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Original poster

Well off friend in council house

293 replies

toughtimes2001 · 23/08/2018 19:31

Please tell me if I am being unfair.

My friend and her partner (mid 20's) earn a combined salary of of £65K (no kids) and have a cheap council tenancy home with a massive garden in a lovely part of London (her partner sneakily inherited the tenancy from his deceased father a couple of years back). The have a lovely life with plenty of disposable income as their rent is very cheap and go on lovely holidays and are saving up a massive deposit for their own home which they intend to buy in a couple of years. I should also add, she has very wealthy parents who dish out money to them left right and centre for various things throughout the year.

Meanwhile, I a single mum earn £19K (no family support) privately rent a rubbish 1 bedroom flat (which is more in rent than they pay) in a rubbish part of town with no hope of ever buying a home or taking my DS on a luxury holiday. I have also been told I am not a priority for housing so no hope for me any time soon!

Am I right to think this is just completely unfair?

OP posts:
user1491678180 · 23/08/2018 23:48

This 'I am sick of council tenants living at the taxpayers expense' train of thought that some have needs to fucking stop.

MANY people in social housing do NOT live at the taxpayers expense, and pay full rent!

It just goes to show how uneducated some people are if they think that everyone in social housing lives at the taxpayers expense.

I see a LOT of bitterness and jealousy aimed at social housing tenants... I am sorry that some people are not so fortunate, but there is no need for such hatred towards social housing tenants.

People get a tenancy for life at half the price of private let.... who the fuck is going to give that up? Seriously. Hmm

OP, I am sorry you have been dealt a shit hand in life, but don't hate on those who have been more fortunate.

POPholditdown · 23/08/2018 23:54

@HelenaDove

I hope you don’t mind me saying, and you may have also so tried this! But when I worked at a HA (only in the last couple of years), for any adaptations, we directed the tenants to contact occupational health. Any report that then came from them was taken as gospel for adaptations.

It was just a general policy as OH were qualified to assess the tenants health needs and our surveyors weren’t necessarily. Sometimes we had tenants wanting X adaptation but the OH report would identify larger works that the tenant may not have even considered for example.

It might be worth checking your HAs policy trying this route, if you haven’t already done so, for future needs. If you have tried this then ignore me Grin but I’ve come across quite a few people who hadn’t tried this route in the past.

user1491678180 · 23/08/2018 23:54

As has been said, blame the system, NOT the people clinging onto their lifetime secure tenancies.

Several decades ago, NO-ONE would have batted an eyelid about someone living in the council house for life. Even if they had been on £50K a year.

HelenaDove · 23/08/2018 23:56

POP we did in the past but thankyou for taking the time to post that Thanks its appreciated.

AllDayBreakfast · 23/08/2018 23:57

I see a lot of people taking issue with comments like mine about 'earning more'. I agree it's not easy but it's better IMO to think what you can do rather than whinge about what you haven't got. There are loads of lucky people out there.

My best mate was getting £1000 allowance from his parents in his late 20s, allowing him to coast along in a shit job, and has now been bought a £300k house which hempays no mortgage on.

LeMesmer · 24/08/2018 00:12

I haven’t the full thread , sorry. Sneakily inherited a tenancy is just not possible . The ignorance surrounding the original aims of local authority housing, and the reasons why succession to tenancies is right and just ( even though today in some respects it may appear unfair) Is just astounding. Successions of governments have eroded the basic human right to be decently housed in a home that is your own and only in the most extreme circumstances would you be removed from it, whether that be in a house you own yourself or as a local authority tenant.

HelenaDove · 24/08/2018 00:21

Lulu i agree.

sulflower · 24/08/2018 05:24

This is such a ridiculous bootstraps argument. Most people in their twenties could work their socks off, and still never earn enough to be able to afford a house. It's disingenuous to suggest they can.

Who decided it was an argument, you? My reply was in answer to someone else's post where I was pointing out an irrelevance. Stop making something out of nothing.

elkiedee · 24/08/2018 05:44

Seven201, I think your inlaws plans wouldn't be allowed and wouldn't work. I don't believe someone can simply succeed to a tenancy when the original tenants are alive and have just chosen to move somewhere else.

elkiedee · 24/08/2018 05:47

If she moved in before they moved out and carried on paying the rent etc, that wouldn't make her a tenant with the rights of one - living there with no legal status as a tenant wouldn't count.

IhopeyoulikeNavantoo · 24/08/2018 06:12

I disagree with the majority and think yanbu, OP. It seems incredibly unfair to me and I would add that I don't accept that 'life is unfair'. Fuck that.

IhopeyoulikeNavantoo · 24/08/2018 06:30

In Ireland you have to earn underneath a threshold for a council house. They only go to the poorest but there still aren't enough of them and we have a housing crisis too, with lots of people sleeping rough.

ArcheryAnnie · 24/08/2018 07:48

I disagree with making people who earn a lot move out of their homes - not least because it would widen the divide between rich and poor - but I do think there is a case for some sort of income-related adjustment.

Possibly if you hit a certain level of income your rent should go from the council house rate to one more commensurate with other local commercial rent levels, with the extra rent going directly into the budget to build more housing. Then you would keep your home, but would not be blocking someone on a low income from a house, because your rent would contribute to building more homes.

This isn't perfect, so I think all kinds of things should be explored. I think everyone, regardless of whether their income is low or high, should be able to access council housing, as it's a very efficient way to house a populace - the situation the OP describes is because there isn't enough to go around.

CecilyP · 24/08/2018 08:04

If she moved in before they moved out and carried on paying the rent etc, that wouldn't make her a tenant with the rights of one - living there with no legal status as a tenant wouldn't count.

It is also illegal. They might get away with it if they are discrete but as they are already telling people their plans, it doesn't look like discretion is their strong point.

Tumbleweed101 · 24/08/2018 08:08

House aside, you and your friend are in very different situations. Two people working and saving from young will always mean they have more disposable income than someone trying to raise a young child without help. If you’re working you will be stuck with childcare costs and if you’re not then income support is minimal. I think it’s a far bigger divide than just the house.

You don’t say how old your child is but when you may be able to get help from the council as they get older.

I don’t think this is the right friend to be comparing your life with though.

CecilyP · 24/08/2018 08:09

In Ireland you have to earn underneath a threshold for a council house. They only go to the poorest but there still aren't enough of them and we have a housing crisis too, with lots of people sleeping rough.

My local authority also has an income level below which you would not qualify for social housing. However, it is not a poverty level income. And once you have a tenancy, it is no longer relevant.

Lethaldrizzle · 24/08/2018 08:11

Of course it should be income related. And of course we should try to make things fair in life

CecilyP · 24/08/2018 08:12

That is a very important point, Tumbleweed.

seven201 · 24/08/2018 08:23

Elk and Cecily, thank you. As I said I haven't done my research myself so may have misunderstood their plan. They wouldn't do anything illegal. Maybe they've misunderstood the rules and are in for a big disappointment when they find out!

ButchyRestingFace · 24/08/2018 08:24

They have been saving since they started work at age18/19 so I have been led to believe.

Good for them. How many of us can claim the same? They sound as if they’ve got their heads screwed on right. Smile

gamerchick · 24/08/2018 08:40

*Possibly if you hit a certain level of income your rent should go from the council house rate to one more commensurate with other local commercial rent levels, with the extra rent going directly into the budget to build more housing. Then you would keep your home, but would not be blocking someone on a low income from a house, because your rent would contribute to building more homes"

This comes up on these threads. It was already thought of, its called pay to stay and was binned off before it was made compulsory.

Councils haven't taken the government up on that even though they can. The extra money was going to central government it wasn't going back into housing but people still wanted it rolled out to make rents 'fairer' for people in private rents.

People don't care about making more social housing, they just want to look into their neighbours bowl to check then don't have more than they do.

TheGoddessFrigg · 24/08/2018 08:43

seems incredibly unfair to me and I would add that I don't accept that 'life is unfair'. Fuck that.

The guy lost his father. There is no mention of his mother so he could be an orphan in his 20s. How the fuck is that 'lucky'? I should imagine, that like when my parents died, his father would be pleased knowing at least he could leave his son a bit of security.

BMW6 · 24/08/2018 09:29

OP perhaps if you had made better decisions YOU would be earning 65k a year and would be able to save a decent deposit to buy a nice home.

ArcheryAnnie · 24/08/2018 09:45

OP perhaps if you had made better decisions YOU would be earning 65k a year and would be able to save a decent deposit to buy a nice home.

BMW6 may I invite you to take a look at this short comic which neatly (if rather simplistically) illustrates why your post is utter nonsense?

eliza456 · 24/08/2018 09:53

Im sorry but they have both decided to work full time and are enjoying their money. At the end of the day, you decided to go through with your pregnancy, and most parents do go through some kind of struggle financially, especially at the beginning.

I could understand if their situation was identical to yours, but it isn’t. Why not try improving your quality of life instead of bringing others down?

Im sure if the roles were reversed you would be upset to hear a ‘friend’ felt like this about you.

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