Right to buy. What about everyone else?

[BrownieBanana]

AIBU to think that it's all well and good to bring in new policy that allows better saving for RTB for council tenants, but that it doesn't help people who REALLY need help? If you're in a council property it is still vastly cheaper than private rent (over 50/60% where I live). What about the millions of young people living with their parents into their early and mid 30s who can't afford rent (this is me), can't get a mortgage as a single person even on an OK salary. Am I missing the mark here? I'm not saying everyone in a council property has it easy, if course not, however I don't think it's the right way to deal with the housing crisis at all....

Help to buy is ending permanently in less than a year and there is no replacement.

It is sort of cute that you think it could improve the situation, when every expert in the country has explained why it will make the situation worse.

They don't have to replace the stock, they won't be able to unless the government subsidise, which they are not going to.

RTB is a failed policy, it causes more problems than it solves.

They need to replace one for one, otherwise it won't work.

If they do, the social tenants will be in the shiny efficient new properties.

There is a review of the mortgage market which will say in the autum how to make it easier for the rest of us to access a mortgage for the first time with little or no deposit. Banks are rightly concerned about too much risk.

Centre for Policy studies calculates Treasury will save £140k per property over the long term because of less housing benefit.

I'd like to give it a chance to work in the way it's intended before dismissing it because, you know, Tories. 🙄

I can remember what Right to Buy was introduced in 1980 under Mrs Thatcher's government. I tend to think there was something ideologically unsound about the idea at that time, perhaps it was part of a wider plan to move communities towards individualisation, and to create discord in strong 'working class' areas by engineering a division between the property owning 'middle class' and those who rented from the council. In short, RTB, seemed to be something that was part of a much broader government policy at that time.

Now, and I realise I am being cynical, Mr Johnson is hungry for votes, and it may seem to him that this little gem, that made Mrs Thatcher very popular among some members of a potentially problematic community, may well improve his popularity. In short, there is very little thought behind this proposal, very little design to the plan, it is simply a people pleaser.

Yet, it is a people pleaser that is potentially very dangerous. For example, I live in social housing. My landlord is a large housing association. The housing association does a lot more than provide houses: it provides community support schemes for more vulnerable residents, it facilitates free courses that can increase well being and employability for tenants who wish to participate, it provides active consultation with tenants on environmental issues, legislation, company procedures and so on, and repairs and maintenance are carried out free of cost and to a good standard by the association's own workforce. There is financial advice available for tenants who are struggling and payment of arrears, should these occur inadvertently, can be negotiated sympathetically.

In short, good social housing provides a true social function, and once the stock has gone, then those additional services will also go.

Furthermore, there are people who may never be able to 'own' their own home. My eldest son has autism and serious mental illness. When he moves into more independent accommodation (he is in semi residential accommodation), it will most likely be to a social landlord who works closely with the local authority that provides a large component of my son's support. There is already a significant shortage of social housing stock, and this revamped and diluted RTB will do nothing to improve the situation.

I'm sorry your landlord evicted you but they will have had no choice but to upgrade the property as it's shortly going to be illegal to rent out freezing cold, uninsulated homes and a good thing too.

@idonthavetimeorhis A very good point about the community support resources provided by a housing association.

I can empathise with the situation your son is in. We also have a DC with SEN, and have realised it’s possible they may have difficulties with employment… This has prompted us to change plans and DH is working an extra 20hrs so we can look at a buy to let (that will be close to paid off by the time DC is an adult)…..

However, if this policy of letting UC be used towards a mortgage as well as rent goes ahead, this would provide more independence for DC, in the event employment can’t be sustained, and also relieve the burden on us to work 70hr shifts in order to provide.

Not soon enough!

All it has done is drive prices up and increase profits for big housebuilders.

I agree with all of this.

RtB has not been, and won't be in future, a good policy for ordinary people in this country. It's disastrous.

@Robinni The tightening up Cameron brought in linking the rental paid to earnings, reviewing it over time was so necessary. you do realise that never happened. It was realised it was a terrible idea.

Bloody hell was it not?!

I was absolutely appalled to see someone captalise on low council rent when they had no need to anymore…. Had moved partner in and collective income 50k… rent £250 a month. Totally disproportionate.

Why would increasing council rent to market value for people who are in no way impoverished be a bad thing. It is only fair.

@LilacPoppy

Just seen this is partially true

amp.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/21/government-pay-to-stay-council-tenants-george-osborne

From April 2015 the government allowed social landlords to charge a full market rent where a social tenant household has an annual income of at least £60,000. This change allowed landlords to make better use of their social housing for properties rented to households with relatively high incomes.
www.forbessolicitors.co.uk/news/45589/are-you-ready-for-the-new-rent-standard-its-no-april-fool

Horrendous, unless you’re a low earner you shouldn’t be in a council house. House blocking essentially for people who actually need them.

Or sitting ready to capitalise and make your money when you buy it and get discount. Actually disgusted.

If you’re able to live with parents I would say you’re still not the people who are really struggling, as you’ve clearly got an accessible safety net.

have a lovely home now (council) would I buy it? Fuck no! The house is literally cracking with subsidence

I’ve just moved out of a HA flat like this. I couldn’t put up a curtain rail or pictures because the walls just crumbled away if you attempted to fix anything to them. The interiors and exteriors hadn’t had any upkeep or maintenance apart from emergency repairs in the 12 years I lived there.

A government grant to demolish our part of the estate was recently withdrawn last January, because they changed the criteria so only HAs refurbishing existing properties could get the money not those who wanted to rebuild from scratch. The cost of trying to bring these up to vaguely decent and insulated homes would be much more than demolition and starting again. Also the land is so inefficiently used at present. Where they have been able to demolish flats over the past few years, they’ve replaced 4 blocks of 4 flats with 2 big blocks with a total of 84 one and two bed flats. To withdraw funding seems so short sighted in this case as so many much needed homes could have been built.

@Robinni the policy would have stopped people having an incentive to gain promotions, work more hours, do up their homes and gardens etc.
The policy would have affected people who weren’t particularly high earners anyway.

@LilacPoppy I can see your point. But I still think it’s ludicrous a couple on 40k+ being in a council house. It should be reserved for people in actual poverty.

i agree- social housing is subsidized by the taxpayer. It’s not right that some are making a private profit out of it.

Social housing is NOT subsidised. It is illegal for local authorities to subsidise it.

@antelopevalley yes but it is very often housing benefit that pays the very much reduced rent. Public money that funds these houses. And then that is lost as they are sold at discount….

or did I get any of that wrong?

This is just Johnson doing a Thatcher & trying to buy votes from Housing Association tenants. They ran a pilot scheme a few years ago that sank without trace, so unlikely this will happen.

@Robinni In the same way taxpayers subsidise landlords through housing benefits.

Which I don’t agree with. Which is why I’m glad that people are now going to be given a choice to use UC for rent or to buy.

My eldest is saving for that reason, we had that discussion. Makes sense.

However we wouldn’t be selling.

Ok cool, if you guys are settled and happy then it’s wonderful you’re getting the opportunity to stay as a family and buy. Really pleased for you.

This is definitely an example of where right to buy has a happy ending. And a family who actually need the house not out to profiteer. Hope all works out well @oldstudentmum 🏡

As before I'm on the fence with these proposals - I can see there may be some positive outcomes, after a lot of 'tinkering' and amendments.

I can refer back to the creation of many Housing Associations; whereby LHA/Councils transferred their their social housing stock to arms-length organizations as a method for delivering more social housing, to get around the Local Council Debt Penalties associated with building new Council Homes to make up for those sold under RTB.

Unfortunately, many Housing Associations don't produce very many new social homes, and those they do build are built at a far higher cost than 'market' due to the many layers of 'admin' involved. Although quite a few HAs are very good at social and community schemes for the existing housing stock that was transferred to them - that's not quite their intended purpose.

It seems that the only other option of private developers producing a scintilla of social housing via s106 as negotiated, rather weakly, by most Local Councils hasn't worked very well either.

Throwing the whole lot in the Ring for immediate discussion is the best idea - which the new proposals should bring forth at least.