1 single person in a 3 bed council house

[Fyptk]

20ish years ago this person exchanged from a 1 bed flat to a 3 bed council house because relatives were moving in with her, so all the bedrooms were needed.

Fastforward a few years and those relatives all moved on and the single person remained in the 3 bed house.

To get out of paying bedroom tax they claim the other bedrooms are used for something to do with their work which they are not. The rooms are unused apart from storing excess clutter.

Meanwhile here in London (where this person lives) families are stuck in hostels and overcrowded rooms whilst the local burroughs housing register has in excess of 10,000 people on it waiting to be housed. The minimum wait for a 3 bed house here is 10 years.

AIBU to think they are selfish?

@DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat

The ‘bedroom’ tax is all kinds of wrong. If your concern is for the thousands of families that can’t be housed in local authority homes, you’re directing your ire at the wrong target.

Blame the Tories, who sold off many council houses and did not replace them with anything.

Fair enough people don't move because they can't be arsed, but the "bedroom tax" should be much higher. These properties should be a safety net, and available correctly for the ones who need them, they should not be a lifestyle choice

Council housing has nothing to do with lifestyle choices or safety nets, they're not means tested and anyone is allowed to apply. How long you will wait for a property is another matter but not everywhere has massive waiting lists and many areas offer choice-based lettings too, we only waited three months for ours and that wasn't even priority banding.

"Bedroom Tax" isn't payable by everyone, only people eligible for Housing Benefit pay it. If they have a spare room(s) then their Housing Benefit is reduced so that it only covers the rent for the rooms they are judged to need, they then have to pay the shortfall in rent themselves. If someone is already paying full rent then it makes no difference.

Around 40% of social housing tenants are in employment, roughly 19% have a disability or illness that prevents them from working, the remainder are elderly/retired or unemployed. The tenants are a cross-section of society and being on benefits is not a prerequisite of being a social housing tenant.

@Fyptk

To get out of paying bedroom tax they claim the other bedrooms are used for something to do with their work which they are not. The rooms are unused apart from storing excess clutter.

This would not happen.

This person you know is lying.

No way in HELL would the benefits system fund 2 extra bedrooms (by waiving the 'bedroom tax,') so someone can store all their shit in the 2 extra bedrooms.

I think it's only fair that people should be asked to move from a big 3 or 4 bed, into a 1 or 2 bed (if they don't need all the bedrooms,) but they should only ASK, not demand, and they should offer an alternative that is also social housing.

My grandparents occupied a large 4 bed council house, and by the late 1980s, there was just the 2 of them. At the time, the council offered them a 2 bed bungalow if they would surrender the 4-bed house, and also a cash gift of £1200 for the costs of moving, and as an incentive.

Now, they are happy to boot people out with nowhere to go, if they can't afford the rent, because of the grossly unfair 'bedroom tax!'

Also, it's bonkers that many 1 and 2 bed properties cost more than some 4 beds, so very little money is saved by forcing people out.

I guess they want to free up bigger homes for bigger families. Not fair really, that a single person occupies a 3 or 4 bed house, whilst a family of 5, live in a 2 bed flat. Then again, it's also not fair to expect someone to give up the place they have called home for 30 years or more, without, at least, offering a decent social housing alternative, and offering the costs of moving/ carpeting/ decorating the new place etc...

@freakyfridays

It's time people stop considering social houses as THEIR home, when it should be just like a rental, not a forever house. They have right of peaceful enjoyment, but nothing more.

Even home owners don't own their home until it's paid in full!

Fair enough people don't move because they can't be arsed, but the "bedroom tax" should be much higher. These properties should be a safety net, and available correctly for the ones who need them, they should not be a lifestyle choice

If you want to have YOUR home, you buy it.

ODOFD.

Disproportionately raising the "bedroom tax" (essentially cutting housing benefit) would simply disadvantage people who are already at a significant disadvantage - Housing Benefit is means tested so those claiming it are already on a low income, this includes disabled and elderly people.

Social housing should be for those who need it.

Families living in hostels while single people sit in three bed houses is wrong. My own MIL is one of these people and she only lives in the downstairs of her house. It’s such a waste.

Government help with moving/decorating costs might encourage some people to move but in reality people aren’t going to volunteer to move from their spacious 3 bed home, which they have lived in for a long time to a one bed flat (potentially away from family/friends and/or in a less desirable area). I get why people don’t move.

The only way to sort this out would be to review tenancies on a regular basis and that kind of move would be met with outcry. Plus there would never be enough ground floor/bungalow for our ageing population.
L

@littlepattilou where I live the council offers incentives to downsize. When my aunt moved from a three bed to a bungalow she was offered increased priority on the housing register, she also got four weeks free rent on the bungalow and a decorating voucher so she could smarten it up before moving in.

Over two thirds of new social housing tenancies issued in 2018/2019 were lifetime tenancies, at the decision of the local authorities who issued them.

I'd love help, it would make it much easier, removal costs perhaps, especially since I have a disability.
I don't need my three bed, but I do need somewhere adapted, and I do want a safe area near a specific hospital, also preferably a parking space for my mobility car.

I could see your point if the person moved in recently, I'm not sure how they managed it unless they'd a big family.
I don't see your point in the case of a family who've lived there all their life, who have invested money into the home and time into building community relationships.
The option should be available for downsizing not forced.

The option should be available for downsizing not forced.

That's basically what the policy is here. You can apply for incentives to downsize, such as my aunt had, or you can stay put. Either way, the council has a rolling supply of empty properties as they all come back to the local authority one way or another.

It's not always simple to downsize.

I lived in a 3 bed on my own and rang the council as I wanted to downsize to a 1 bed. I was told I would just have to joins the waiting list for one beds and there was no fast track or extra points for giving up a larger property. Ok, how long is the waiting list, i asked and was told 11 years as there's not enough 1 beds. I tried talking about but wouldn't it be better for me to not be taking up a family sized home as there's not enough of those either and the woman was quite rude to me and accused me of trying to queue-jump!

Fuck that, I stayed in my 3 bed.

That’s interesting, my council gives anyone who downsizes a band A (highest priority) and pays for removable costs and £350 towards each room given up (though I believe that’s quite low compared to a lot of councils)

RestingPandaFace That is terrible that the Mayor is living in a Council house. Some of these positions attract a salary well over 100k FFS!He is most definitely not a "man of the people " just another one on the jolly gravy train! Council houses were/are a great invention ,however back in the 50s /60s we had a population of around 50 million people.Today its over 60 million.Its not hard to see how much these properties are needed.With CH being sold off demand is very high and well outstrips supply .CH residents should be expected to give up their home when they have no further use for its extra bedrooms .Flats and smaller CH should be made avaliable to them obv .Older people in private housing often have to downsize ,whats the difference? I think younger people and families should be able to have at least a chance of a CH.Especially those SP ,people escaping DV and so on .House prices have gone through the roof lately and many people will never have a home of their own just by saving up sadly .These OAPs got a good deal when younger now they have to do the same to other poorer people

Just wanted to say that in a 2018/2019 data report, the largest group of social housing tenants are the under 35s...

One person living in a three bed house is not responsible for the London housing crisis. Blame the Tories, they’re the ones who are actually able to do something to fix the problem but won’t.

littlepattilou

instead of throwing biscuits around, care to explain why tenants should suddenly be given the right to stay in a property for their lifetime? And presumably pass on that right to their children?

Why and how would that work exactly?

FuckyouCovid21

I rent and it is my home confused

if you rent, it's not your property though, is it.
The rightful owner, responsible for the maintenance, costs etc.. still has a right to the property, right to end the agreement, to move himself, to sell.

It's not an unfair system, is it.

@freakyfridays

FuckyouCovid21

I rent and it is my home confused

if you rent, it's not your property though, is it.
The rightful owner, responsible for the maintenance, costs etc.. still has a right to the property, right to end the agreement, to move himself, to sell.

It's not an unfair system, is it.

No, it's not my property but it is my home

instead of throwing biscuits around, care to explain why tenants should suddenly be given the right to stay in a property for their lifetime? And presumably pass on that right to their children?

Tenants already have lifetime tenancies, two thirds of all new tenancies signed in 2018/2019 were new tenancies.

You can't pass a council house on to your children unless they are an adult who is living with you at the time of your death and they have been on the rent book for a minimum of twelve months.

On the rent book/a named co-tenant.

I'm in a violent relationship in London. No children but disabled. There's no 1 bedroom or studios. I feel suicidal about the bedroom tax downsizing people get priority even above disabled even if trapped indoors like no wheelchair access and stuff.

Tenants already have lifetime tenancies

true, and that's one of the issues that need to be addressed, the whole social housing need a big reform.

*Nosafeguardingadults

Have you joined swapping sites as there are literally loads of people in London in one beds looking to upsize

Aye ok.