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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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

126 replies

bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/02/2019 19:25

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

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 15/02/2019 21:02

The problem is there is probably not a soul alive that wouldn’t take this opportunity to “better” themselves and selfishly hold onto the profit in their own family.

We shouldn’t be allowed to be like this. We shouldn’t be allowing people to profit like this.

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 15/02/2019 21:03

It bothers me that council housing is being sold off! And that there are no replacements for people who need it! Isn't it obvious?

No, not that obvious really.

Original poster
bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/02/2019 21:04

Why should the only people who get a chance to be home owners at a reasonable price be the ones who've already won the lottery by being allocated a council house in the first place or had it passed on to them by their parents and no matter what their current income is?

You could be a 40 year old on an income of £500,000 pa and have inherited your council house from your Mum and Dad and still be entitled to buy it for a fraction of it's worth on the open market. And then sell it after 3 years for a massive profit.

I know ^ this scenario is rare, but how is it actually fair or just? Bearing in mind that it also leaves one fewer property in the council's portfolio?

OP posts:
Ncjustfornow · 15/02/2019 21:10

I hate that it's called Right To Buy. It's not a Human Right. People expect and think they are entitled to discounted prices on owning their own home. As others have said, private tenants don't have this luxury and it's totally unfair.

BanginChoons · 15/02/2019 21:12

Well that's nice for you Bagin. Just screw everyone else (other than your own kids) in the generation below you? Why couldn't you just carry on paying your comparatively low rent?
Says you, with your mortgage!

Santaclarita · 15/02/2019 21:12

Wow so those that have this cheap housing really do not give a shit about those who can't get housing because of them?

I'm back to hoping brexit makes house prices plummet. Why should I hope that you make a nice profit while I will likely never own a home? But I might if brexit makes price plummet. Bring it on.

Travisandthemonkey · 15/02/2019 21:13

It’s just council houses for votes in reality

Original poster
bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/02/2019 21:15

It's not just about me though is it Bagin? I'm not just concerned about me and my mortgage. I am thinking beyond myself and my immediate family. I don't buy into Thatcher's "there's no such thing as society" but you clearly do! Not surprising perhaps, considering the big cash prize she gave you.

OP posts:
Travisandthemonkey · 15/02/2019 21:15

@BanginChoons
She bought her house I would imagine at a fair market rate.
She didn’t take away future housing from the needy

I would be more than happy that you get allcare you need to stay in your home till you die.
Your children I would feel the same about. I don’t think they should profit from others misery

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 15/02/2019 21:16

Wow so those that have this cheap housing really do not give a shit about those who can't get housing because of them?

And you are suprised because.......

Where I live a council house AFTER the CAPPED discount will still cost around £300,000 so hardly fucking cheap is it Hmm

Papillon45 · 15/02/2019 21:18

OP YANBU
Unless it’s in an area where there’s an oversupply of council housing (as far as I’m aware that’s nowhere) I think right to buy is a bad idea. Everyone has a right to a safe, comfortable home. It doesn’t mean that you need to own it. That is what council housing is meant to provide to those who cannot afford to rent or buy decent accommodation. It should not be a way of helping those who are lucky to have been allocated a council house the ability to buy it at a massive saving. It’s a policy that made no sense, unless you were the Tory party and wanted to simultaneously get votes from the working classes and reduce the size of the welfare state by reducing the amount of council housing.

I say this as someone who’s grandparents bought their council houses and who wouldn’t have been able to buy otherwise.

Santaclarita · 15/02/2019 21:19

Intohellbutstayingstrong and yet you still get a discount so I lack sympathy. I would have to pay full price so boohoo to you.

Travisandthemonkey · 15/02/2019 21:20

@Intohellbutstayingstrong
That actually made me laugh
Because it’s laughable

Jesus the lengths people will go to, to assuage themselves of the things they do

NewGrandad · 15/02/2019 21:22

RTB was a good thing handled badly. The money that was brought in should have been spent on building new houses.

IT WASN'T!!!

That is where it fell down.

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 15/02/2019 21:22

Laughable to see the mock concern on here for the needy when actually it's all about the profit margins and the 'It's not fair. Why should they get to buy a house when I cant'

Be honest at least about where the fury actually lies

BanginChoons · 15/02/2019 21:23

Ok. So what gives someone the moral high ground on this? I am happy to discuss this with anyone who has never had financial help from anyone, to learn to drive(therefore opening up more employment options), to get an education, no help with a deposit for a mortgage, or a guarantor to allow for them to get a mortgage at a young age. I grew up without opportunities and I have done my best with what I have. None of my friendship group own a house.

Lots of people get help to achieve things. I will not feel bad about taking the opportunity to provide a better life for my kids. If I got paid enough to buy a house on the open market then I would do that, but I don't. I am a single parent working for the NHS.

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 15/02/2019 21:23

@Travis
Why thank you. I aim to please Smile

Intohellbutstayingstrong · 15/02/2019 21:25

@Santa
I'm not a council tenant

Travisandthemonkey · 15/02/2019 21:27

@Intohellbutstayingstrong
It’s not mock concern

Many people in this country actually do care about the wider implications of policies on society. Massively so. Sadly they are in the minority as this thread shows.

I believe as a lucky person that I should try and give back and help society as much as I can through charity and tax etc. (and no I don’t own a home and may never)

The problem with a policy like this, it divides us all. Instead of council housing being something we are proud of because it helps those in need. It becomes a them and us situation. Which is probably what was wanted out of it in the first place.

Original poster
bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/02/2019 21:28

You've got a good secure job with a generous pension then Bangin. If being a single parent is what it takes to qualify for having a council tenancy and then going on to buy that property at a discount and then going on to sell it at a massive profit or pass it on to your children, then there are literally 10s of thousands of people queuing up behind you who won't even get to having the luxury of a secure, cheaper tenancy.

OP posts:
BanginChoons · 15/02/2019 21:29

I believe as a lucky person that I should try and give back and help society as much as I can through charity and tax etc. (and no I don’t own a home and may never)

I pay tax, and I also volunteer for a charity.

itsbritneybiatches · 15/02/2019 21:30

I've just bought mine. The discount I was given is the same as I have spent on it. It needed doing to make it habitable.

It's an older house and needed A LOT doing to it.

Where I live it's a flat rate discount regardless of time spent in the property. Not sure if that is right to buy or right to acquire I always get them mixed up.

BanginChoons · 15/02/2019 21:32

@bibbity I don't have a council tenancy because I am a single parent. I have rented from the council for 18 years. I was allocated my first flat because I was in care.

Santaclarita · 15/02/2019 21:32

Be honest at least about where the fury actually lies

I have been honest. I don't think someone on benefits who gets given a house should have the chance to buy it at a cheap rate. I don't get cheaper options, yet I work full time. I don't get money from the government.

As I said, I would be better off doing what bangingchoons did. Have a couple of kids, be a single parent and get given a house then buy it cheaply. I could get a house quicker that way than by working full time and buy one that way. That's not right. You shouldn't be punishing people for working. Give everyone the same opportunity. Why can't I buy a council house for 30k? I could, but not allowed to.

Owning a home isnt a right. Having somewhere to live is, but you don't need to own it. If people in council houses want to buy, fine, but at full market price. I can't see how you can build more houses with some of the amounts people have paid. They used to sell them for a grand here, I don't know of any builder who can build a house for a grand.

Original poster
bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/02/2019 21:32

My parents paid for driving lessons for me. They were my 18th birthday present. I'm quite old so I think they were £7.50 per lesson. I had 10 lessons. So I've had £75.00 leg up from my parents (although never had a job where I needed to drive or needed to drive to work but that's by the by).

Doesn't compare really does it.

OP posts:
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