it because the mortgage will be cheaper than their rent."

No shit, OP. That tends to be how it works.

pearlylum · 02/08/2016 14:41

"They freely admit they have bought it because the mortgage will be cheaper than their rent."

Too right. When I bought my council house my mortgage was £100 a month cheaper than my rent.

HelenaDove · 02/08/2016 14:50

My neighbour was flooded by the HA.....TWICE.

Once when a rad was replaced last November.
The bloke took the rad off the wall........then realised he didnt have the correct pipework.

Again back in Feb when the boiler burst. They had replaced the plate in the boiler and used one that was too small. It burst and COMPLETELY flooded her flat and the kitchen ceiling in the flat below hers was also affected. Her floors and carpets were ruined. The flooring and sub flooring has to be replaced. They havent started the repair yet but shes also utterly fed up because they want to do the repairs in dribs and drabs instead of coming here a few days straight and getting it over and done with.

Why the fuck should she be pissed about when the problem was caused by a fundamental lack of respect for tenants and the HA doing the repairs on the cheap in the first place.

So the appeal of RTB is not just that its cheaper than the rent and you get the house/flat.

Just5minswithDacre · 02/08/2016 14:53

The tenants already have safeguards and assurances in their tenancies so the main benefit seems to be personal wealth

What safeguards and assurances do you mean dwin?

PersianCatLady · 02/08/2016 15:17

"They freely admit they have bought it because the mortgage will be cheaper than their rent."
Yes that is true but then if something needs repairing or replacing you have to pay for it. That is why boiler insurance is a good thing to purchase.

PersianCatLady · 02/08/2016 15:18

Persian but how will you do that without disincentives to better your income?
Sorry jellybeans which one of my posts do you mean because I have posted quite a lot here? Let me know and I will try to give you an answer.

twocultures · 02/08/2016 15:47

I'm not sure if anyone's posted this already don't have time to go through the whole thread but sometimes that's the only way for people to be able to buy a house.
And I'm not sure why your friend got such a good price on her house but my friends managed to buy theirs for less than half of what it was worth as it was an absolute dump when they moved in; I'm talking piles of dog crap and rubbish/junk piles in the garden (and rats >shudders

LadyStoicIsBack · 02/08/2016 17:17

MrsWishyWashy

If your property cost you £20k 15yrs ago (so 1991 when house prices were beginning go thru the roof iirc??), was that with a discount?

I'm not going to lie, this is outright curiousness as I try to wrap my head around this subject - I will confess it is not one that has personally affected me, but that that does mean I am pretty ignorant regarding itBlush - but d'you mind if I ask what it's worth now?

Also, had you not been able to buy it, would you and your child/ren have then very directly suffered - poss even been forced out of your homeSad? - due to the 'bedroom tax'?

Just5minswithDacre · 02/08/2016 17:23

15 years ago was 2001

Scary isn't it?

AndNowItsSeven · 02/08/2016 17:25

Blonde where do you live that RTB has ended?

pearlylum · 02/08/2016 17:27

LadyStoicIsBack I can't speak for wishywashy but surely if she was in a position to buy her house ( presumably with a mortgage) she would not have been in receipt of housing benefit- so the bedroom tax is not significant.

pearlylum · 02/08/2016 17:30

The right to buy ended two days ago in the whole of Scotland.

AndNowItsSeven · 02/08/2016 17:35

Tortoise in case in hasn't been said you are correct council and housing association rents are not subsidised. The council and HA make a lot of profit from fair rent.

TortoiseVTurtle · 02/08/2016 17:52

I disagree that the rents are not subsidised, anything that isn't market rent is subsidised because there is a loss involved by not charging full rent.

Honestly, I work closely with council depts and HA, they are really not making a 'profit', the situation is dire financially, certainly in the areas that I work in.

PersianCatLady · 02/08/2016 17:54

'bedroom tax'
Is not a tax at all, it is the non-payment of Housing Benefit for rooms that the claimant doesn't need. BT was necessary to prevent the unfairness that council tenants could live in fully subsidised properties that exceeded their needs and private tenants were forced to pay rent if their properties exceeded their needs.

For example in a private tenancy if you lived in a 2 bedroom flat with your child and the child left home, from the day they left home you would only receive LHA for a one bedroom flat, whereas a council tenant in a 2 bedroom flat would have not been expected to pay a penny extra when their child left home.

TortoiseVTurtle · 02/08/2016 17:56

I feel so sorry for those trying to push through more housing, the leader of the council that I am partnering with at the moment gets constant abuse online from the likes of 'keep *** Green' campaigners. It is non stop, so much money gets wasted going to planning inquiries and dealing with these people.

We need more housing, if people keep reproducing, we need places for them to live.
It's always someone else's problem though.

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