To ask if you are under-occupying social housing that you consider downsizing?

[IckyBex]

If you are in a property with space you no longer need for whatever reason please consider asking to transfer to a smaller property. There are so many families waiting for three or four bedroom housing and hardly any available.
Staying in your four bedroom house after all of your children have left home is depriving another family of the opportunity that you were given.

There are so many reasons why private rent is just not an option.

Firstly they’re totally unsecure. I mean how are you going to, with a low income, afford to be in a property where you could be evicted?

I think that social housing is there to support people who don’t have any option and to provide a decent boost onto the housing ladder for those who need it. The family who lived in my council house changed it very little other than putting down carpets (which have been ripped up for me, thanks) and now I have paid for it to be modernised, including kitchen, new stair carpet and flooring downstairs, the garden to be made safe, etc etc.

This is my home and I will buy it.

It would cost the councils so much to update the housing stock so far better that they sell off the older stock and build new ones. The problem Is when they don’t build new ones

It's a joke! People need to stop being selfish fuckers.

Surely it makes sense that if someone's in need they get what they need not want at the time. Then when they no longer need a house that big they pass it down the chain to someone else who need it.

And what happens when life throws another surprise and they need one again? And they get one again? And then they don't need one again? And then oh shit they lost their job they need one again? Get them in one again! Oh they're sorted now, get them out again! It'd be ridiculous.

And as if anyone posting here is concerned about the faceless poor 😂 They are all bothered that someone else is getting something they can't have.

"And what happens when life throws another surprise and they need one again? And they get one again? And then they don't need one again? And then oh shit they lost their job they need one again? Get them in one again! Oh they're sorted now, get them out again! It'd be ridiculous."

YY Smashed Mug Some people see social housing tenants as chess pieces rather than people.

I could've afforded a private let (barely) for a total of 12 months then I went onto mat leave and my wages went down to less than half they were, I'd have needed SH again.

Also the flat I am in is a decent size for the 3 of us, however the building is a nightmare, someone was murdered here last year. Police are always out, people fighting, lift covered in blood etc.

But they wont move us as we are in a adequate sized house for our needs.

Firstly they’re totally unsecure. I mean how are you going to, with a low income, afford to be in a property where you could be evicted?

this is the real problem that nobody in this country talks about. Other countries manage to have secure private tenancies.

To say someone must give up a LA home with two small beds more than they need is a bit like saying poor people should get benefits paid in tokens or shouldn't get formula tokens because they could breast feed.

I think the issue is people feel like it is their home, so leaving is distressing. Especially if it is full of memories of where their children grew up.
Ok it's social housing, but that doesnt stop them getting as attached as someone who actually owns their own home or has a mortgage. It also might move them down to a not as nice area, away from the community they're part of, their neighbours and friends. What if circumstance changes and one of their children needs somewhere to go? If they've moved smaller, they're not going to get to go bigger again for an adult child.

Plus they will have put years worth of time, effort and money into decorating, customising and making it home.

So morally, it would be the right thing to do, but maybe not practically or emotionally.

No way. These are people’s homes. Council housing was meant to offer stability and rent control. People invest in decorating and maintaining them. My mum is in a 2 bed (lived there with her parents who had the original tenancy). All her memories are there and she redecorates, new carpets, nice garden, etc. They could have bought it several times over in what they’ve paid in rent. The council write from time to time to offer downsizing to old persons sheltered accommodation (horrible) and a pitiful amount of compensation to move. Mum would find living there awful. I’m glad she has a lifelong tenancy. Council estates used to work as you had to prove able to pay your tent, be upstanding citizen, there was stability, all were council owned. As others have said, don’t blame the tenants for the mess that is housing in the south.

Given the massive shortage of social housing and the govt and Labour having no realistic plans to increase supply, social housing should be kept for those in genuine need. The govt should be following the system used in Aus/NZ and reassessing tenants every 5 years and if their current income is enough for private renting then they should be moved on with their home being given to people who are in genuine need. We need to get out of this unfair "home for life" mentality. Social housing is there to help you when in need, just like the unemployment benefit is.

The govt shouldn't be charging bedroom tax where it can't find tenants a suitable smaller home.

And like in Aus/NZ the govt should be kicking out tenants who are involved in drug dealing and frequent anti-social behaviour and banning them. There's a man in the council block I live in who is constantly stealing and being caught with drugs then going to prison then returning to the same flat that has been kept for him whilst in prison. Why should he be permitted to deprive people in desperate need of housing?

Yabu.why didn't you think about how you were going to house your children before you made them?

sleep they could only do that if they actually improved the housing stock, which would cost so much money

helpful Cary?

but sleep there isnt a massive shortage of social housing everywhere so why should everyone be punished because of housing shortages largely in the south of England?

I have clients who want to move to smaller homes but the social landlord won’t let them because they are in rent arrears-sometimes caused by the bedroom tax- and smaller home would be cheaper so could clear arrears more quickly . But if people don’t want to move we can’t make them and shouldn’t be able to. Not sure what solution is beyond getting rid of stupid policies like the rent arrears one and building more social housing. Also lots of single homeless persons so if there’s a lot of 1 beds available why are they still waiting a long time to be homed? I think there aren’t actually many studios and 1 bedroom places out there.

If SH was used properly there wouldn't be a shortage: people downsized, those moving in with a partner (and sub-letting), those who are in prison, anti social behaviour=lose your house, end tenancy for life

If they want people out of sh it's not private rents that NEEDS sorting it's house prices!

In a council house you've got as much security as you have if you buy your own home. Why would someone give that up to go to a private rent which after 6 months you will be kicked out of?

It doesn't matter about circumstances it's stability you want. You have that in sh.
You don't in private rent.

My ha house is £400 a month. Smaller house in my street private rent £700! So an extra £300 A month for no security?
No thanks.

In a council house you've got as much security as you have if you buy your own home. Why would someone give that up to go to a private rent which after 6 months you will be kicked out of?

Well yanno it's th looking in your neighbours bowl and making sure he doesn't have more then you isn't it? I feel pain so therefore so should everyone else.

There ISNT a housing shortage. There IS down south but NOT in a large part of the country. Why people can't comprehend that is beyond me. SH isn't and hasn't been for the needy. They're not linked to fucking benefits and are not fucking free or fucking subsidised.

Christ!

My parents downsized from a three bedroom HA house to a two bedroom by mutual exchange. They didn't do it to "free up" room for another family though, they did it to get away from their antisocial neighbours.

My DP was given a two bedroom HA flat as a single person and I moved in a few years later. We handed the flat back when we bought our own house.

I do think a lot of the problem is some families having too many children and expecting the HA to find houses big enough for them. Houses that have more than four bedrooms around here are scarce and once people get them, they don't tend to give them up. Although any new tenancies here I believe are five years and then get reviewed. Same with one bedroom type properties, not many about so people can't downsize.

I know something who just had her third baby in a tiny two bedroom house and is now whinging that she needs a three or four bedroom house from the HA. My argument was why did she have a third baby when she didn't have room for it and why does she expect the HA to magic up a three bedroom house for her.

My ha house is £400 a month. Smaller house in my street private rent £700! So an extra £300 A month for no security?

It's a similar price difference where I am. No one can honestly say truthfully that they'd suck up an extra £300 (or more depending on area) a month and lose their security for the sake of another family. They just seem to expect other people to do it 😂

And yy to whoever thinks council tenants should be treated like chess pieces. That's exactly what the attitude is and shows what they think of the poor in general even though being poor is fuck all to do with SH.

That only works if house available , my mother has asked mutiple times to be downsized , however because of health problems she needs a ground floor and doesnt want to leave the area as that is where her family is and she has lived most of her adult life , she has been told that the only way to be downsized to an appropriate property is if she moves an hr and half away on public transport .

What I would like to know is whether all the people banging on about selfish people taking a house bigger than they need or have enough spare cash that month so they be off to private rentals. What research have they done, have they read local housing policies, have they investigated Housing waiting lists, do they know the new build policies/costs/part buy, have they looked at what the actual stock is and how many of each room sized property there is.

So many people have an opinion but who has actually either taken the time to read up and learn about the subject if they aren't in a SH house.

Well said butty