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AIBU?

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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:
MilkGoatee · 01/08/2016 20:26

I object to RTB on principle, as many have also stated in this thread also. But it's a right, instituted by central government, and councils are not at liberty to not implemented Tinklypoo.

panegyricS1, yes, there is a clawback if you sell the property within a short time after buying it under RTB. Typically 5 years, I believe.

Former council property as far as I see always sells below market rates, even after RTB. In a lot of places they're good size properties, no box rooms masquerading as bedrooms and the like. But comparable private sector houses sell for quite a bit more. The reason they sell at below market price initially (even before a discount) is that they come with a 'sitting tenant' (who then becomes the owner), which is different from a burden free property. Of course, you will have been a tenant for some years before RTB kicks in.

The reason the new plans for RTB are so insidious (and were insidious for LAs) is that the money is not enough to build new and maintain housing stock. And it's often prohibited to borrow for the purpose (or the capital and financing charges are too high to be sustainable). This whole harebrained plan for HAs to sell of under RTB and councils to sell their expensive housing to raise money for HAs to build more affordable housing seems an bass-ackward approach to things.

littlerabbitface · 01/08/2016 20:26

Op, maybe you should look at this a different way.

You have been lucky (not really right word!) enough to not need to be housed by the council.

You own your own home already.

littlerabbitface · 01/08/2016 20:27

Op, maybe you should look at this a different way.

You have been lucky (not really right word!) enough to not need to be housed by the council.

You own your own home already.

Mummyto2bubs · 01/08/2016 20:28

It would annoy me actually. It might not be her 'fault', but I think the whole system is unfair, and it would wind me up if she was bragging about it. I know a few people who are in council houses, and all they do is moan about the state of it, and the fact it hasn't been redecorated for years etc. It drives me mad, as most of them could afford to pay for these maintenance costs themselves, but don't have to. I get fed up of the entitled behaviour.

mrswishywashy1 · 01/08/2016 20:29

I bought my council house 15 years ago for 20 grand, I was a single parent then in a dead end job and could never ever have got on the housing ladder otherwise. 15 years later I'm still a single parent and stIll in a crap job but my mortgage is paid off this year Smile

thisisafakename · 01/08/2016 20:29

Pearlylum
I absolutely see the unfairness of the system, but that's hardly my fault

No, of course I can see why you took this opportunity and my anger/disgust is largely directed at the government policy rather than the individuals who have managed to play the system to their advantage. Because it is playing the system to buy a property cheap, selling it on and cashing in to buy somewhere larger. However, people who get annoyed with those who work the minimum hours to claim maximum tax credits and 'play the system' in that way, are better off directing their anger at the RTB scheme because the sums involved are much, much larger.

Original poster
AbsoluteUnfairBollox · 01/08/2016 20:31

WindyGallows ..exactly!

OP posts:
PlymouthMaid1 · 01/08/2016 20:31

The discounts and the lack of reinvestment in social housing are so wrong. Don't blame the friend but it would seem to me that they were bragging about their golden ticket.

MumOfTwoMasterOfNone · 01/08/2016 20:31

I totally understand why you feel hard done to when you have worked hard to get what you have and then someone had received a 70k windfall from a bad policy decision and it will negatively impact others in society BUT it's not your friends fault. I would take advantage of it if I could but like most, won't be fortunate enough to.

grannyinwaiting · 01/08/2016 20:33

We bought ours 14 years ago and yes have made a big profit on it but have no intention of selling it. It is our family home and I hope our children will benefit. They would never have otherwise. It is a mess compared to to the (very few) council homes left in your road and that is fine. We don't have the money to do it up as the council have done the others but we made a legal choice and went for it. I feel embarrassed sometimes admitting it but then I think most people in this climate would do the same to help their family

quencher · 01/08/2016 20:33

Biscuit jealousy is not a good think. Yes she has paid for it through her rent. That is how it's reduced price.

pearlylum · 01/08/2016 20:33

Because it is playing the system to buy a property cheap, selling it on and cashing in

In what way am I "playing the system"?

I bought my house with no real intention of moving, most people don't stay in the same house forever. A few years down the line OH changed jobs, our house was getting too small for us anyway so we sold.
How is that "playing the system"? I suggest that the system ( however flawed) was designed for people to get a foot on the property ladder.
Which is what I did.

thisisafakename · 01/08/2016 20:37

Former council property as far as I see always sells below market rates, even after RTB. In a lot of places they're good size properties, no box rooms masquerading as bedrooms and the like. But comparable private sector houses sell for quite a bit more. The reason they sell at below market price initially (even before a discount) is that they come with a 'sitting tenant' (who then becomes the owner), which is different from a burden free property. Of course, you will have been a tenant for some years before RTB kicks in

You can't really use the 'sitting tenant' argument when the tenant is the one who is buying the property. It's hardly burdened. Council houses are valued at market value, assuming vacant possession. There is then a hefty discount applied. I can assure you that in London, they most certainly do not go for under market value. However, a 3 bed council property is often going to be valued lower than a 3 bed victorian terrace because the council property is likely to be pretty unattractive and lacking in private gardens etc. It doesn't mean it is under market value, it just means that its market value is lower than some more attractive properties. But that does not change the fact that people are getting enormous discounts and taking advantage of a rapidly rising property market (in the SE at least) and they are selling the flats on to investors, so completely cashing in and preventing ordinary people from accessing housing.

pearlylum · 01/08/2016 20:37

thisisafakename- should I have been forced to stay in the same house I bought for life?

UncontrolledImmigrant · 01/08/2016 20:37

It may seem unfair, but no more so than the people who have parents that can contribute to a large deposit, I guess - someone's good fortune can seem unfair and undeserved, while our own is justifiable.

For the sake of your happiness, you'd be better off not comparing anyone else's life with your own.

For the sake of justice, you might want to campaign for more and better council housing, and vote for politicians who are amenable

Original poster
AbsoluteUnfairBollox · 01/08/2016 20:38

Quencher but private renters do not get the same luxury

We private rented for years which was more expensive than council rent, and then still had to scrape together every spare penny for a deposit. (As most people who private rent have to.)

OP posts:
rockcake · 01/08/2016 20:38

Oh dear, AbsoluteUnfairB**x....

Sour grapes? Self-pity?

Think your username probably says it all!

Original poster
AbsoluteUnfairBollox · 01/08/2016 20:38

Quencher but private renters do not get the same luxury

We private rented for years which was more expensive than council rent, and then still had to scrape together every spare penny for a deposit. (As most people who private rent have to.)

OP posts:
Solina · 01/08/2016 20:40

I can understand why you feel how you feel. Me and OH will not be able to buy because we cant save up for deposit and houses cost so much now. A lot of our money goes to private rent which are getting higher as the landlords can charge us because we have no option. Then someone else gets their house for less than half the market value with no deposit. It is not really a fair system when both families work hard but one gets the benefit of cheap house when the other struggles because they earn more but it all goes to renting...

However ywbu to not congratulate them properly. It is not their fault the system is unfair.

thisisafakename · 01/08/2016 20:41

In what way am I "playing the system"?

I don't mean that you are being dishonest and maybe playing the system is the wrong term. But you have been given an unfair advantage of many tens of thousands of pounds that is not available to everyone. I completely understand how you would take advantage of that which is why I do not blame individual tenants who exercise RTB but the governments who allow this deeply flawed and unfair policy to continue.

Blu · 01/08/2016 20:42

You have to look, too, at what's in it for councils and gvt if people buy, and where you are potentially vulnerable, moving from LA to mortgaged housing.

The inheritance may not amount to much once the house has been liquidated to pay for care home fees. The Gvt prefers people to be the home owners who do not get care home fees paid until the value of he house is used up. People with no asset get paid for from the off.

Also as a mortgage payer you are very vulnerable in the face of redundancy or other inability to work. Housing benefit won't automatically pay your mortgage, as I understand it.

LittleReindeerwithcloggson · 01/08/2016 20:43

For what it's worth I don't think you're unreasonable at all OP. The whole system is very unfair

thisisafakename · 01/08/2016 20:44

thisisafakename- should I have been forced to stay in the same house I bought for life?

No, but you should have been forced to sell the house back to the council at the same discount that you bought it at. You would still have made a profit from the rising house prices, but you would not have been given a double windfall.

gamerchick · 01/08/2016 20:44

So it is pure envy and bitterness? If you had had the opportunity you would have done exactly the same and you know it Wink

Yes private renters have been royally shit on, it's no wonder they think everyone else should suffer as well.

pearlylum · 01/08/2016 20:47

No, but you should have been forced to sell the house back to the council

But I wasn't. Yes a flawed system, but I don't know anyone who would have done things differently in my position.

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