AIBU to be shocked that council housing is still being sold off?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

I imagined this terrible legacy from Thatcher ceased years ago. How can it possibly still be defended as a good thing?

Not in Scotland.

I agree with you but one of my friends bought hers so I don’t voice it IRL

We bought our house off someone who’d bought it under right to buy. Without it we would never have been able to afford to buy a house.

Considering how much they are struggling for housing that's pretty disgraceful.

It was never a secret

Right to buy was and is an utter disgrace, and extremely poor value for money for the taxpayer.

I bought my house under RTA wouldn’t have been able to otherwise as it was specially adapted for my wheelchair .

My best friend bought her council flat in London zone 1. It is now worth at least £700,000. She and her partner (she moved in with him) had lived in it for 20 years by then paying a tiny amount of rent and now they pay a tiny amount on their mortgage. They could sell it and make £500,000 overnight. She chooses not to work much. They have a low family income so also got their child into a top private school on a bursary. I mean I love her and everything, but the weird inequality here just seems very very bizarre.

But, actually, my thread isn't about them (I just got diverted by TheDarkPassenger's comment) ... it's about I can't believe it's still happening! What with the current housing crisis.

Record levels of people living in temp accommodation, record levels of people being unable to afford their private rent and being evicted into God knows what ... and councils still gaily selling off their properties. Wtf?

It’s a good thing in my area. Even with the discount off market value, the ex council stock RTB round here brings in £££ (huge floor areas, with large gardens). The income from a RTB can build 2 brand new 3 bed semis, and two families can be housed instead of one.

So it’s not quite as straightforward as you think.

not shocked.
but it is shocking. offloading housing stock to (often) low earning families before they get expensive to maintain.

Especially when said people often then sell them on or rent them out at hugely inflated prices.

It’s also another kick in the teeth for those stuck in the private rental sector :(

YABU.
Rtb/Rta are one of the few social mobility tools left.

Be pissed off that the proceeds go to central not local and no new SH are built with the income.

It IS a disgrace. Should have been outlawed in the last century.

I know someone who bought her RTB (in 2003) that she had rented just 3 years. She got it for £33K (it was valued at £90K.) In 2009, she sold it for £113K. Paid off the tiny mortgage. Had around £80K left! Rented privately.

She squandered the ENTIRE amount in 6 years. TWO caravans, 2 new cars, half a dozen extravagant holidays, dozens of pairs of fancy shoes, bundles of fancy clothes, a £4K tv, games consoles and games, apple macs, apple phones you name it.............

Fast forward 2 years to summer 2017, and the cheeky bitch tried to put her name on the social housing list after pocketing £80K from her RTB. She was refused when they looked into her tenancy history(s.) GOOD. Coz if she hadn't been refused, (because she slipped through the net,) I would not have hesitated to tell the council about her RTB windfall from a decade before!

100% with you OP!

@Lemon1571

The income from a RTB can build 2 brand new 3 bed semis, and two families can be housed instead of one.

Lovely idea.

Shame this literally never happens.

My friend is trying to swap her HA house for a council house so she can buy it. Meanwhile the waiting list where I am is 10+ years for a house

I’m just about to buy my housing association flatunder the pilot right to buy. In effect it gives a 81k discount which acts as a deposit also. My mortgage will be 50k as I have 20k off parents.

I acquired this flat after I’ll health which wrecked my career as a Dr. This has been a bit of luck following some awful things. I do think they need to replace the houses

Right to buy was and is an utter disgrace, and extremely poor value for money for the taxpayer

In what way?

We bought our house in 2014 for 485k. It was only when the searches were done that we found out it was bought up and let out by the council (not a purpose built council house, it's Victorian) and bought by the owner in 1991 for......6k!!! Ridiculous price even then. She must have laughed her socks off. She sold it in 2001 for 190k odd.

I don't understand how it is anything like a good idea unless all monies are ploughed back into housing. All it meant is that the post war generation got a marvellous opportunity to own housing, thereby ensuring the generations below are struggling to be housed at all.

I dont think cpuncils can keep right to buy monies and invest it in building new council housing, can they? I thought thst was one of the major problems.

RTB is a statutory requirement for council owned/built housing even those being built now. Housing Associations are able to remove or limit this on their accommodation.

There's nothing 'right' about this. I work full time, no benefits, struggle with bills, probably never likely to actually own a house because I don't have rich parents and the prices are insane, but others can buy a house for a tiny price and sell it for a shit load? No that's not right at all.

I plan to buy mine. If I don't, I will never afford to own a property. And I don't feel bad about it.
The problem is not people buying them, it is that the money from them isn't always ringfenced to build more.

The original plan was for the money to be reinvested in new housing, but it never happened.

The real shocker is that some local authorities are now renting back the houses that were sold under RTB, in order to house people on the waiting list.

It could have worked, with the condition that is is never used as a second property (which many now are) and on the death of the occupant, it is sold back to the council.

"All it meant is that the post war generation got a marvellous opportunity to own housing, thereby ensuring the generations below are struggling to be housed at all."

But it's not just the post war generation. The whole point of my thread is that we all know it happened, but isn't it shocking that it's still going on today? When the vast majority of people can see that it is damaging to the worst off in society and the strata just above them.

LIZS that's not entirely true. Housing associations are under no obligation to sell their properties. Council housing is a different matter.

Right to Acquire is different, and is only available on new builds that were paid for with certain govt funding. We rent our housing association house, which was built in 2016. But it was built as part of a large development, and a small number of properties allocated for affordable housing. Because the developer paid for it all, we will never have Right to Acquire.