To want social housing for most

[Jillybons]

I find it strange that in the U.K. we are so protective and proud of public healthcare and see it as a universal right regardless of household income (which I fully support).

But when it comes to public housing we vilify it and criticise people who have public houses as ‘less’ than those who rent privately or own houses.

Shouldn’t public housing be the standard for 90% of the population and private housing be the ‘option’ just like private healthcare?

What do you think?

@Mintjulia

The trouble with social housing is if the inhabitants don't own it then there is less motivation to maintain a home in good order.

I own a house and so I look after it. No-one else will pop in every 5 years and repair/redecorate etc. I upgrade windows and insulation because I pay the heating bill.

That also means I can be as individual and creative as I wish, which is important to me. Living in a rented flat (for a year) made me miserable. It didn't feel like home.

I don't believe this is true in the majority.

Problem is the acquisition of property as “Assets” instead of “Homes”.
What the Government could do is cap rents to enable families to rent from either the Council or Private Landlords at an affordable price.This would, however mean that house prices would fall and those that invested in property (or purchased at the previous high prices) would suffer from negative equity.
Maybe the only way forward to get everyone into affordable housing is to fix rent and by default, property prices, for up to 25 years. But I don’t think it will happen...

In an ideal world, all the many abandoned housing properties & empty factories would be repurposed into housing or made into places for employment

Empty MOD buildings would be used too

There would be nobody homeless sleeping on the streets

Do all this before building new builds ?

The Government was also relaxing rules about adding extensions to existing buildings, so building upwards & outwards

[quote onlychildandhamster]@LST well the people on this thread advocate saving a deposit for your own place so how is it not reasonable to ask people to save for their healthcare?

Its funny how people get enraged over the idea of paying for healthcare but then its somehow weird if the government builds housing for people (who can be charged according to their means). at least the people occupying the housing would pay a nominal rent or (in my ideal world) be able to buy it with a caveat that they can only sell it to people on lower incomes. However, with healthcare, its a blank cheque. the bill for the nhs grows bigger every year as lifespans grow and medical science improve but we are committed to paying for it. Its like a bottomless hole.Sooner or later, we would run out of money to pay for it. However, providing subsidized housing to the masses may not be as unsustainable if we ensure people pay what they can for it.

I am a homeowner in London so i am very exposed in the property game. But its not right that we prioritize the nhs over all other aspects of people's lives.[/quote]
I think that government housing (not necessarily 'subsidised' - rents are artificially high anyway) is a good idea. Provided that there's a sensible amount of private housing. The question is how to do this in the U.K as it is.
The other question is how people's assets would be used to fund care if this happens. Also beyond a certain age people should be made to fund their own care...

LST, I agree it is easier said than done if you have to raise £60-70,000 for a deposit. That's why it takes so much longer nowadays unless parents help out, or there is inherited money.

Also it's possible to make new builds - flats in high density areas such as Singapore's HDB. It like Britain is also an island (albeit smaller!)
It's impossoible for everyone to live in new-built terraced houses with gardens etc... start looking higher instead of wider...

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-480999/The-couple-stopped-Travelodge--stayed-22-years.html

We used to have a fairly significant stock of social housing but these were mostly sold of in the 80s. Social housing was seen as something the private sector would provide at reasonable cost.

Perhaps its time to have the govt improve the rights of tenants in private rentals and limit rents as these were meant to step up and replace councils role in providing housing.

@D1sh0ftheweekend4

empty factories would be repurposed into housing or made into places for employment

The cost of converting the average factory into residential that meets building standards would far exceed the cost of building from new.

And how do you make somewhere into a place for employment?
That sounds like a really ominous code for some Chinese forced labour camp..!

When this has been put into practice (see: Soviet Russia) the result was lots of very bad housing and overcrowding

^This

Why are some acting like it's a novel idea?

i lived in social housing for a year. it was horrid - and i had turned the previous 2 properties down as they were even worse. And that was when my expectations were fairly low as i'd just come out of uni.

What the Government could do is cap rents to enable families to rent from either the Council or Private Landlords at an affordable price

You cannot force private landlords to act as charities unfortunately. They will not invest with the sole purpose to subsidise tenants

i imagine someone has suggested this higher up the thread....but what i think is really wrong is investors buying up blocks of flats and then leaving them empty. i really hope they stop this.

But its not right that we prioritize the nhs over all other aspects of people's lives

We absolutely have to prioritise the NHS.

There are two differences that I can think of between healthcare and housing:

.lack of healthcare could mean you die (as opposed to being a bit cramped because two children need to share a bedroom - no one will die in this scenario)
.there's usually an element of fortuitousness about illness (e.g. you have no control over getting cancer, but you can control the number of children you have, at what age you want to leave your parent's home, etc)

It's not the same type of service

i think is really wrong is investors buying up blocks of flats and then leaving them empty

I agree this is tricky. i.e.: who is buying these large number of properties, how is it financed, etc

@tangerinelollipop there could be a legal requirement for everyone to have basic health insurance/savings to fund healthcare I.e. certain percentage deducted from paycheck. But we don't have this in the UK as we believe that such a system may exclude some people who have never worked or who are unfamiliar with bureaucracy. Everyone would get I'll at some point.

I am not even talking about free housing. I think the government should build housing and sell them at a subsidized rate for people who can't afford private housing and also keep some units to rent to the destitute.

I'd like to see the end of private landlords. I'm sorry if that upsets people but private rentals have skewed the housing market to the point where people are paying more to rent than some mortgages.
I'm absolutely hacked off at the tens of thousands of houses being built around my part of the world which are unanimously described as ' luxury 3/4/5 bedroomed properties.'
We don't need any more of these... we need more housing for families in low incomes, couples on low incomes, singles on low incomes.
A small block has been built nearby , the only one that I've seen for miles. It is dark grey, featureless and very bland ( think utilitarian) and it's billed as 'key worker accommodation.' It's appalling, and would depress anyone.
We need to go back to having council owned properties where rents are regulated, standards are regulated, repairs and upgrades are carried out and disabilities are recognised.
Yes there were concerns over the old council housing system but we're moved on since then.
Given that we have found untold billions for a failed track and trace system, I feel sure that we could find the money for a decent social housing scheme.

Finance

There are companies where you can invest a set minimum of £ & this finances renovation of a portfolio of existing buildings or new builds. When they are sold, you receive a % of the profit.
It is a bit like investing in stocks & shares
The catch is that there is risk

There was a story in the news where some people had invested in German buildings, but no profit had been made & people had made a loss on their investments

Hmm not sure people would want 90 percent SH.

I live in a council house and I absolutely bloody love it. Love the security, the cheap living costs, the fact I don’t pay for repairs etc etc etc!!!

I don’t care two hoots what any person thinks, I waited the best part of a decade for my house and I still sit here sometimes, and can’t believe my luck. I am so grateful to have it.

www.theguardian.com/money/2021/feb/20/i-was-told-it-was-as-safe-as-houses-savers-owed-thousands-as-firm-fails

@00100001 your friend's dd is making the better choice. Moving is expensive, from solicitor fees, estate agent costs, surveyors, stamp duty, removal costs.

Buying a 2 bed house, with a 2nd room she could potentially rent out or a house she can have a family in, makes much more long term sense than buying something like a 1 bed flat now she'll outgrow quickly.

Buying a property shouldn't be a short term idea.

@nevernotstruggling

Social housing wasn't stigmatised pre thatcher iirc. She did a cracking job of making it a marker of scum though hey.

It was when the Labour government changed the system to needs based in 1979. This changed the demographics of estates.

So many of the comments on this thread are from people that have no idea what social housing is!
It isn't a council house, it is ran by a local housing company.

I was mid 20's and wanted to move out but didn't have the money for a deposit and didn't want to pay half my wages to a private landlord.
I registered on the local HA site where you can bid for properties that you are interested in. If you are successful move into a cheap, well managed home. I am paying slightly more than i was paying my dad in rent, to live in a new build flat in the nice town i wanted to live in.

I am benefitting from the low rent costs to save up for a deposit for a house. I have a good full time job so no, it isn't just jobless layabouts that can get SH properties.

Most newbuild estates have to provide a certain amount of social housing now so if you are paying high rents to a crap landlord who doesn't do any repairs (like a few i know) i really recommend looking into it.

I have been here 18 months and hope to buy a house next year, if i was privately renting it would be almost impossible to save a deposit.

'Affordable' housing has to be the biggest misnomer there is. Round here you would need to be earining in excess of 60k a year ti get a small flat when average wages in the area are 22k. Private rents need capping to the same as LA rents. Far too many are paying other peoples mortgages while turned down for mortgages as not earning enough/credit history etc.
Rent that needs state help to pay is too high.

There are alternatives

Communal living
Boats
Vans - laws are being tightened
Off grid has issues with planning permission
Airbnb
People commuting from long distance by plane

I don't agree with 90% social
Too much Government control
Too much wealth for the extreme wealthy