Council House

[allthegoodnameshadgone]

Do people think I'm unreasonable for the following? Just read another thread and now I'm wondering about peoples views.

I live in a HA house and have for a few years. I get the right to buy soon and I will.

I don't claim any benefits and was a single parent when I moved in.

I work full time. I have a nice car through my work.

Rent where I live is the same for private or HA.

I've spend a lot of money doing this house up with no help from HA.

Do people think I should hand my keys back and if so why?

Could someone who needs it rent privately with benefits paid to the private LL? it was really really hard to find somewhere to live around a year ago. I was a newly single parent to an 2 year old, on minimum wage. Landlords did not want to rent to me. I genuinely had around 8 of them saying they "prefer families" as if my son and I aren't a family! The council said I could get put on the list but there was no chance I'd get one as they didn't have anything.
I would do what you're doing, it isn't your fault we have fucked up schemes. I always think how lucky we are to have a roof over our heads. I did have a problem with mould here and had to throw furniture away. It's in a very rough area but I can manage the rent and I was very lucky not to have ended up homeless.

YABU. You should hand your keys back to give someone else the opportunity for affordable housing. Right to buy encouraged Rachman like bullying (kindly term) where developers 'entrepreneurs' started buying up rentbooks en masse. Hats off to Kathy Burke who handed back her keys to an Islington townhouse when she was in a position to buy. I have friends who have done same rather than buy and cash in, a few years later. I accepted my limitations bought small, in crap location and somehow survived. In the end, becoming part of community of crap location (never to be gentrified)!

This one is difficult for me.

On the one hand people get given an empty shell, they have to spend a lot of time and money making it a home.

If these properties were regularly reviewed and kicked people out when they weren't dire that would cause all sorts of issues - people wouldn't bother with their homes, and could be in financially good position, get kicked out and then lose their job and have to be put in the system again. Silly idea. Plus it takes away any incentive to better their situation. If I risked losing my home because I got a pay rise I would ensure I didn't get a pay rise.

Then there's the option to buy. Yes you should buy but I don't believe in the huge discount. And for every property sold, they should have to build/purchase another.

FWIW I believe that there should only be three options for housing

1. Social housing - for anyone who needs it.

1. Houses to buy.

1. Private rent for workers/students/couples who wish to move regularly etc

Families don't want to private rent, it's a horrible, insecure lifestyle and in my opinion the lack of social housing and them being forced into private renting is the main cause of this horrible race to the bottom society we now live in.

Councils should be buying properties, in fact the richer "shire" countys are suffering badly as they have very little income from housing because of their refusal to build more/buy properties to match what they've sold off. Rent is a great income, silly shire countys seemed to forget that

You do what you feel you need to. No one else opinion will change or have an impact on that. You have to look to you own future we all do ours. It is legal and supported by those in power.

As for decor. I have never rented an unfinished property that came with anything, even carpets. Some needed tiles in the bathroom all were private rentals that we chose. Many people spend money on rentals which they don't get back, even without guaranteed tenancies.

I don't personally agree with rtb with land, build and design costs ha cannot cover the cost of building new homes from monies raised and the discounts are a slap in the face of any poor person who wasn't lucky enough to secure social housing and is paying higher rents and moving often.
However this is the world we live in and people have decided that this is a fair system. My friend got a discount of £25000 for 5 years tenancy, new kitchen and bathroom and a special low rate mortgage deal with no fees and money back. As the rent had been paid forthem for all but the last year they have done very well.

I don't believe in right to buy, however as you do have the right then why not?

That right there is the beauty of social housing

Its the death of social housing. It's literally the opposite of the point of social housing.

I've just moved in to a HA property. I spent £110 on curtains alone. I ate through my tiny saving account in days once I had the keys. My dad stumped up £500 for living room flooring. My boss bagged me a good bargain on kitchen flooring, so I got it for £135 instead of £200.

Am I shit handing my keys back once I'm in a better position. I've been here less than a week and already sunk close to a grand into the property and there's still more to do.

Anyone who thinks HA and council tenancies should be reviewed and taken away subject to income is living in cloud cuckoo land and clearly never been in a position where they've had few, if any, secure housing options. This is my home. I pay rent and have put my own money into it.

I have absolutely no problem with Right To Buy at all.....I think it's an excellent idea. I'm assuming you're planning on living in it and not renting it out to make a profit?

I do think the Govt need to build more social housing, but that's another thread.

You need to look after yourself. The housing market is awful for first time buyers and you are in a good position . If I was in your position, I'd do the same. Good luck 😁

nyone who thinks HA and council tenancies should be reviewed and taken away subject to income is living in cloud cuckoo land and clearly never been in a position where they've had few, if any, secure housing options. This is my home. I pay rent and have put my own money into it

We have actually. What if you won the lotto tomorrow, should you still be able to occupy housing meant for people who need help to house themselves? What if you married a rich person, or you started earning huge money?
Anyone who doesn't think social housing should be reviewed and taken away subject to income is in cloud cuckoo land.

They're not meant for people who need help housing themselves, at least not outside London. They're meant to offer secure, long term housing to people unable to buy, and protect them from the precariousness of private renting.

They were initially built to give secure, safe and affordable homes to workers

Security is the whole fucking point of them, so yeah, if I won the lotto tomorrow, I should be secure in the home that was offered to me to give me security.

London is not representative of the entire country. There is no shortage of social housing where I live or where many others live.

They're not meant for people who need help housing themselves, at least not outside London. They're meant to offer secure, long term housing to people unable to buy, and protect them from the precariousness of private renting

They are meant for people unable to buy and who can'r afford private renting. That is the raison d'etre of social housing.

Security is the whole fucking point of them, so yeah, if I won the lotto tomorrow, I should be secure in the home that was offered to me to give me security

Wow, have you missed the point! If you won the lotto, you could buy your own security, rather than hogging a place some other person really needed. The arrogance and selfishness boggles the mind. Its not a free house for life.

I'm a Council tennant and I don't believe in RTB.

You ought to impart your wisdom to my HA because they're charging me the same rent I paid in private and won't let to people in rent arrears in private renting until they've reduced their arrears to less than £200.

It's not free at all

And I'm the one who is ignorant

I. Pay. Rent.

At the true market rate. As my town is swamped with buy to let private rentals that massively outstrips demand for rental properties, the true market value is represented in the private sector quite fairly, so social housing is no cheaper. The only plus is the security it offers.

If I won the lottery as if I'd buy my modest 3 bed detached council house. The rare examples of suddenly becoming rich aren't realistic for the majority of tenants.

Social housing should be for society, anyone who needs it. Private renting is shit for most people, everyone should be entitled to secure housing, whether that's through a mortgage or renting. 6 month tenancies, possible hellish landlord, no guarantee of your home being suitable for living in - who would ever choose this?!

yes, you pay rent. That doesn't mean you should have a home for life even if you become rich. It's not difficult

I think RTB absolutely stinks.
However if you can't afford to buy another property I'd continue to rent where you are.

Race to the bottom society or what.

I don’t believe in Right to Buy schemes as it reduces the quantity of government assets that should be used to house the vulnerable, not gifting assets at low cost to purchasers thereby discriminating aga8nst other taxpayers who weren’t able to secure a housing association property.
I also believe there should be regular reviews of tenants circumstances so that occupiers that can afford market rents pay market rents. I remember reading that union officials earning £150k were living in council homes, that’s just wrong.
I don’t think you should receive a discount either... a private tenant buying off a private landlord wouldn’t get a discount, so why should you benefit?

They are meant for people unable to buy and who can'r afford private renting. That is the raison d'etre of social housing.

Anyone can apply to go on the housing list, not just people who are unable to buy or who can't afford a private rental. My council offers choice based lettings where you choose the houses you're interested in rather than waiting to be offered the next available property, they advertise the currently empty properties each week on their website and you 'bid' on the ones you like. It shows you your position in the list of bids by showing how many people are ahead of you for it so you know how likely you are to be offered it. When they closing date for registering your bid is reached, they look at who has the highest priority and that's who gets offered the property. If that person knocks it back (e.g., when they go to view it, it doesn't meet their needs for whatever reason) then it filters down to the next person and the next and so on until one of them accepts it.

Nowhere on the housing application form does it ask for your income details. It does ask if you'd be interested in viewing private properties from accredited landlords but there's the option to tick no, it also asks if you'd like information on help to buy schemes such as part ownership or assistance with deposits but again there is the option to tick no. There is a question about whether you own any property, how much the property is worth, and why aren't you living in that property but this comes with the disclaimer that owning property does not necessarily bar you from being accepted onto the housing list as each case is assessed on its own merits.

London is not representative of the entire country. There is no shortage of social housing where I live or where many others live.

This is true of where I live. We were on the list for around nine months for the property we currently live in, we could have had one within a couple of weeks of registering on the housing list as there was no one ahead of us for most of the properties advertised each week but we wanted to wait for the right house in terms of size and location so that's what we did. The house we've moved into was previously occupied by an elderly lady who sadly died however she lived here for many, many years and raised her own family here as we will raise ours. When we came to view it, the housing officer told us that there have been no vacancies on this street in ten years yet in the last six months they've had five due to older residents passing away or moving into supported accomodation so the street is changing from one predominantly occupied by older people to one occupied by families as only families are able to bid for these houses. It'll come full circle over and over again as we all age and then new families move in when we move on.

The council here also has properties classed as "always available", as in there are always properties empty in certain towns/villages. And these aren't necessarily bad areas, there are a lot of rural communities here, some of the always available properties are in these communities and some are in the less rural towns.

All HA tentants can buy their properties after three years. RTA is 9k-16k maximum discount.

We have choice based lettings. I was offered my first choice within two weeks of applying for social/HA housing but had to wait a few months for the property to be updated and repaired. Because of the wait involved my house was only offered to people who were not in desperate need of immediate possession.

I'll have the right to buy and hope to be able to do so at one point.

The HA I am with buys houses to rent and to refurbish and sell on immediately as affordable housing. They also lease and sell commercial properties. Their whole purpose is to offer people a home for life, be it a lifelong tenancy or ownership and help people better their situation. They offer loads of support to people wanting to better themselves. It would be quite contradictory to then evict the people who made use of their support because they were no longer in need.

The idea that all boroughs are the same as London and families are holed up in B and Bs for years is laughable. There aren't even any B and Bs in my town. A homeless family or a family about to become homeless would be offered their pick of the many, many available social properties and/or a deposit for private rented, depending on their needs and the properties available at the time.

When I was homeless I was given a deposit for a private rented because there were no social properties in the area I wanted vacant at the time and I didn't have time to wait, with being homeless and all. I had the keys the same day I turned up at the council with nowhere to live.

We were lucky with this house. It came on the site the day I was accepted onto the social house register and was perfect for us. I won't be moving in a hurry, no matter what happens with my finances. I have no desire to live in the niace area of town, it's too far from my family and the children's friends and schools.

I think you should give it back so that someone who needs it can use the HA property.

Living off handouts is one thing but making a profit and at the same time depriving others of the help you had is shocking.

Handouts?!