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?

I dislike the term social housing. HAs are a massive con. They even seemed like a con to me back when they started. More council housing is what we need.

HelenaDove Mon 16-Jul-18 20:42:43

www.cfoi.org.uk/2017/07/bring-housing-associations-and-public-service-contractors-under-foi/
Add message | Report | Message poster
HelenaDove Mon 16-Jul-18 20:44:03

"Housing associations are not subject to the FOI Act and can refuse to answer requests about fire risks, safety problems, eviction policies, waiting lists and other matters.

Examples of requests for information which housing authorities have refused include:

the cause of a fire in a housing association flat, requested by a neighbouring tenant [1]
whether potentially toxic lead pipes were used for the water supply to a property [2]
the amount of flytipped waste and litter collected from a housing association’s estates [3]
the number of repossession orders served since the ‘bedroom tax’ came into force, and the number of those tenants who had no arrears before that date [4]
the policy which permitted an association to pack up an evicted tenant’s possessions and confidential documents instead of allowing him to collect them [5]
the number of properties adapted for disabled persons (the requester said she wanted: ‘just the number, nothing else’) [6]
the number of asylum seekers housed [7]
the number of properties empty for more than 6 weeks [8]
the electricity bill which led a tenant to be charged £1,200 to cover the costs of 6 communal light bulbs [9]
the make and model of street lighting on an estate which the requester found ‘overpowering’ at night. He wanted to use the information to contact the manufacturer to see if they could suggest a remedy [10]
details of a contract for emptying septic tanks shared by a housing association and privately owned properties. The requester, a private owner, wanted to know the basis on which he was being charged [11]
the numbers of complaints about repairs [12]
the circumstances in which tenants have been given permission to sublet and action taken against those subletting without permission [13]
the policy on dealing with requests for an individual’s own personal information under the Data Protection Act and the relevant application form [14]
the job description of the housing association’s Head of Governance [15]

Such information is routinely disclosed by local authorities in response to FOI requests. Most of the above requests were made through the whatdotheyknow.com website and referred to the FOI Act. This prompted many housing associations to point out that the Act did not apply to them. This would not have prevented them releasing information voluntarily and the fact that they didn’t do so is revealing. Typical comments included: “We do not wish to reply to your enquiry as we are not subject to the FOIA legislation” (Midland Heart); “As Wirral Partnership Homes LTD does not fall under the Freedom of Information Act we are not obligated to respond to your enquiry”; “Great Places Housing Group is not a public body under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act and is not under any obligation to respond to requests made under this legislation”; “Our client is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and is therefore not obliged to answer a request made under that Act” (solicitor for Genesis Housing Group to a person who had been evicted).

In theory housing associations may be obliged to answer requests for environmental information under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). This might provide a right to information about fire safety decisions, such as those that led to Grenfell Tower disaster. But while the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has ruled that housing associations in Northern Ireland are subject to the EIR but has made no such rulings in relation to English and Welsh housing associations, where the legal context is slightly different. In a number of cases it has dealt with informally it has concluded that the particular English housing associations concerned were not subject to the EIR. This uncertainty means that bringing housing associations under the FOI Act is the only way of ensuring that their decisions on fire safety and other critical issues are subject to scrutiny

One of the TFL union leaders on his huge salary boasted of his council house so although it's not moral it is legal

Bob Crow believed that council housing should (still) be a mixed community providing secure rental homes. His was (and is) the only council house remaining in the entire road. In other words, everyone else on the road sold out to private landlords and took the money - a lot of money.

The Sun newspaper in particular hated the fact that Bob Crow stayed in his house, renting it until he died of a heart attack in his early 50s. It really upset them off that there was one council house left, holding out.

40% of our MPs (on both sides of the house) are private landlords. Having sold off their council stock (and barred by Thatcher from re-investing the proceeds in new stock) our councils now have to rent their own properties back from private landlords at huge expense. The taxpayer picks up the tab in the form of housing benefit.
What a mess.

Whose the moral person here? Leave this woman to stay in her home. FFS.

While I firmly believe that council housing should have a broad mix of tenants (ie Bob Crowe) I think if you own a house, whether you live in it or not, you should not have a council property.

You’re not allowed to live in a council property if you own a house, but she’s put it in other name to circumvent this.
However I think if she were reported the council would still agree she should no longer have the property and evict

Well, she doesn't own a house. She bought members of her family houses.

it's pretty shit that we're talking about this woman rather than the utterly disgusting situation outlined in Figments post above.

And in my Liverpool link 200 homes are being transferred in one go to the private sector. 200 homes vs 1 lottery winner.

but she’s put it in other name to circumvent this.

Why word it like this? And how do you know this is what she did, rather than giving money to her children and them choosing to use that money to buy houses. If the houses are in her childrens' names then they are her children's houses.

Or what makes you think this was her line of thought. Perhaps her line of thought was actually I'm happy with what I've got. I don't need a house, I already have a home with neighbours I like, but I want to help my children out.

I

Well word it like that because obviously she knows she’ll lose her council house if she buys them in her name

but why would she buy them in her name anyway? If I wanted to buy a house for my DC I would either give them the money to buy it themselves or I would put it in their name, so it's theirs. Same as if I bought them a car, or a phone, or a designer watch. It would be theirs, not mine.

If you buy something for someone is it still yours?

The OP said one of the properties was put in her partner's name. If that isn't to circumvent a law then she must just be a very generous girlfriend
If this becomes public knowledge then it is highly likely that her neighbours (who may have dc/family members on the waiting list) will report her.

Oh don’t be so niave. It was clearly related to wanting to keep the house. And yes, if you put up all the cash for your childs house you put it in your name. That’s perfectly normal. It’s then your asset.

There are tax laws re gifting money and property. You can loan your children money though

If she did put a property in her partners nane then that woukd ve mire likely to be about circumventing rules.

You're not allowed to give your children money or houses? Since when?

Fat fingers there!

There are tax laws re gifting money and property. You can loan your children money though

You can give your children as much cash as you like as a gift, provided it doesn't impinge upon your lifestyle.

You can give your children a house, but if you die within 7 years it is subject to IHT.

The rationale being that parents are less likely to trust their children with large sums of cash to avoid IHT, so it's sort of self-regulating.

There is a limit on how much cash you can give your children. It is on the HMRC website. Even if you win the lottery you have to put beneficiaries names on the ticket you are told this by Camelot. They also tell you to register syndicates even if they are family members. Lifetime gifts you have to live for 7 years or there is a sliding scale for inheritance tax.

There is no limit on how much money you can give your children or anyone else. As long as you pay the tax.

twitter.com/RobinHawkes1/status/1030543200791027713

I've often mulled over this one! I love my council house and of course would love to win the lottery. £1m would enable me to buy the house and put £300k in the bank (London - ordinary house). £50m and I would buy my house whilst transitioning mentally etc. Then I would donate enough to HA and stipulate they replaced the stock I had bought and eventually I would give my house to someone I know who needs it.

But with £1m I would be staying put as it's not that much money long term for someone who isn't already in the housing market.