To be disgusted at my friend buying her council house?

[AbsoluteUnfairBollox]

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

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.

Yanbu

The Tory plan (which you said your friend mentions) to charge market rent to council tenants on 30K has caused many in that bracket to buy their homes when they otherwise may not have done. In a way how can you blame them?

It is likely your friend was on a low income at some stage to be allocated the house to start with. If she has worked hard to now be in a position to buy, how is that a bad thing? Should we instead reward those who have never worked through choice?

By making pepole pay more you tale away incentives to better yourself. 30K is 2 people on min wage who could be looking at 300 extra rent a month. Of course they would look into right to buy in that instance. Probably the Tory aim.

You resent people using the right to buy, do you also resent those who bought before prices went ridiculously high? That is the real problem. Most people would buy on the open market if they could afford it!! In which case people can get a 20 percent help to buy now too. Do you resent them? The baby boomers? Mothers who never had to work? The problem is housing prices and people fighting over the scraps whilst others own huge portfolios.

Missed that worra

I bought my council house, it gave me a leg up to the property ladder.
I did the best I could for my family. It was legal and a great boost for us.

Well actually fuckface I did say there is a massive issue with housing. Yes that includes selling off social housing. But that's not the fault of this one particular person, is it?

I don't know where this is in the country or the situation of the OP's friend.

But please can someone tell me where people get to buy a council house for 50k?!

Sounds like a bloody bargain, she is lucky lucky lucky!

Just remember, though, that a lot of these houses are not up to modern standards as regards energy efficiency etc. And your friend will now have to pay for all maintenance and upkeep, so a double-edged sword.
One reason for selling council accommodation is to reduce the outgoings on repairs that had to be borne by the local authorities.

I disagree with the principle of selling off of council housing stock as well, especially at a fraction of their value to society. But the fact is, people can buy them at a fraction of their value, so your friend isn't doing anything wrong. If it wasn't her, it would likely be someone else.

Congratulate her and advocate for a change in the rules surrounding such sales.

Jealous yes I get that. Only a natural reaction I suppose, but disgusted that's a bit far. She's buying a house. She hasn't killed a puppy. FFS.

I totally disagree with the policy that has allowed the selling off of council house stocks across the UK, with very little replacement building done.

However, if this was my friend I would be delighted for her. Can you not separate the two in your mind OP? Your friend isn't responsible for the policy and it's ridiculous to blame her for taking advantage of this amazing opportunity, that most of us would take up in her position.

My parents bought their council house they wouldn't have had the chance to buy another and I gained a stable home which I'll inherit one day. Yes you are VU

Yes. Exactly. YOU will inherit a house that the council subbed your parents to buy. Putting it bluntly, why should you? Why should the council have subbed your parents? That is money that's not theirs to do that with. It's money that should have been spent on more social housing or shared amongst everyone. My patents each worked two jobs to buy their house, my mum worked evenings when we were young to make ends meet. My parents were like bloody ships in the night. What makes your parents, or you, more deserving simply because you were already being subbed living in social housing with a cheaper rent?

It's not a RIGHT to own a house.

We bought our ex-council house for 100k in the East Midlands so would have been less than 50k throught rtb.

It was bought off the council for 5k in 1986!

I don't agree with RTB, but hypocritically, if we were offered the chance to buy our house I would jump at it. It's been our family home for 20 years, and I want it to continue as our family home. When the last of our dc leaves home, we could be forced to move, and if buying it meant we could stay why wouldn't we?

most of us would take up in her position.

Exactly happy.
I bought my council house for £55K and sold it 3 years later for £120K.
We were able to buy a much bigger house with a good deposit.

Who wouldn't? I did it for my family.

The council would not have been getting that house back any time soon and yu do realise she can legally pass it on in her will witch would mean they might not getting back for at least 70 years

Now they can use the 59k to bring old stock into use

FYI we lived in a coucil home and only could move and buy because in laws helped us out other wise we would of brought out council home and even with 100k discount it still would of been 320k it was in zone 4

Aibu to think it's totally unfair and a piss take on hard working people - so hard working people don't buy council houses? those who reside in council housing must be absolute lazy dossers is it? I'll have you know my mum bought hers years ago by working 60hours a week as a single parent, she was certainly no lay-about! You come across as a completely vile person, how you have any friends at all is a wonder!

Typical MN response. It's not about judging council tenants, it's about losing yet more of the housing stock while 2 kids with asthma are sleeping in a damp, box room. It's about the disabled lady who can't get upstairs and pees into a commode. It's about the elderly lady with arthritis who's sleeping on the sofa of her daughter, Of course, that's not the fault of the OP's friend but she's part of the problem.

I'm always wary of these threads, but I also think that lots more social housing is going to be sold off in similar ways. The intention was that it was meant for vunerable families (and you'd be lucky to get a flat for 50k, where I live). I strongly suspect that social housing applicants will now be given priority if they can 'afford' to buy, which seems to undermine the original purpose of providing it. I'm not suggesting it should be primarily offered to people who don't/can't work, but it was supposed to provide something of a safety net for those at risk of abuse/homelessness. If we're not careful, councils will soon be considering applicants on their ability to buy, and not on personal circumstances which may only get worse if they can't access adequate housing.

My granddad refused to buy his council house because he didn't believe in right to buy. He died in it and it was passed to another family.

For some people it's the only opportunity of owning a home. Maybe she didn't want to be kicked out of her home in X amount of years? I don't blame her and I'm glad she has that security now.

I speak as a council tenant myself. We are all in it for ourselves. Fact.

I agree with you; I don't think that council housing should be sold at all; it should be there for people who genuinely have no prospect of ever being able to buy, or rent commercially. £50,000 isn't going to buy a replacement.

I'll admit that I would feel envious of somebody I knew was given a massive discount to buy their council house.

Mainly because it's doesn't seem fair that one chunk of society are saving like mad to scrape a deposit together so that they may own their very own shoebox one day.

Whilst another chunk are being given discounts on their council homes.

Yes it's a failing on the government's part & I would take advantage of it if we were lucky enough to be in that position.

But it really winds me up.

We are the 'squeezed middle'- working all hours to scrape savings together to raise a deposit, sky high living costs & exorbitant rent.

If it was me benefiting, I'd certainly be humble & grateful about it.

'My granddad refused to buy his council house because he didn't believe in right to buy.'

But open market prices compared to wages may have been lower then? People weren't being told they had to downsize or pay full market rent if they improved their income? Back then it was a secure tenancy for life. Not the same as now when people may be pushed towards buying. All the principles in the world won't change the fact that you could loose your home (if you cannot afford full market rent or are deemed to earn too much) because you sought a higher paid job or a second earner went back to work.

I think some people are being unfair to OP.
Op thinks it's wrong that this house gets sold at such a discount.
Yes, lots of us think the council selling these houses is very wrong.

The problem is with the policy of selling off social housing and successive governments doing bugger all to replenish the housing stock. That's not your friend's fault. Yy it would have been great if she had magnanimously decided to forgo her right to buy but housing policy is a mess and too many people in the UK have bought into the notion that it's imperative to own your house.

I don't agree with right to buy but thems the rules at the moment. Blame the government for the council house debacle and housing crisis not your friend.