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?

I see this thread has rolled on to include other 'povs' linked to "council housing".

Another POV to the fact that RTB still exists in its various forms is that as I think most pps will agree, RTB has been fantastic for a few people for many years and, at the very least, it is one area that is equal between the generations in regards to 'accessing the housing ladder'.

However, most Council Housing has since been transferred to Housing Associations (because they can build new homes whereas Councils with debt can't use RTB Money to, etc, etc).

For a number of years there was/has been a cap on the discounts allowed for RTB of HA Homes, but I heard this was due to change.

But it is bad imo overall that RTB still exists - I struggled for years to get a Council/HA tenancy myself - yet am happy that after 10 years I could buy my own property (with mortgage) not under RTB, not Council/HA - and freed up another 'social housing' home that was needed by so many others.

The last HA Home I had was far 'superior' to the one I bought and live in now and the HA LLs were great, but I am happier knowing I didn't take away yet another 'home' out of the existing social housing stock.

@Rubicsboob

The impression I get from this thread
Is that some people are of the opinion that it isn't fair that people who are on a low income or that are single parents get the right to buy/right to acquire at a discount when they didn't.

But I'm not sure everyone realises that you can go on a waiting list regardless of income or circumstance.

Where I live there doesn't appear to be a shortage of properties.

I couldn't of been high up the list given my
Circumstances when I applied and I waited less than six months. So based on that no shortage where I live I don't think.

Before I went on the list I didn't realise anyone and everyone could apply for a council house. So no, I don't think everyone would be doing it.

I have lots of friends Who didn't realise this either they have just always privately rented and still do as that's what their parents did or bought from another home owner
As again that's what their parents did.

I left where I live and joined the forces
So it never came up for me to have to think about until a
Few
Years ago.

It’s not that it’s not fair. That’s a childish thought.
It’s that it’s not good for society overall, unless the stock is replenished.

It’s that it’s not good for society overall, unless the stock is replenished
I do agree with this. I think the stock should be replenished. I said this earlier in the thread.

Why are people hating council tenants instead of private landlords?

I think money made from RTB should be put back into social housing. And that there should be rules governing how much you can sell it on for (so you don't profit significantly from it).

But the real problem is all the buy-to-let landlords. That's what should be banned. Then it would all be privately owned or social rented (or shared ownership, i.e. the middle ground). And both types would be affordable.

Here in Liverpool, the HA has had no choice but to sell off three bed housing stock.

Because of the bedroom tax they can't let them to someone who wouldn't fully occupy the houses. They can't have 'dead' stock, so three bed houses with gardens were sold off for 35k each. To LLs of course, not owner occupiers. They wanted them to be sold fast.

It's the bedroom tax that's don't the most damage here, that and buy to let.

Combined with the Local Housing Rate being too low, we've got a housing crisis for the first time ever.

itsbritneybiatches, what were your circumstances?

Contrary to popular belief, working applicants get priority.

The new build social housing is mainly for working and disabled applicants.

Living with parents. Not overcrowded.
Daughter toddler aged.
Working full time.

Why are people hating council tenants instead of private landlords?

People like to hate council tenants unfortunately.

What birds said is true in many local authorities. We were prioritised for our housing application as we were both working. Bumped from 5th to 1st on the list. We were overcrowded (DD 12 and DS 10 sharing a room) but moved up a band through Right to Move legislation.

I have always bought ex local as that’s all I can afford in a London

So whilst I thick its shit - don’t have a leg to stand on do I ?

Banginchoons- you were the one who brought up your single parent status. As if that were something that entitled you to buy your council property.

I bought up being a single parent to illustrate why I am unable to afford to buy on the open market.
The right to buy is what entitles me to buy my council property.

No one is hating council tenants. That is very provocative and self pitying. People are hating the short sighted policy that has now left so many people who would be or should be council tenants without an affordable place to live.

The problem is not the people who buy the houses, but the council's who do not replace them, and private landlords who drive the rents up.

But council tenants should know their place, right?

No one hates council tenants the exact opposite actually.
I wish there were more of them, sadly because of low stock there isn’t!

You’ve got a massive chip on your shoulder

Yep. Cos of a lifetime of being judged for being a council tenant, and now for being judged for wanting to be a homeowner through the only avenue open to me.

Children can't just inherit their parents "council house " well not in my town amyway,it was made abundantly clear when we got our tenancy that there is one succession of tenancy , so if I die before before dh, he inherits the tenancy as a sole tenant and vice versa there is no question of our children inheriting the tenancy

*Travisandthemonkey

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.*

THIS ^^^^^^^
With bells on.

My Nan had a council house and in the early 90s had the opportunity to buy it- with the help of my parents- and the idea was to leave a legacy that she wouldn’t otherwise. But when my parents and she sat down to seriously discuss it, they came to the conclusion that it was a policy they didn’t agree with that would cause harm to people less fortunate than them (my parents had bought at the right time and owned their house outright at this point, and despite being in a council house because she had been poor with a lot of kids, my Nan by this point had accumulated a decent amount of savings. Everyone in the situation was fairly well off by this stage in their lives).

In the end they decided that just because they could do it didn’t mean that they should do it and my Nan went on for the rest of her life paying her cheap rent for a nice house in a good location. She died in 2003, but I never go by her old house without wondering who lives there now and hoping that the house is doing for its new tenants what it did for my Nan and her kids for over 40 years: giving them a comfortable and affordable place to call home. I just hope it is still council house stock and that it’s still doing what it was build for.

Just wanted to chip in, I don’t agree with Right to Buy. My mum lived in a council house which she could have bought, when she died I could have said I lived there and taken it over as I paid some of her bills there would have been “proof” I was also living there ... I didn’t take over the tenancy. I think there are too many loop holes in the current system where family members can buy properties and then take them over when the family member dies when they aren’t actually needed. I understand some people’s comments about different demand in different areas so they need to be sold but for the vast majority of areas the houses would be better off left with the council for families that desperately needed them.

The problem is not the people who buy the houses, but the council's who do not replace them

^ This with bells on, they’re turning us against each other so that we won’t notice while the rich don’t pay tax and hide their money offshore.

Bangin - councils can't replace them if they're not given the money to do so by central govt. It is really not councils fault.

But there is a soul or two alive (or lived) that wouldn’t take this opportunity to “better” themselves and selfishly hold onto the profit in their own family. - me, and Carrie's Nan - and in all probability and very likely we weren't the only ones either.

Some people do really live in the main by their 'conscience', also probably to some materialistic detriment, but, then we have the pleasure of keeping our 'conscience' and are happy to do so; if others choose not to that's up to them.

A great idea for the lucky tenants in decent properties with enough income to exercise the RTB. Unfortunately it has decimated the nicest estates, leaving little choice for anyone who wants/needs social housing.

We had a council flat in our younger days, but moving from Scotland to England meant we had to start again, and had no chance of getting one. The only way to move out of private rented was to buy, and it was a struggle. I think now is the time for RTB to be withdrawn in England, at least in areas of high demand. Empty properties on unpopular estates (and there are some across the North) should be eligible for tenants to buy, to encourage occupation. If they remain empty, they should be sold on the open market. That might even things out a bit.

Well done Scotland and Wales for doing the right thing.

"No one is hating council tenants"

i could link several threads which show that this isnt the case

i can only surmise that you must be new

The longer you rent it the cheaper the house becomes. The longer you keep it the less you have to pay back if you sell it. The RTB is the only way a lot of people could ever afford to own a house, most still can’t as even discounted it’s still way too high for a single adult minimum wage worker.