Lottery winner keeping her council house.

[NickyNora]

A lady i know recently won over a million pounds on the lottery. She has purchased 2 properties & put them in family members names.

She intends to keep her council house.
She didn't buy it as even with the discount, it woukd use up a large proportion of her win.

Is this even legal?

AIBU to think she's being greedy & should terminate her council tenancy & give back the council house?

She should buy the house, There should be a limit on income. That is a crazy abuse of a system, council housing is for people who can't afford to buy. The limit in Ireland of household income in a council property is capped at 37000.00 per annum AFAIK.

Tomatoesrock why should she buy the house? Who does that benefit?

If she keeps it, it'll go to someone who needs it when she no longer needs it, whenever that may be. And she'll pay rent until that point.

If she sells it, that's one less council house for people to live in.

If she's been there a long time and has ties to the local community, then the community is stronger by her being there. Why should she move out because she's got some money?

I live sandwiched between a few sink estates. It's no good to pull out the aspirational types (statistically unlikely to include lottery winners, so I'm setting that aside) - that obviously creates crime laboratories.

I'm of the opinion that the very wealthy shouldn't have a council tenancy in areas where there is a shortage of council housing and families are living in temporary B&B accommodation, or having to rely heavily on housing benefit to live in expensive private rentals. I have no problem with means testing the right to live in the dwindling number of council properties we have.

You're looking in the wrong direction.

The reason council housing is dwindling is because of some very deliberate decisions by successive governments either to deliberately wreck the council housing system, or not to prioritise it.

There isn't a shortage of council housing because of rich people living in them. There is a shortage of council housing because some people in power want there to be.

Demanding means testing and moving people on, is playing into their hands, because it weakens communities.

I'd buy mine if I won the lottery. I also wouldn't tell anyone I'd won, so hopefully no judgy feckers or gold diggers get wind of it!

The limit in Ireland of household income in a council property is capped at 37000.00pa

Interesting ... I didn't know Ireland had a limit, but it seems to show this can be done if the will and support is there

The real issue is how successive governments have deliberately (Thatcher) or neglectfully let the stock of council housing get so low that people think it should only be for the most desperately in need, at a time when we have rising house prices. homelessness and a housing crisis.

This country is being asset stripped. There's not so much left now, so they're asset stripping us

I agree with all of this painted - but I still feel that she is depriving someone else of a home when she has the finances to buy one for herself. People wait for years to get a council house - YEARS. And private rented accommodation is ridiculously expensive and often not of a decent standard. She is greedy.

paintedwingsandgiantrings after your post on page 1, I think I am a little bit in love with you 😍

You nailed it.

did we miss the part where council estates were generally over run with well maintained, manicured properties and model occupants?

Believe it or not Alpha some of them were - and then Thatcher's "Right to buy" meant that these estates were the first to be purchased (and if I'd been on one of them, `I would have bought my home too). They were well-maintained properties and the areas were desirable areas.

This meant that increasingly, council area became synonymous with "shite area" because the places nobody wanted were the only ones left for council tenants. And a lot of the previously council properties ended up in the hands of private landlords after the housing boom went bust and the buyers couldn't manage their mortgages.

And thus the rich profit yet again (same as selling shares in"public" organisations - when poverty bites, the poor are forced to sell and the rich step in and cream off the best)

The reason council housing is dwindling is because of some very deliberate decisions by successive governments either to deliberately wreck the council housing system, or not to prioritise it

I agree these are factors, but isn't it also the case that there's an increasing number of people making choices which result in them applying for such housing?

FWIW I grew up in a council house myself, back in the days when they were plentiful. But even then, with more to go round, my parents refused to occupy one which someone else could have and bought their own place as soon as they had more and could afford it

" isn't it also the case that there's an increasing number of people making choices which result in them applying for such housing? "

well yes, making the choice to come to the UK and make their lives here. As they should if they want to.

If I had a decent win on the lottery I would give up my housing association flat so that someone else who couldn't afford private rent or to buy or whatever, could have a home. I've thought about this. I'd stay here until I had the right house or had done up my new house and then I'd do this up really nicely so someone had a good home, then give it up.

No legal need to do so, but I'd feel that it was morally the right thing to do. I can't imagine anyone not doing it. I think she's horribly selfish.

Fourfried even as a supporter of controlled immigration I'm not convinced it's the state's job to house incomers, unless their skills are so vital and the circumstances so exceptional that it's the only sensible thing to do

Many other countries struggle with this quandary and some manage it by insisting almost nothing will be provided for a set period, or until a certain status has been reached or a set amount contributed - another suggestion, perhaps, that the UK way of doing things isn't the only one

If a person was private renting they would have no entitlement to the house even if they were there paying for 20 years. It is not their house.

Like a housing association house, you are renting it even if you would spend the same on a mortgageit is not a mortage. The rent should be assessed on the means. I bet she would give it up then.

If I won a million I would buy a house for each of 2DCs, one for us and one for my friend, at cost price, who's being ripped of by a greedy landlord

If I won a million I would quite happily pay double my HA house value in order to own it and stay where I am.
I think the winner should be forced to buy it or move out.

If i won it i would buy it outright if I had strong community ties to the area, but I would expect to pay the market value to the council to use the money to help others.

Lots of people are saying 'obviously she has paid rent for years', do we know that for fact? She may never have worked a day in her life and claimed HB and still is . Not that it matters but weakens the 'she will already have paid for it tenfold' argument.

It is legal providing she is actually living in the Council house, it’s also perfectly moral.

The entire intention of social housing was to provide stable homes and stable comunities not entire areas full of people with no choices and no other options that everybody else gets to ignore and forget or look down on.

Where i live if you have any sort of property that is bought, you are not entitled to council housing. You must live in your bought property.

Mmm...given the short housing stock, I can see your frustration and that rented council houses are probably not intended for those with £1M in the bank but needier families. However, it's not fair to particularly focus on this lady. What you need to do is write to your MP and get the issue of means / wealth based testing for council houses elevated in parliament so that only those genuinely in need should qualify. I suppose Setting a threshold could be challenging though and potentially seen as discouraging people from being socially mobile or accumulating any kind of wealth. i personally don't think you should be letting this one person allow you to get hot under the collar though, it's a bigger issue.

Send council housing/ social isn’t checked for this possibility regularly. The only checks are when you move in, and more regular checks IF you claim housing benefit, which most social housing tenants don’t.

So technically that might be the rule but it’s not going to be enforced

Social housing is a scarce commodity, for which demand far exceeds supply. It should be reserved for those who need it, not for wealthy people who choose to invest their capital in buying houses they don’t live in while themselves occupying much-needed social housing.

The people who are defending this woman’s appalling, anti-social selfishness are ridiculous.

"If I had a decent win on the lottery I would give up my housing association flat so that someone else who couldn't afford private rent or to buy or whatever, could have a home. I've thought about this. I'd stay here until I had the right house or had done up my new house and then I'd do this up really nicely"

And then the HA would rip out all you have done before the next tenant moves in.