To think people dont understand the magnitude of the social housing crisis?

[Arrowfanatic]

I work in social housing. We have endless requests for moves from customers who expand their family whilst in a property which is unsuitable to move them to a bigger property. We advise that family size housing (3 bed+) has a waiting list of around 10+ years and then these customers get mad.

We're accused of allowing them to stay in overcrowded properties, or affecting their mental & physical health and inevitably an overcrowded property becomes prone to damp & mould as it's too full.

These customers also want these houses in the exact location they desire, thereby limiting even more their chances of a move.

We get so demoralised when every day it's the same thing, but social housing is at a massive shortfall for the needs of the country & family size housing is in an even greater shortfall.

My company has an extensive plan to build more properties but it's a 5 year plan!

It's like they think we're lying to them, or the old classic of "you housing immigrants straight away" note, we dont, they have to apply like everyone else. We dont want our customers in unsuitable accommodation, and we really work hard on making the housing stock we do have work.

If you're in this position what could we tell our customers to make them understand the position we are in, and the one they have put themselves in and why we cant help as quickly as they would like.

I feel like I say "we have a shortage of family size housing" 100 times a day & get yelled at 100 times a day for our association not caring.

I will do the maths properly later
I’m too busy doing something

The state is a mechanism via which we pool and allocate our collective resources - the fruits of human cooperation, we are all dependent upon the state

I agree that subletting is bad but it's bound to happen, just like prohibition created incentives for speakeasies and illegal stills the housing crisis creates incentives for people to make under the table deals
we need a properly functioning and regulated housing market, we are a wealthy modern technologically advanced country we have the resources to properly house people

As a matter of interest, why can't councils stamp out subletting? I can think of various checks and balances which would identify if the person on the rent book was actually occupying the property.

Dn was renting a Peabody property in Bethnal Green. It was lovely. She and her flatmate paid the landlord cash in hand. They were "his guests" .

I suppose it's just hard to police unless you have a situation where everyone is spying on their neighbours and no one wants that 😳
or will all council tenants have to have some kind of Alexa type device that photographs them all the time so that they know who's occupying the property?

@Menora

You are forgetting about in work benefits though, along with free (at the point of service) healthcare, education etc.

If you earn less than £38k a year, you are being subsidised by others. If you are earning more than £38k a year and are a net contributor, then should you really be in social housing?

As I have stated (repeatedly), it isn’t wrong that some are subsidised by others. It’s just wrong to claim that the majority of social housing tenants aren’t being subsidised by others.

Dn was renting a Peabody property in Bethnal Green. It was lovely. She and her flatmate paid the landlord cash in hand. They were "his guests"

Dramatic market distortions like a nice flat in Bethnal Green at social housing rents is always going to lead to this kind of abuse.

I suspect if you were to ask the average social housing tenant in Central London if they'd rather have their flat or the going market rent, they'd take the latter (and rent a flat in Zone 3 or 4 or beyond, and pocket the difference).

I agree that we are all subsidised by others, every 'self-made' businessperson relies on the infrastructure and institutions created by all the other people in society
Every person who feels they pay their own way benefits from countless things that they do not pay for, none of us is an island, human society is created by collective efforts, without collaboration we are nothing

Humans are inherently inventive and entrepreneurial if they see a niche or an opportunity that they can exploit they will take it, people respond to incentives... we need to arrange the incentives so that everyone benefits

Humans are inherently inventive and entrepreneurial if they see a niche or an opportunity that they can exploit they will take it, people respond to incentives... we need to arrange the incentives so that everyone benefits

Absolutely. Subletting is a normal response to having the use of a valuable flat and not much discretionary income. I don't have a problem with it at all (apart from the fact that the housing authorities can't identify this incentive).

I can when it is against the terms and conditions of their lease. They know it is wrong.

If they are making a profit then they do not need the property and should give it back. They had the privilege of being given that property when in need...

There are always people who break the rules or the law if they can get away with it. Just like middle class people who will cheat on their tax returns. Then there are other people who are always honest.

They know it's wrong
I agree but when you feel discriminated against and wronged because you can't even access the fundamentals of life, ie a roof over your head....well you can see why people feel justified in doing whatever they have to do to get by?
Clearly society functions more efficiently if people abide by the rules, but we also need rules to be fair!
We are a wealthy country but we also have huge inequality and this creates a strong sense of unfairness - of having being wronged, in a large percentage of the population.
Most of us can accept that some people, because they are talented hard-working and lucky, will do better in life but it's much harder to accept that someone else is worth a million times more than you are.
Or that a few people should have unimaginable wealth and luxury whilst others can't even get the basics of life.

But they've got a roof over their head when others are still on the waiting list.

Because where there is vast inequality there is also an air of 'it's every person for themself' of dog eat dog.
if the people at the top who hoard all the power and money are greedy and unscrupulous what are the rest of us to do?

Once a person has been cleared for social housing, it's of no consequence to the people in the queue how they use it. Subletting doesn't change the inventory of housing available or make the tenant any less in need independent of their tenancy.

Subletting increases the density of population and increases the wear and tear of the property, so it means higher repair bills.

Density? Who knows. Hard to measure. Wear and tear, yes, but I thought tenants were responsible for this?

Ada you have conflated housing benefit (paid to social and private tenants) and social housing.
That plus picking on x2 is making you look a wazzock.

I was avoiding this thread my BP can't take it.

In social housing? Who carries out repairs there?

*Your landlord is also generally responsible for keeping in repair:

the structure and exterior of your home, for example, the walls, roof, foundations, drains, guttering and external pipes, windows and external doors
basins, sinks, baths, toilets and their pipework
water and gas pipes, electrical wiring, water tanks, boilers, radiators, gas fires, fitted electric fires or fitted heaters.*

This is from CAB's site.

And of course density is higher, the people who sublet live with the people who sublet from them.

@TheQueef

It isn’t picking on, just pointing out that someone is clearly wrong. Not my problem that she can’t accept that.

And of course density is higher, the people who sublet live with the people who sublet from them.

Sure, if the leaseholder is there. We were discussing leaseholders as landlords.

Play by the rules and not be dishonest.

I think they should be prosecuted and have no recourse to this type of housing. Le the next person in the queue have it not them.

Yes leaseholders as LL which is wrong

Of course it's your problem, she isn't wrong you plum it is you.