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.

Are you aware that people on minimum/low wages can’t save £40,000 deposits
You don’t need that amount to rent privately. Just one months rent plus the deposit.

One of the biggest mistakes that was made was the social housing for life rule... all it's done is enable healthy adults to live in 3/4 bed houses where their kids have grown up and left home when there are young families on waiting lists or living in unsuitable housing.

They should do a 10 year review or something of the like. Or if the tenants have no dependents living at home and no disability, they should be charged full market rent with a like for like on private rental. So they can stay in their 3 bed house as a couple but pay private rate rent. Surely that's only fair?

In that instance getting that together can be difficult plus private LL can be very restrictive. Again why are you here? Too be vile about SH tenants. Do you suggest pp who work ft should give up their SH and pay ridiculous private rent.

There’s no reason why they can’t rent privately.

Why would you pay private rent if you have managed to get social housing?

Where I live: 3 bed HA is £465 a month. For even a two bed private rent you're looking at £600 as a starting rent if you are lucky.

If someone is on minimum wage paying their own rent, that's a big chunk of money each month.

"If they can afford to pay rent they shouldn't be in council houses. There's no reason why they can't rent privately."

The ignorance is strong with this one.

So much ill-informed nasty right-wing bullshit on this thread.

People don't get it. My DH and I rent privately and pay £1150pcm. We have had a £50 rent increase every year. If we want more children we would have to pay £1300 min. We can't so we have had what we can afford. It's so frustrating knowing that some people think it's ok to have as many children as they want and essentially it's societies responsibility to give what is demanded. Also, my friend told me she's going to buy her council house and that the council will give her a huge discount to help her buy it. I don't get it, no one will help us with this kind of discount and we pay so much with little hope of saving to buy. Yet if you are in social housing it's ok. I wonder what the point is tbh.

Totally get you. I know so many that have had more children in a smaller social housing property and now think it's ridiculous They are allowed to be over crowded. Also know people who earn a good wage and are not on any benefits who are in social housing, I don't get that. After I left an abusive ex with 4 kids they told me they had nothing and to find a private let, so I did but I struggle because the rent is so high :( It's wrong how it works.

One third of people used to live in social housing. It was easy to give a tenancy for life because there were so many of them. Then right to buy came in.
And those people in secure council housing, if you tried to abolish it, they would just buy instead.

Well.it's not quite as simple as that is it @BobbyBlueCat people work ,have families and friends commitments etc ,now luckily I live in area where it wasent that hard to get social.housing but if it had of been i can't just leave to go anywhere in the UK I have a disabled child in a special school every thing is set up for him in the LEA and they issued his EHCP ,other people can't just move to.other parts of the UK for equally valid reasons .

One of the biggest mistakes that was made was the social housing for life rule
Hmm I don’t know. I think it’s important for families who rely on social housing to have long term security. Their children are from a disadvantaged background so are likely to need more long term parental support.

Why would you pay private rent if you have managed to get social housing?
Because social housing is supposed to be for those who are in need and in poverty. Not for those who are working and earning but are just too greedy to pay full market rent. If you’re working then you should rent privately and leave social properties for those who need them.

More than a third of people. 44 percent in 1978

Dillbaby there's no security in private renting like there is with social housing
But th council can’t accommodate everyone. SOMEONE has to rent privately. Council houses should be for those who need them, not for those who could afford to pay privately but don’t want to.

No, you need a mixture in social housing.

Do you suggest pp who work ft should give up their SH and pay ridiculous private rent
Yes. Because there’s a limited number of council houses and they should be allocated to the poorest, the disabled, the unemployed, the refugees - those who actually NEED them. Not to those who earn enough to pay private rent but just don’t want to fork out the market rate.

Social housing was never intended solely for those out of work or in need. It was built to provide quality housing for ordinary people at a reasonable rent. It was built to stop profiteering landlords sticking people in substandard, overcrowded housing and charging them through the nose for it.

Ah yes, right to buy.

I have a friend. His mum had a 2 bed council flat that she bought for £40k. Sold it to him under market rate for £250k many years later.

She bought a house outright.

He rents it to a low income family in receipt of housing benefits which exceeds the mortgage on the flat and pays in part for the mortgage on the house he lives in.

It would be much much cheaper to house the family in social housing.

RTB transferred public money into private hands and massively helped to create the housing shortage.

I don’t necessarily blame the players to be honest. The govt created and continues to perpetuate this cycle.

@DillBaby someone doesn't understand.

Amusing.

More than half of all council houses sold under RTB are now rented back on the private market.

Not to those who earn enough to pay private rent but just don’t want to fork out the market rate.

So what happens if someone gets a job while in the council house and can afford market rent? They have to give it up? What happens a month later if they lose their job and can't afford market rent anymore? They've lost their shot at social housing. They've lost their private rental. They're fucked.

No one should give up a secure tenancy for people in a situation they themselves might be one pay day away from.

Oh I should add - when she owned the flat his mum got ill and the government paid her mortgage for a good 10 years.

The family has profited hugely, not that they brag about it because they don’t.

Social housing was never intended solely for those out of work or in need
But the social housing stock has now been reduced to the point where there aren’t enough to go round. Those who NEED social housing and have no other option should rightly be prioritised above those who merely WANT it but could afford to rent privately.

Many moons ago lots of children were from disadvantaged backgrounds, myself included. Many people just got by, which is why a lot of kids from those backgrounds left school and got jobs. It was unusual to have kids from disadvantaged backgrounds still living at home into their 20s.

If you have a couple living in a 3 bed with no disabilities and their kids have left home, they should go onto a higher rate in rent.

Frustratingly, some who live in social housing do not appreciate how lucky they are compared with private renters. Friend is a housing officer with council so I understand OP’s comments. Social housing tenants have a degree of security that private renters do not have.

Son is an electrician with the council. He was ‘ on call’ at the weekend which meant attending to any emergencies and ‘making safe’ until after the weekend. Called out to a flat where tenant had deliberately pulled a basin off the wall which meant water pouring out of the pipes which ran down through the two flats below. Two carpenters came to access the flats as tenants were out and they had to break and replace the locks. Plumbers to stop the water flow and son to ensure all electrics were safe. Bearing in mind the cost of having people on call and the call out costs, I wonder how much this incident cost the council coffers. No charge to the tenant. Imagine a private tenant having a strop and what it would have cost him both financially, besides probably being sued by others affected.